Now is the time to buy your discount window curtains – Our annual 4th of July Sale is on.  25% off everything on the site.  Shop for all your custom window treatments online.  Sale ends July 5th so hurry up and shop now for all of your drapes, curtains, upholstered headboards, roman Shades,  long shower curtains, decorative pillows, waverly fabrics and much more!

Click her for Sale!

New for spring 2012 Fabricworkroom.com is introducing our new Solids program.   We are bringing basics back.

Our customers have asked us for more solids and we are giving it to them…at NEW lower pricing.  You can now shop for pillows, draperies and custom curtains in every style, bedding, roman shades, upholstered headboards and shower curtains.  If you can’t find the right color to match online, be sure to order several swatches.  We have almost every shade imaginable.  Getting back to basics has never been easier.

Be sure to check us out online where you can shop for fabrics in our Signature Solid collection.  You will just love the new lower pricing.  Start shopping now and freshen up your home for spring.

Iconic model Iman has launched Iman Home http://www.imanhome.com in unbelievably graphic designs.  If you want to update your living room, bed or family room couch just think of having some custom pillows made in one of her vibrant fabrics.  This is by far one of the easiest ways to set your living space apart from the house next door   At  http://www.fabricworkroom.com/ you can now have any of our custom products made in any of the fabrics in this fabulous collection.  Whether you would like custom window treatments such drapes or roman shades, valances or cornices you can select a fabric and have us make it for you.  It is as simple as that. These fabrics are wonderful for custom bedding, pillows dust ruffles and upholstered headboards.  You will be surprised how using a statement fabric like this will elevate your personal space to a completely new level.  .  The designs are endless and promise to transform a dull room into a wonderful place to be.  Try some of her modern Glamour designs which include exotic animal prints or geometric designs.

The Urban Eclectic collection is just as colorful and unexpected.  For 2012, think out of the box when it comes to decorating.  For example, a blue and white pattern pillow on a tan couch is far more interesting than a tan and cream pillow on a tan couch.  Make a statement!!

Sultana Lattice	Zebra Oasis Cypress	Alhambra Amour

One lucky customer who makes a purchase during our 20% off 4th of July Weekend Sale will win a black Yokini Swimwear Top and Bottom with a retail value of $110.     The Yokini bottom gives women the freedom to micro fit the suit bottom to her unique body contour like a glove. The suit can also be adjusted to fit a particular mood or activity at the beach ranging from sexy to shy.  Yokini Swimwear is brought to you by At Home Brands, Inc. the company behind FabricWorkroom.com.  Click here to learn more about the Yokini Swimwear.

The first 100 customers who make a purchase (not including free swatches) during the sale will qualify for the giveaway.  On Wednesday July 6th, we will randomly select one winner from the first 100 orders.  GOOD LUCK!

Not so long ago, homes were sold while the realtors sign was being planted in the front yard. Those days are long gone as we ride the rollercoaster between a weak job market and hard to get financing.

The media has a knack for presenting the information to us that can be considered sensational. We all agree that the economic situation could be better, but ready for some good news? In the last 12 months an average of 4 million homes were sold each month in the United States according to the National Association of Realtors. Sure the numbers are down from the blistering pace of the last few years, but 4 million is huge, isn’t it?

But what about the glut of for sales signs we all see driving around town? The data reveals that inventory numbers holding steady. Inventory is realtor speak for homes that are for sale. The average monthly inventory figures for last year are running around 3 million. So what does this mean? It’s easy. About 7 million homes are on the market for sale in a month. A little more than half of them sell while a little less that half don’t.

So what does this mean to you? If you are buying, it’s a great time to score a deal. What if you are selling? Here is the way I like to look at home selling. People like to use the word competition when they are talking about their business or sports. How often do you hear that word when selling a home? Rarely. The whole concept of selling a home is on a completely different business tangent. You “list” a property. You “show” a property. All very lofty stuff. When I speak to a neighbor who is selling a home about another neighbor who just “listed” they say, “it’s a good thing – it will bring more buyers”. Baloney! You just opened a hamburger stand and learned that McDonalds is opening in three months across the street. Your neighbor is your competitor or at least his house is. If you get one buyer on your street, you want him to buy your house. Correct?

So like business and sport, how to you become a ruthless competitor and win? Analyze the competition. Do you ever check out your competitor’s store or website? Then you had better take a look in his house. Get your realtor to take you on a tour, they have the access. Analyze all the information available on the Internet. Know how the other properties compare to your property. Are they perfect, are they tired or on a busy street. You are in a battle and you have big money at stake.

Once you have all this information, what’s next? Simple, you need a perfect house. With a lot of inventory out there, buyers have a lot of choice. Do you think buyers are shopping for fixer uppers right now? Not on your life! In this market, buyers can take their time and pick the best move in condition home. More good news, you don’t need to spend a fortune getting your house in top condition. Your focus is to make it cosmetically attractive. Start with the outside. Keep the grass cut. Trim the bushes. Fix pealing paint.  If you are in the north east right now, dig a tunnel to the front door. It’s all very basic stuff, but during your competitive analysis, you’ll see how many of your competitors completely miss these simple strategies. Now let’s move to the inside.

The first thing a buyer notices is the smell. Do you have a dog or a dozen cats? You may not be bothered by the litter box odor in your kitchen, but your buyer is already in the car. Eliminate or mask strong odors. Next thing they look for is abuse. Scuff marks, dents and dings on the walls are signs of neglect and a ton of work for the buyer. Fix this stuff. Paint the walls – neutral please! Paint is just a few hundred dollars and a couple of weekends of work. Remember, we are talking about thousands of dollars here. When I do a project around the house, I keep telling myself how much resale value I am creating. I’ve remodeled my master bathroom recently. I probably spent 50 hours on the project.  I estimate that when I go to sell, it will add $25,000 to the price.  So while I was working on the bathroom, I was making $500 per hour!  Sorry, back to the simple stuff.  Clean up the clutter in closets, basements and garages. It’s time to get the dumpster. Whatever you can’t part with, fill a moving container and store it off-site. It’s not expensive. People want to imagine themselves in your home. They are not the least bit interested in your hunting trophies. Depersonalize.

Now let’s talk home décor. Kitchens and bathrooms must look good. We are not suggesting that you go nuts remodeling to sell, but do whatever it takes to be competitive. Buyers can accept imperfections here and can rationalize a remodel down the road, so get it looking clean and neat so they can live with it for a while. Furniture placement and condition is important. We all do things in our homes to fit our life style. Did you ever hear your spouse say, “I know it’s weird, but I don’t care what other people think”. Selling is when you better care. We often put our couches in odd locations, but we get an awesome view of our giant flat screen. I went into an open house once where the owner loved house plants. He loved them so much that he had hundreds of them covering nearly every square inch of floor space. Do you think he had trouble selling? Remember the competition and trade your unique habits for a sale.

I think about the first time I was thrust into the home decorating world. My wife wanted to do custom window treatments, bedding, pillows, etc. I thought it was expensive, but I understood that I had to move beyond my “dorm room chic” style. What I didn’t appreciate at the time was the investment angle. As we decorated each room of our first home, we always did something interesting with paint, furniture and custom window treatments without spending a fortune. We were creating a personalized lifestyle while secretly creating a ton of investment value. When we decided to sell, we were at contract in seven days setting a record in our neighborhood for price per square foot. As a condition of the sale, all the window treatments had to stay. Do you think we had competition at the time? Of course we did, but our buyers had seen all the competition and put our house first on their list. We did everything a seller must do in a good or bad market. You see we just don’t preach this stuff, we live it! Right now, you need to be doing everything in your power to be in the half of the market that is selling (at top prices) so perfect your house and crush the competition.

Our number one selling fabric continues to be silk and faux silks alike.  These fabrics exude a luxuriance look and feel throughout your home and are a perfect for almost any setting.   Try it an upholstered fabric headboard, custom drape, roman shade, accent pillow or for your custom bedding.  With so many different colors available in our silk and faux silk we find that people are ordering a few different samples to see which color or shade looks best in their home.

We have just introduced the next big thing in silk fabrics.   This new Raj Silk is a hand woven fabric blending Rayon and Silk.  This fabric is woven on traditional hand looms in order to produce the same variations indicative of authentic hand –woven silks.  The slight variations or slubs in the fabric give this fabric a natural look of silk, however the rayon blend makes this fabric more durable than natural silk. Many design houses are using this new RAJ silk for high end home furnishings.

The fabric is deceiving online so be sure to order a sample and get started with your new Spring  project.

Now that HGTV’ Destination Design has aired, it is great to see how our window treatments helped to transform some of the rooms.  With only 2 episodes shown to date, the rooms have been beautifully designed by designer Taniya Nayak inspired by the homeowner’s travels.  The first episode the couple traveled to Turks and Caicos and was attracted to the vibrant colors of the sea and beautiful shells and sails.  They returned to a home full of color and gorgeous decor with all the fabulous HGTV Design ideas.   The window treatment drapery panels and sheer curtains were reminiscent of the Caribbean.  We were so happy to see the textured drapes and sheer drapes incorporating in the rooms.  The fabrics were a perfect match and the show’s featured couple was ecstatic.

In the 2^nd episode the homeowner traveled to Austin, Texas and was inspired by the color of a local berry plant.  Taniya’s vision for this room was an Austin Cavern Berry Living Room.  The walls were painted a light tone of purple and the deep purple back tab drapery panels were a perfect accent on the windows.  She added 2 pillows against the white couch in the “pop” deep berry color.  Such an array of fabrics, textures and colors truly made both rooms remarkable.

Stay tuned for upcoming episodes on Saturdays at 1:30 pm.  A show not to be missed!

Having an important dinner party next week? Moving in a new home and forgot to order bedding. Need something in a hurry?  Our Quick Ship option could be your answer.

We hear it all the time that people need things fast in time to impress their guest. Well now, we are pleased to announce our new quick ship program for a select group of custom window treatments, cornices, roman shades, pillows, comforters and Duvet covers. The following custom products will be shipped within 6 WORKING DAYS after the order is received. Please see all the products available for Quick Ship program.

For a small fee you can have it all.

Pinch Pleat Drapes, Flat Roman shades, Straight Cornice Boards, Box Pleat or Rod pocket valances, Throw style bedspreads and Coverlets, comforters or Duvet covers and Decorative pillows and pillow shams.

What a better way to bring in the new year with positive change.  Rather than changing a bad habit or starting an exercise plan, how about doing something that will last for years to come and bring beauty and value to your home.  Think about changing the color of your drapes or changing the bedding or adding beautiful sheers to your window to change the atmosphere in your room.  Surrounding your room with beautiful things including designer fabrics, custom window treatments, a gorgeous upholstered headboard or even fabric accent pillows will make you happy and last for a long time.  There is nothing more rewarding than investing in the place you call home.

We help thousands of customers throughout the year with their home decorating projects.  You can start with ordering our free swatches and see how they look in your home, then call us or go back online to price out any product with the fabric of your choice. You will be pleasantly surprised at how affordable our custom products are.

Fabric Roman Shades will continue to be popular for 2010.  Solid linen and silk fabrics continue to be on the top of the list and most popular sellers.  Very simple flat panel drapes are also very stylish for the upcoming year and our upholstered headboards continue to be fashionable.  Fabricworkroom.com is the number one provider of fabric headboards online providing headboards for many home magazines and top designers throughout the country.