After procrastinating habitually, I finally got down to getting full length curtains done up in gold tone for my TV room.
Limited budget
Shopping for curtains with a limited budget was quite a challenge for us given my high expectations as I was notorious for being fussy.
For a change, I have decided not to tap on informative sources such as the forum as I didn't seem to have much luck in finding a suitable fit between our expectations and what's recommended.
I went through almost all the curtain making shops located at Joo Chiat Complex & Tanjong Katong Complex but I wasn't exceptionally impressed by what's displayed in showrooms. Perhaps my confidence with posh-looking curtain showrooms had been somewhat corroded after reading about complaints of the wide discrepancies in workmanship quality for customisation of curtains. As such, I viewed most of the curtains on display in these showrooms with a sceptical perspective.
Limited budget
Shopping for curtains with a limited budget was quite a challenge for us given my high expectations as I was notorious for being fussy.
For a change, I have decided not to tap on informative sources such as the forum as I didn't seem to have much luck in finding a suitable fit between our expectations and what's recommended.
I went through almost all the curtain making shops located at Joo Chiat Complex & Tanjong Katong Complex but I wasn't exceptionally impressed by what's displayed in showrooms. Perhaps my confidence with posh-looking curtain showrooms had been somewhat corroded after reading about complaints of the wide discrepancies in workmanship quality for customisation of curtains. As such, I viewed most of the curtains on display in these showrooms with a sceptical perspective.
Selecting a curtain maker
I know that many of you out there might just gag or find it a huge turn-off when you observe that the name of the curtain maker is somewhat far from being glamorous... And quite old-school to start with.
From my perspective, there isn't anything wrong in engaging the services of a small establishment in the heartland region if they are able to deliver great results.
As such, I would suggest that fellow bloggers, especially new home owners who are in need of curtains, follow through this write-up prior to passing it up.
For those who are interested in exploring customisation of curtains with the shop that we have selected, kindly touch base with the lady boss (程珠莲女士) based on the following contact details:
Contact number : 6-7896723 / 93201277
Hong Fu Fashion & Design
鸿福时装设计
Blk 475 Tampines Street 43
#01-135
Singapore 520475
(next to the wet market)
I chanced upon this curtain shop at Tampines Street 43 while I was visiting my Chinese sinseh whose clinic is also located in the same neighbourhood. I was pleasantly surprised that her curtain fabrics are of very decent quality even though the lady boss herself informed me that they were imported directly from China by herself.
Not that there is anything wrong in China made products but I wasn't expecting to find such curtain quality in the heartland region. The sewing for her curtains is excellent too!
The lady boss is a humble, petite-looking and polite, Chinese speaking PRC national who deals with every detail from taking orders to customising curtains (sewn from scratch or requiring alterations) and alteration of garments. I never fail to notice how creative she got in widening the girth of a black Punjabi dress when I first stepped into her shop.
To start with, the shop's location is definitely unimpressive as it's located at the exterior of the wet market where human traffic is at its peak during the mornings and weekends.
To start with, the shop's location is definitely unimpressive as it's located at the exterior of the wet market where human traffic is at its peak during the mornings and weekends.
Our curtain requirements
As we had specific colour requirements for our curtains because of personal preferences, she had been kind enough to import a roll of gold tone dim-out fabric during her return trip to China sometime in June 2013 (this year).
Apart from the gold tone for the fabric, we also require a 100% black-out effect which would have cost a lot more should we purchase it from a curtain specialist - I did my homework on that.
As such, we gave very specific instructions that we require a "double-sided" dim-out curtain to achieve that 100% black-out effect. Although we would have preferred the fabric to be smooth without any texturizing, the embossed version of gold tone fabric that she had ordered for us was acceptable too.
As such, we gave very specific instructions that we require a "double-sided" dim-out curtain to achieve that 100% black-out effect. Although we would have preferred the fabric to be smooth without any texturizing, the embossed version of gold tone fabric that she had ordered for us was acceptable too.
A beautiful outcome
(Due to lighting limitations, our curtains are not accurately depicted in all the photographs where the gold tone of the fabric is concerned)
(Due to lighting limitations, our curtains are not accurately depicted in all the photographs where the gold tone of the fabric is concerned)
Even though the curtains are extremely heavy due to the double layering of fabric, the sewing is very well done from my perspective as a discerning (and fussy) shopper for our home.
Please allow me to share her beautiful workmanship for our gold curtains as shown in the photographs attached below.
I do not profess to be an expert in ascertaining what's best with curtains but I noticed that the lady boss doesn't cut corners by piercing curtain hooks straight into the fabric as what I have observed with some heartland curtain makers.
For the purpose of demonstrating how she had sewn curtain pleats such that the curtain hook could be inserted without causing any damages to the curtain, I had taken the liberty to pull out one of the curtain hooks and re-inserting it as shown in the photographs below.
The pointed & sharp end of the curtain hook is inserted into a "groove" that had been created by pleats sewn on the other side of the curtain:
The hook is then pushed into the "groove" carefully as shown in the photograph:
Getting ready to mount the curtains on the curtain track running at the entrance of our TV room!
As both sides of the curtains are made of the same dim-out gold tone fabric, the section that shows the curtain hooks is the reverse side of the curtains which would be concealed by the L-box for our false ceiling. The pleated side would be visible to visitors.
The reverse side of the curtains (Photograph taken during the night):
Photograph taken during the day - you could visibly see how the curtain was able to shield the glare coming through the windows of our TV room into the living area.
(In view of the lighting limitations when the photograph was taken, the curtain looks a lot better & expensive looking when seen in reality)
A close-up photograph of the embossed texture for gold tone fabric of our curtain:
(due to lighting limitations, the actual fabric colour differs from the actual product)
More photographs of the gold tone curtains taken during different times of the day:
Bronzy-gold coloured, double-faced curtains
Prior to us acquiring this set of gold tone curtains, she had also done up another set of dual-faced curtains for us.
The fabric texture is such that it is reversible and "double-faced" in that both sides of the curtain fabrics could be used. The so-called front side was a richly textured silky bronzy colour with floral prints & a hint of goldish undertone (depending on lighting) as shown below :
The reverse side of the curtain fabric has a suede-like texture and looks like this:
In view of lighting limitations in my TV room while photograph is done, I had great difficulties capturing the actual colour tone of these bronzy curtains when I hung it up on the ceiling curtain tracks.
As such, the presentation of the curtains in the following photograph isn't a true reflection of the actual product in terms of colour (for the true colour of the curtain fabric, please refer to the photograph preceding to the above which shows the reverse side of the curtain fabric).
Other collections
The lady boss from Hong Fu (Tampines Street 43) has also done up a set of cushion covers for 2 standard sized square pillows for complementing our mustard coloured sofa set.
I left an old cushion cover with her so that she could use it as a reference. It so happened that the zipper of the old cover opens at the mid-section rather than at the edge (side) and I was pleasantly surprised how the print placement made the cushion so nice to look at!
However, I was shocked to see that green zippers were used! Anyways, it still looked good on the front. :)
The lady boss also customised a table runner for a shelf that was installed right behind our headboard in our bedroom as shown in the photograph below:
Of late, Hubby Dearest extended the shelving length-wise so we would be getting the lady boss to sew us new runners ...
If this blogging entry does interest you, please stay tuned for further updates once they are available.
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Disclaimer:
Kindly note that this blogging entry is created strictly for the purpose of sharing my humble & objective views of products and services provided by the aforesaid company.
I am not affiliated to any of the persons & companies mentioned in this blogging entry.
Reader's discretion is therefore sought when viewing this thread.
Thank you for your kind understanding.
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