Designers are displaying their passion for trimmings on every available edge and surface, from draperies and cornices to lampshades, pillows and other accessories. Passamenterie -- a French term for tassles, gimps, tiebacks, trims, fringe, braid and cording -- is one area of the window fashion market that has gained popularity as an important trend in home design.

"Our customers are asking for more ornate, embellished treatments", said Bruce Heyman, owner of Fabricland of North Plainfield, Nassaus Window Fashions of Paramus and current president of the Window Coverings Association of America (WCAA). His stores, which offer a free Shop at Home Custom Decorating Service , also carry the largest selection of ready-made window fashions, fabrics and trimmings in New Jersey. "In our experience, people who are in the process of decorating their homes tend to spend more money on luxurious accessories and better products to enhance and beautify their window treatments, " Mr. Heyman continued. "Our Shop at Home and in-store decorating teams are creating more formal styles using very elegant fabrics -- silks, damasks, embroidered sheers, brocades and velvets for Austrian and Empire valances, intricately-layererd draperies, richly upholstered cornices and top treatments embellished with lots of trims, tassles and tiebacks."

While trimmings are most often used with draperies, the popularity of the products have expanded to lampshades, decorative pillows, bedding, linens, wall hangings and upholstery products. Their use can transform the most mundane home fashion into an art form. "Sparkling beads, cozy chenille, jute, silk, whimsical feathers, as well as eclectic natural-fiber embellishments inspire decorators to a new level of creativity", explains Heyman. "Layers of trim -- beading, embroidery and metallic threads -- mark a trend toward more elaborate styles," he continues, " and our decorators are using these elements on edges of draperies, on swags and jabots, on furniture and bedding to lend decorative impact especially when combined with heavily textured and woven fabrics like brocades, velvets, tapestries, double weaves and jacquard designs.