Exciting changes!

We should be getting a brand new website up and running sometime soon that will have our blog incorporated! I haven't been posting much because of that, but wanted to quickly remind everyone that our showroom is now open from 8AM-7PM on Tuesdays and Thursdays!

 

We also have tons of awesome promos going on with Hunter Douglas right now!

 

$300 savings/unit Duette Vertiglide® Honeycomb Shades with Duolite™



$100 savings/unit Duette Vertiglide Honeycomb Shades



$100 savings/unit Luminette® Privacy Sheers or Modern Draperies



$100 savings/unit Skyline® Gliding Window Panels



$100 savings/unit Vignette® Traversed™ with Vertiglide™ Modern Roman Shades



$50 savings/unit Pirouette® Window Shadings



$50 savings/unit Silhouette® Window Shadings



$40 savings/unit Vignette® Modern Roman Shades



$25 savings/unit Duette® Architella® Honeycomb Shades

For more information please visit: http://bretzinteriors.hdspd.com/specials/specials/sb.cn

So stop by for a visit and take a look our wide variety of flooring and window covering products!

Hunter Douglas Fall Promotions

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Decorating-Ideas.html?soid=1102968923389&aid=RJCITbXh-jw

We just launched our fall promotions on Hunter Douglas Products! There are some amazing savings to take advantage of.

Call us at 303.234.1727 or shoot an email to Pat at pat@bretzinteriors.com for more information!

Use and Beauty

"Have nothing in your homes that you do not know

to be useful and believe to be beautiful." William Morris

I read blogs a lot. My favorites bar is filled with blogs that talk about life and living and home improvement and budgeting. I often stumble upon random sentences, paragraphs, etc that speak to me deeply and I think, "I should write about this."

I'm not a talented blogger. I often run off on tangents that don't make much sense to anyone but myself as I am in my own brain. But, I love to share things that are meaningful to me, things that I hope may help someone in some way.

The quote above, about filling your homes with useful and beautiful things, speaks to me in many forms. I am a photographer, I work in the floor/window coverings industry, I try my absolute best to be a cook, a wife, a homeowner, a friend, and a family member. This quote speaks to me on all those levels.

As a photographer, I believe you should fill your home with photographs that are filled with emotion and memories. As a cook, I feel you should fill your home with the tools necessary to make the meals that bring comfort, health, and happiness in your home. As a wife, I want to fill my home with love and comfort. As a friend, I want to express my appreciation for their companionship and create a welcoming environment. As a family member, I want to fill my home with unconditional love and affection. 

And because I work in the floor/window covering industry, I also understand the importance of having a strong starting point to assist my home in being all I hope and wish for. I understand that having a good quality floor will decrease our stress of worrying about staining and wear & tear, and assist us in keeping a healthy, beautiful home. I know that our window coverings will assist us in keeping our energy costs down, while also providing wonderful light control and kicking up the beauty factor in our home. I know our floor and window coverings can bring comfort and individual style that can tie together the rest of our home decorating. I know that although we don't HAVE to pay close attention to these things to have a beautiful home, that it will benefit us in the long run. We will know we have purchased good quality products for fairly permanent fixtures in our home.

We will know we are filling our home with a beautiful & useful foundation to a healthy and happy home.

Remodeling On a Budget

Monday was my anniversary. My husband and I have been married for a year. We had a really big year last year. We got engaged, bought a house, got married, and if all of that wasn't enough, I also started a photography business.

This year we have slowed down a bit and have started to focus a bit more on our house, but there is so much to be done that we often feel overwhelmed and stuck. We don't even know where to start. We are in that middle ground of wanting to create beauty in our home and not being able to afford what we want, much like many people our age who are just starting out their "adult" lives.

We have friends that are avid Craigslisters. Basically everything they have done to their home was a Craigslist purchase. And as far as I know, they are pleased with all of their purchases. Probably because they didn't feel bad about spray painting chairs they got for super cheap to fit their own style and or needs. I LOVE the idea of our home being filled with wonderfully recycled products that we tweak to fit exactly our style, but the TIME involved... We just don't have the TIME to dedicate to it. We don't even have kids. It is just us and our wonderful but allergic to everything black lab/hound, Piper. Well, us and our full time jobs and my "part-time" photography business. And our general lack of corresponding schedules. And our TV. And my photo editing. Okay, so we COULD have time, I'm sure, but we don't want to MAKE time for getting creative with Craigslist. But that wouldn't really help us with the big stuff like our floors and windows.

We bought a foreclosure. Honestly, short sales and foreclosures are the only thing on the market aside from mansions. We are lucky in that the house was not completely trashed when we bought the place. The yard was a little scary.. 6 foot tall weeds all over the place, but the house itself was in pretty good condition. The carpet was dirty but cleanable and will probably last a bit longer. We have engineered hardwood in the kitchen that is in okay shape, but the install job was not done very well. We have horrible vertical blinds that are just a bit too long for the windows and the vanes stick when you're opening the blinds. They flap in the wind if the window is open, and they also let light into our room at night, allowing the moon and or lights to seep through. They are my least favorite things in the whole house.

So, I thought that perhaps I should put together some product information for first time home buyers who are looking for quality but can't afford to spend the big bucks at this point in their life.

Carpet. If you are looking for a good quality carpet that is going to wear well for a good chunk of time, look fairly nice, and hold up to kids, dogs, constantly cleaning, stains etc, Mohawk has a great product called SmartStrand.

Not even joking, they put this product in with rhino at a zoo for two weeks and let them do their business all over it and then cleaned it and the carpet cleaned incredibly well. Watch a video below. They also do a durability test with elephants, rhinos, and camels and the carpet bounced back really well.

http://www.mohawkflooring.com/smartstrand/challenge/default.aspx
Polyesters are also carpet fibers that clean fairly well, and because the technology has improved so much, the durability has improved quite a bit as well. It is less expensive than most nylon products and if you spend a bit more you can get a great polyester product that will wear better than some of the lower end nylons.

If you don't want to mess with carpet and would much rather have a hard surface but can't afford hardwood or engineered hardwood, I'd suggest looking at a vinyl product. Honestly, anyone with kids or pets should seriously consider vinyl or laminate. Armstrong and now Karndean have come out with Luxury Vinyl Tile products that look remarkably like real hardwood because the digital photography has come so far. There are also some really interesting patterns for kitchen and bathrooms in vinyl sheet flooring that really do look like real ceramic tile when installed.

For window coverings, if you want a step up from your generic aluminum mini blinds, cellular shades offer great UV protection and are very energy efficient, especially if you go to a double cell. Composite wood blinds are also fairly inexpensive and still provide a great wood look that will last.

Hunter Douglas provides excellent quality and they are always creating great ways to save money through their energy efficient window coverings.

If you have any questions, please call us! We'd love to hear from you! We would also love for you to stop by our showroom to take a look at these products!

Our showroom is open the following hours:

Monday, Wednesday - 8 AM - 5 PM
Tuesday, Thursday- 8 AM- 7 PM
Friday - 8 AM- 4:30 PM

Come visit us during our new extended hours during September and receive a complementary bottle of Carpet Odor and Spot Remover spray!

Bretz Interiors

1585 Allison St

Lakewood, CO 80214

303.234.1721

A little sunshine today

I pulled up to work today feeling exhausted because of a less than superb night of sleep. Pat, my mom, pulled up just moments after I did. As we walked in the office together she told me that my 13 year old dog (who really is her dog as I have moved out of the house and he did not come with me and he has been a great companion to her all these years) is going to be put to sleep today.

A few months ago we found out that he has a growth in his throat and his health has been steadily going down for awhile now. This morning he definitely took a turn for the worse so we made the decision that today needs to be the day.

My friend and her kids stopped by to bring me a smile today (and coffee!) and it made me feel better watching them run around our showroom playing make believe. Willow pretends she is a puppy and  adorably crawls all over her big sister Guin, rubbing her head on everything while going "ruff ruff ruff". Cutest thing ever.

But as I watched them run around and check out all sorts of stuff in here, I was remembering what it was like growing up with a mom that has worked and owned her own business and spending quite a bit of time with her at her business. I remember the old showroom when we were off of 6th and Federal area and how much fun I would have running around and dancing with this stuffed cowboy thing that had these long gangly legs and arms and a big ole mustache and a cowboy hat. I remember going through the wallpaper books and eating fishy crackers in the breakroom while watching the old black and white TV on days that I was sick and couldn't go to school. I remember being horribly bored but glad that I got to spend time with my mom and so happy I got to see my grandpa and grandma. I remember thinking the building was huge and that there were endless places to run and hide.

It made me smile watching these little girls run around being kids in a pretty adult environment and still being able to have fun. It makes me smile knowing that everyone in this office is so open to people bringing their kids here. We all know that parents have a responsibility to their kids, but still need to get things done. It is what our family owned business really has been built on and I'm proud to be a part of it. From childhood memories to learning the business and growing within it, even on days when I'd like to pull a cover over my head and not deal with the grown up things in life, I am glad to be here with my family and friends.

I'm glad to have friends who are willing to drive from Broomfield to Lakewood to bring me a coffee and a hug and glad to have awesome kids in my life to make me rememeber that all the bad things in the world feel just a little bit easier to handle when you have a little one give you a sweet snuggle.

Thanks to these awesome kids for giving me a smile today!

Bamboo Hardwood

I just read this great article on Bamboo flooring. It has many great points and they list Teragren as one of the top manufacturing companies for Bamboo products, which we have found to be the best company to work with for bamboo, and they definitely have a wonderful product. I've copied some of the most important information to research when looking into bamboo flooring.

http://www.bamboohardwoodflooring.net/

"THE PROS & CONS OF BAMBOO HARDWOOD FLOORING
If you've done your research on bamboo hardwood flooring, you will surely have come across some controversy. There are many forum posts by disgruntled home owners displeased with their dented and scratched bamboo hardwood flooring, only to be tempered by a handful of happy buyers who say their bamboo flooring has been holding up for years. Furthermore, there's the whole debate on just how sustainable bamboo flooring really is. So who's right you ask? Well, that all depends. By no means is all bamboo flooring sub-par. What it really comes down to is a "case by case" basis. Some bamboo plantations are sustainable and engage in fair-trade practices, while others are not. Some manufacturers use toxic amounts of formaldehyde in their processing while others do not. Some bamboo is misleadingly marketed as being harder than oak, while other brands are indeed actually harder! When all is said and done, the answer to whether or not purchasing bamboo hardwood flooring can be better for the environment is.... YES!!!!

What it all comes down to is the cultivation of the bamboo itself and the manufacturing process that turns the miracle grass into hardwood bamboo flooring. Not to sound biased or anything, the pros of properly cultivated and manufactured bamboo flooring truly outweigh the cons. In fact, if you go with the best brands and proper type of flooring best suited to your needs, as opposed to the cheapest priced bamboo flooring out there, you'll find there's no cons at all. In other words, if you don't want any regrets about your decision to buy bamboo hardwood flooring, you will need to do some research on bamboo hardwood floor brands and retailers. Based on the seemingly countless customer testimonials (horror stories in some cases), forum posts and research we've done, the following guidelines are provided to help ensure you are happy with your final selection of bamboo hardwood flooring for years to come."

If you have any questions about products we carry, please call us at 303.234.1727 and we can assist you with answers!

Get Creative With Your Tile!

Tile is a great way to add a splash of personality to your home. The possibilities are pretty endless these days with tile and listelles. Between ceramic, porcelain, stone and glass you have a wide variety of materials to mix and match throughout your home adding pops of color or a more interesting neutral to your overall look within your home.



One of my favorite looks at the moment is painted tile to create murals. The wonderful thing about using painted wall tile instead of wallpaper is that you can easily just do a mural in one section of your wall or you can do the whole wall and still make it look cohesive and flawless while adding dimension to the room.

Apartment Therapy

Another great look is adding glass mosaic tile to your ceramic backsplash. You can bring pops of color into your backsplash and create beautiful depth perception by combining two different styles of tile.





Visit our showroom and take a look at our wide selection of tile. We carry several brands and have wonderful installers and consultation experts who can assist in creating a wonderful look in your home or business.

Bretz Interiors

1585 Allison St.

Lakewood, CO  80214

303-234-1727

303-237-6838 Fax

kyla@bretzinteriors.com

www.bretzinteriors.com

Beauty without expression is boring

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, " Beauty without expression is boring." I think that statement can be said in regards to pretty much anything. When we stop playing it safe and our self-expression comes out, it is pretty incredible to witness. It is what makes us great at anything we do.

The other day I went to the Denver Design Center for the first time. It was, in a word... okay, I'm not sure I can really describe it in a word. It was almost like being a kid, biting into a big piece of chocolate (or vanilla or whatever is your favorite) cake for the very first time. (I'm pretty sure I used this analogy as I am, at this moment, biting into a delicious chocolate mousse cake.) It is something new and exciting for someone who is just entering the world of design.

But with all the (very) expensive items in the Design Center it got me thinking about how we often are willing to spend money on couches, dining sets, bedroom furniture etc but we often want the least expensive thing when it comes to our flooring and window coverings because it is such a large up front expense all at once. But the flooring and window coverings in your home can really pull together a complete look to your home and accentuate the self-expression we all strive to show in our homes.
With the amount of options available these days with flooring and windows, it is absurd to not think of them as being a personal statement within your home. It may not be the first thing that someone notices in your home right now, but why shouldn't it be? 

Teragren Paris Black
Wide-plank, high-traffic strand bamboo flooring with Xcora™ technology

Allow your hardwood, carpet, etc. pull together a room so people take notice of how much time and energy you put into your home. Hunter Douglas window shadings provide very unique designs in many types of fabric and colors to enhance the environment and produce amazing lighting in your home while protecting the furniture and art you purchase for those special touches.

Hunter Douglas Alustra® Luminette® Privacy Sheers with Combination Wand/Cord system

Let us assist you in exploring the possibilities in your home or office! Our showroom has a vast variety of products and our knowledgeable professionals will assist you in coordinating a beautiful look that you will enjoy for years to come.

Contact us for a complimentary in home consultation today or to stop by our showroom!

Hunter Douglas Shutters

My husband and I are in the process of updating our window coverings in our home. We are in a pretty neat situation where we only have one window per room in our house so we are ordering several types of window coverings. The one we are most excited about is the NewStyle® hybrid shutter we are putting in our master bedroom.

No, this is NOT my house. But I'd like it to be!!

 I used to be a very heavy sleeper, but in the past few years I wake up at everything and anything. And light is one of my worst enemies while sleeping. We currently have these horrible vertical blinds in our house and we can't open windows because they rattle. Light from the street lamp behind our house also seems to find its way into our room, and of course, right into my eyes at night. So, I'm incredibly excited to have something in our bedroom that will allow me to open my window without obnoxious noise, while still keeping light out of the room.

The NewStyle® hybrid shutters are very neat. These shutters combine the great style of wood with the strength, stability, and straightness of advanced modern-day materials. This is also an affordable alternative to all wood shutters while still providing the elegance of quality shutters. 

The shutters have two options on tilt bars. You have the classic front tilt bar which you will see in the middle of the front of the shutter. But they have also come out with a back tilt bar (seen below) that hides the tilt bar in the back of the shutter to give you more view through of your window.

Explore the possibilities in your home with a complimentary in-home consultation!

Bretz Interiors 303-234-1727

Hunter Douglas Silhouettes

I love living in Colorado.  We have the beautiful mountains, the wide open plains, and great city life that give us a long list of activities that you can do, no matter what the weather is like.

Many homes here in Colorado are built to show the beautiful views, whatever the landscape is. Builders often spend a lot of time focusing on creating these beautiful big windows that allow breathtaking views. So when it comes time to find window coverings that will work, many home owners are befuddled. Do you keep the windows uncovered and keep that great view while risking privacy? Or do you cover the view and keep the privacy of your home in tact?

Why not have both privacy AND a great view? All while keeping your energy efficiency level up pretty dang high!

Hunter Douglas has a great product called “Silhouette” which allows great see-through, a vane tilting option that allows privacy, and the two layers of sheer fabric also provide 88% ultraviolet protection (Up to 99% when the vanes are closed completely!).

Silhouette has a S-Vane that is suspended between two sheers which diffuses softened light deep into the room. The vanes can be tilted and closed to provide privacy. Silhouettes are great whether you have a view to die for or you just want something that will help you keep track of kids playing outside all while keeping the UV damage to your furniture or flooring at bay.

So when you are looking for privacy, view through, great light, and UV protection, make sure you check out Hunter Douglas Silhouettes! From now until September 11th Hunter Douglas is having a great rebate promotion as well!

Save $100 on 2 Silhouette window shadings plus $50 off eachadditional unit!

 Let us help you explore the possibilities with a complimentary in home consultation!

Contact Pat at 303-234-2132 or pat@bretzinteriors.com