I delivered these balloon valances (the other is not visible in pictures) a couple weeks before Christmas. When my client saw them up, she said, "I don't like them. I don't like khaki." Well, that upset me greatly, though I did my best to remain calm. It would have been very helpful to me if she or the designer had mentioned this kind-of-important fact to me before I made them. And when I saw the picture of it, I thought, 'she's right, they really don't look that good.'
The solution was to unmount them from the boards, which would involve removing the million staples I had used to make sure it was nice and secure, and reverse the pleats so that the turquoise that ended up inside the poofs would be out and the khaki that she did not care for would be inside. I literally thought, and worried, about this all through Christmas. And when I got back, I texted her and said that, of course, I would happily fix them.
Turned out, though that the designer had fooled with them and was able to somehow pull enough of the turquoise out of the pleat that the client was happy. I had to admit when I saw it that it wasn't bad. Yes, the khaki is still prominent, but at least the prettier color is now showing.
Although it is not so evident in the pictures, this fabric is really quite lovely. And incredibly expensive! It is from Designers Guild and, at wholesale, it is $250 a yard. The fabric alone for these two windows was $1000!
I learned a valuable lesson on this job...make sure the likes and dislikes of certain colors are communicated clearly to me. I make what I am told to make, but I do not want a client to be unhappy with something that I've done, whether my fault or not. And while it would have been a huge pain to 'fix' these balloon shades, I would have done it. Even though my client was not initially happy, in the end, she was. And that made me happy!
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