John Robshaw Fabrics

A painter turned textile artist, Robshaw has an eye for color and an appreciation for history, having studied traditional fabric-making techniques throughout Asia and India. His linen and cotton-voile bedding, fabrics, clothing, and dog beds are a riot of hues and styles, with patterns block-printed and silk-screened by hand. Robshaw’s aim is to revive textile traditions and frame them in new terms. But he’s also interested in giving back, too. As a former ambassador to nonprofit Aid to Artisans, he’s passed on his business expertise, helping textile workers in developing countries set up their own shops

Design Your Own Draperies is excited to provide our customers with this vibrant collection of fabrics. See fabric collection by clicking on menu item "Fabrics / Memo Samples:" and you will find all of our beautiful fabric collections including John Robshaw's fabrics.

Designer's Tips

Designing a room can be exciting but it can be intimidating as well. So many fabrics, drapery styles and colors to choose from. Let our design tips help you simplify the process by breaking it down into manageable decisions. Following is our step by step process to a beautiful room that reflects you and your family’s personality.

Step One: Functional Role
Determine if your new draperies need to be used for privacy, for decoration, or both. Among the many things to consider are the architecture of a window, the style of the room, your lifestyle and budget and the way you want the window treatment to look and function. Some functional roles of window treatment to consider include: controlling sunlight or glare, limiting heat during summer or gaining heat during winter, obscuring an undesired view or creating privacy, modifying or enhancing architectural elements, bringing color pattern or texture to the room. It is best to think through these issues before buying your drapery treatment. The design team at Design Your Own Draperies.com can help make suggestions no matter what your needs.

Step Two: Color
Color – it surrounds us in every aspect of our lives. It can expand your room space and make it warmer, cozier, cooler or more modern. Pick a color you love and go! Design Your Own Draperies offers hundreds of fabrics in many colors and styles. We suggest you order swatches to ensure the colors work in your home. We provide coordinates that work together beautifully so you can easily pull together a room with ease.

If you love neutrals, go for that too but use lots of different textures and/or trims to add interest. A pretty neutral drapery treatment is much more interesting with bullion trim at top edge of a panel. Design Your Own Draperies offers its ‘Signature Line’ which gives you many trim options and designer details. We also offer a wide variety of metal, wood and iron rods. You can add elegance with a beautiful carved wood rod or whimsy with a pretty iron rod with artful glass finials.

Step Three: Style
Determine what style you like or best suits your home. Design Your Own Draperies.com offers styles and fabrics that appeal to everyone’s individuality. Check out magazine pictures and pull those that you like. Send us a scanned photo or a drapery treatment that appeals to you. Our design team can help you achieve whatever look you desire.

When determining rod placement for your new drapery panels, we would suggest that you mount the rods and brackets high and wide. Consult our design team to determine your rod extensions to allow the draperies to stack on the sides without obstructing your window. Similarly, the higher you mount the draperies, the taller the ceilings feel. There is no set height since all windows are different, but we suggest mounting half way between the top of the window and the ceiling. Aim high, if you have 20' high ceilings in the living room, don’t be afraid to make a bold statement with a set of high mounted draperies.

Another design tip to add elegance is to make sure your draperies touch the floor. In fact, they look more elegant when they have a 1” (or more) puddle onto the floor. The most typical drapery length is ½” off the floor which is most practical if you need to draw your drapes often. It also makes good sense if you have pets in your home and don’t want your draperies to be a gathering spot for fur and dust. So decide what will practically work in your home and what style or look you are trying to achieve.

Drapery Tips:

Full length panels: The most typical drapery length today is ½ inch off the floor. For floor to ceiling drapes, calculate ½ inch from top also so there isn’t any rubbing on either surface causing premature wearing.
2. Drapes hung just above a window should be at least 5 inches above so that the header (top hem) is not seen when sunlight shines through.
In the event that there’s a baseboard heater, drapes should be just abpve the heater.
When using decorative rods place rod 5” – 12” above the window otherwise the rods are ‘lost’ when placed at ceiling height.
“Puddling” – Usually 12 - 18 inches extra arranged in a natural puddle on the floor is meant to create an atmosphere of romance, opulence or a formal, historical statement. Puddling is ideal for stationary drapes but not for functional drapes because of the floor mopping every time the drapes are open and closed.
Short Drapes – Drapes can end at the window sill, the bottom of the molding or 4 inches below the bottom of the window. It’s ideal not to see the 4 inch hem when the sun is shining through.
When there are several windows in a room with varying dimensions, ensure the lengths are consistent sothere is a visual balance in the room.
Drapery is like furniture. When it is higher, longer, wider, it adds a richer visual effect with more character and loveliness to your décor.

Step Four: Measuring with Ease

Use our “Measuring Tips” to help you precisely measure for your drapery treatments. Use a steal measuring tape to ensure accuracy. Write down all window measurements and label each window so that no mistakes are made. If using a rod that is already in place, measure the rod face width, the rod projection, and the length from the top of rod to wherever drape will hang.

About Us

Customer Service

Policies

Orders & Shipping

Products

Hardware & Accessories

Design Your Own Draperies specializes in custom made window treatments including draperies , window valances and curtains made to your exact specifications with beautiful details. Choose from hundreds of decorator fabrics and pretty trims to create a personal look uniquely yours. We offer a simple rod pocket valance line as well as our signature custom valance line which offers a more custom look. Panel styles include rod pocket, pinch pleated, goblet pleated, grommet, and flat panels. We carry an extraordinary line of silk panels including solid Thai silk, striped and plaid silks, as well as patterned and embroidered silks. Select a custom bed headboard with a pretty slipcover to match your window treatment. We carry a high quality line of fabrics and we order from well-known manufacturers like Waverly, Fabricut, Duralee, Robert Allen and others. Design Your Own Draperies offers a beautiful line of drapery hardware giving you a choice of plantation wood rods, wrought iron rods, and metal rods. We offer hand-crafted 1”, 2”, and 2 ½” horizontal and vertical wood and faux wood blinds. Select from a wide variety of wood cornices to, perfectly match all wood blinds. Select from a beautiful line of fabric shades including a pleated balloon shade and 4 Roman shade styles.