Hi and welcome to my site! I’m Jann Newton, designer and owner of Newton Custom Interiors, my home-based drapery business which is located in central Illinois.
Thanks for visiting my design and decor website, which is a hybrid site for Newton Custom Interiors and my creative blog. Whether you’re looking for an experienced drapery designer, or are searching for some do-it-yourself projects, I hope this site will inspire you to create the home you’ve always wanted!
My mom taught me to sew when I was a little girl, and later, while in college, I studied interior design. In 2000, I combined these two passions to start my drapery business – Newton Custom Interiors. I LOVE fabrics, and enjoy using them to create beautiful window treatments, pillows and lots of other projects. I’m excited to be sharing some of these projects and sewing tutorials here on my blog.
I’m also a big fan of do-it-yourself projects. My dad taught me how to use tools to build things, and I especially enjoy using my power tools! My husband and I have been renovating our own home, and I’ll be sharing that journey with you too. You might want to check out our Home Tour page to see our progress.
One of my favorite projects from our home renovation, is our master bedroom dressers. My how to paint furniture post shows step-by-step how I transformed the dressers with paint, and it’s become my most popular blog post.
Recently, I taught a class for Craftsy.com called Custom Bedding – Decorative Shams & Bolsters. I show how to make three kinds of bedding pillows – euro shams, flanged shams and bolster pillows. It was a great experience!
My husband and I live in Illinois, and we have two grown children. We also have three wonderful grandchildren, who we enjoy spending as much time with as we can.
I’m so happy you stopped by. If you have any questions, you can contact me by e-mail.
You can view my gallery page to see examples of my work.
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Look orward to seeing your creative projects.
I have a question about the length of a valance. I am dramatizing my window and romanticizing my bed. Seriously, I have found some beautiful paisly/floral fabric for a dust ruffle to coordinate with my beige/stone solid comforter. I also want to make a matching valance to hang above my chocolate, room-darkening window panels. My valance will be almost to the ceiling. During the day my side panels are pulled back. Should I make the valance long enough to cover the top of the window or should it be above the window where I can see a little wall? I think I should only see “window” when I am finished and no wall above the window. Any thoughts? Hope that newest grandbaby has made its appearance and you have a new love in your life 🙂 Thank you for your thoughts.
Jan, definitely make the valance long enough to cover the wall. It should be long enough that it covers the wall and the window trim. Good luck!
Thank you ~ that’s the answer I was hoping for. So my valance will be about 24 inches to come below the top edge of the window. I found a sample I’m going to attempt to duplicate with tiny piping at top and bottom, a strip of contrast right where the rod goes with tabs and buttons exposed on the “right” side. I may have it done by Labor Day 🙂 Enjoy your summer and I’m quite happy I found your site — very inspiring.
Hey Jan, Love your site! Thank you for making available!
Thanks Faye! I’m glad you enjoy it!