Customer Reviews

Encyclopedia of Window Fashions: 1000 Decorating Ideas for Windows, Bedding and Accessories

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Blending current, popular styles with extraordinary new approaches, the fifth edition of The Encyclopedia of Window Fashions is a must have for designers, from beginner to expert.With more full-color illustrations than ever before, this book presents myriad window treatments for any room in any home from the most simple to the most challenging. Throughout its more than 200 pages, which include detailed sketchings, cost-saving ideas, yardage and fullness charts and the sketchfile method, you will quickly see why this book has become the industry standard for window decor inspiration.

Kathleen Stoehr, a columnist for D&WC magazine, 03/31/2006

With the introduction of the Internet, industry education and the practice of business have changed at an unparalleled pace. While many of the basic concepts of design, marketing and audience identification endure, their applications are heavily influenced by changing business models, trends, and economics. According to Charles Randall, that's a good reason to revise and re-present his best selling book. "I update The Encyclopedia of Window Fashions about every five to seven years," says Randall, "because new styles are continuously being developed." Randall cites Luminette(tm) verticals by Hunter Douglas as a pivotal new style, for example, as well as the changing combinations of swags and cascades he sees in his travels. "I always bring my digital camera when I travel, especially to Heimtextil in Germany and the IWCE in the U.S. I am always amazed at the intelligent styles designers are developing." So, what's new with edition six of The Encyclopedia of Window Fashions? Well, for starters, the page count has increased dramatically from 226 pages to 300 due to the large number of new illustrations Randall commissioned. The section on Draperies, for instance, once harboring approximately 70 styles, now offers over 100. Cornices, another area that increased dramatically, submits over dozens and dozens of additional styles. The Valance section, too, has ballooned to over 100+ varieties as well, up from 80. These inspiring designs are well worth the price of the book. But, of course, that's not all the author has up his sleeve. Randall also has a nifty timeline on Historical Windows, documenting the overlapping styles throughout the ages, as well as a large, important section on the history of window fashions. He also combined chapters, added color bars for ease in finding a particular style, included chapter introductions to acclimate the reader and increased the size of both his Glossary of Decorating Terms and Glossary of Fabric Terms, among other things. It's truly a remarkable reissue. "Window decorating is very much like fine art a window is the canvas," says Randall, who has decorated more than 60,000 southern California homes since 1976. "If the view is spectacular, not much is needed except energy and UV requirements. I don't care for dressing a window just for the sake of dressing. However, if the view is plain, then window treatments cover a multitude of sins." It's his philosophy of the "art" of window decorating that makes this book so intriguing. Love a style or hate it--if you are trying to convey a proper application to a potential customer or need ideas for your own home, The Encyclopedia of Window Fashions is the first book you should turn to.

I often see beautiful decorating books but as soon as i put it down I realize I did not absorb anything No so with this book!One page has tie backs One page has cornices. You see them all together and get an idea of what you like You come away with it all sorted out mentally!

This book is a great, full of ideas, you can work with black & white illustrations and the book has full colour illustration. I would recommend this book to any designer, student, home owner.

This was too much money to pay for a book of drawings. I expected photos of rooms.

If you are a novice interested in creating draperies for your home or an interior designer who needs a handy window fashion guide, this is the book for you! I found it current, insightful, and thorough.

When I read the title (1000 decorating ideas), I thought this would be just what I needed. What I got instead was a bunch of sketches. To me, "decorating ideas" implies that I'll see how to put it all together, such as how a window treatment works into a room or goes with furnishings I have. There isn't anything on how to choose, how to put it all together. Just sketches of individual ideas. I feel cheated.

This book was very basic. It is mostly drawings of different drapery styles with a few drawings of Roman Shades and Balloon Shades. I was looking for something that would give me ideas as to where certain window treatments might look best (what type of shade for each room, types of fabric, etc....)

I have seen the 3rd edition of this encyclopedia. It was a fabulous reference guide. It is NOT for people who are making curtains themselves, but for those who wish to update the look of their window treatments. As an Inderior Designer, I reccomend this book as a reference guide to many styles of window treatments.

You will be surprised how amazing the patterns of the curtains that they have in the book.

But initially it is a great dissapointment to me cause the book doesn't teaches me the way on how to start and how the diagram of the curtain looks like.

I would rather recommend this book to them who really have the advance knowledge of making curtains and also for them who wanted to see more designs in a curtains.