Window Treatment Talk

Should you buy window treatments from small or large retailers? Here is a link to a great blog post posted by one of my colleagues, a Hunter Douglas Gallery in Columbus Ohio. Big Box Retailers or Big Mistake?

This is the newest article from Sally Morse, Director of Creative Services for Hunter Douglas. Promises, promises: Every year as the days get shorter and the temperatures start to drop, we vow to make our homes warmer and cozier. Increasingly, we're also looking for ways to do that while lowering our heating needs, as rising energy costs are affecting everyone's pocketbook! To me, a cozy room is synonymous with a stylish room, an inviting place where I want to relax and entertain family and friends. And few things instantly transform a room with style like the just-right window fashion. You'll not only find that perfect window fashion at Hunter Douglas, you'll find highly energy-efficient products. In fact, Hunter Douglas window fashions are an extremely effective way to conserve energy at the window. Not only do their insulating qualities help to keep rooms warmer in the winter, their ability to diffuse and disperse light deeper into a room means less need for elec

We are collecting toys this year for Toys for Tots. If you would like to donate a new, unwrapped toy drop by our showroom. Let's help make this Christmas special for some kids that could use it. It breaks my heart to think of kids not waking up Christmas morning to the delight of new toys. Let us know if you would like to help out, or drop by our showroom at any time during our business hours. Monday-Thursday 10-6, and Friday 10-3.  801-942-7500.

1. Keep it minimal . Strip away heavy treatments and replace with simple shades. One path to less fabric is using an upholstered cornice. It is a great way to still have fabric and color and some great detail at your windows without a lot of fabric. 2. Lighten Up .  Natural light in the kitchen is essential. Choose a shade that offers privacy and still allow plenty of light to enter the room.   3. Pick Current colors .  If your using fabric, make sure it is a comtemporary tone, terra cotta shades mixed with green are very "in". Blacks and golds. You can also mix cotton fabric prints, either within a treatment or coordinating a print in the valance or cornice with another print on the cushion seats or place mats. If your kitchen is particularly tiny, then light, cool colors can make it look larger and brighter, while dark, warm colors can make an oversized kitchen more inviting. 4. Use Texture .  Another hot trend is Roman shades made of rattan, bamboo or other natural f

According to information provided by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, since 1990, more than 200 infants and young children have died from accidentally strangling in window cords. Hunter Douglas takes this very seriously and strives to manufacture their blinds and shades with enhanced child safety features. From cordless manual and motorized operating systems, retractable lift cords, cord tensioners and wand controls, we offer a wide array of innovative lifting system options for enhanced child and pet safety as well as especially easy operation. Also designed with safety in mind, Vignette ® Modern Roman Shades are constructed with no cords across the back of the shade to eliminate potential hazards associated with these cords. View of the back of a vignette shade. No exposed cords. Download the available child safety brochure for more information about the innovative operating system options available on individual Hunter Douglas product collections. For addit

This is the newest article written by Sally Morse, Director of Creative Services for Hunter Douglas. For more on Sally, visit her column here: http://www.hunterdouglas.com/design-trends.jsp Promises, promises: Every year as the days get shorter and the temperatures start to drop, we vow to make our homes warmer and cozier. Increasingly, we're also looking for ways to do that while lowering our heating needs, as rising energy costs are affecting everyone's pocketbook! To me, a cozy room is synonymous with a stylish room, an inviting place where I want to relax and entertain family and friends. And few things instantly transform a room with style like the just-right window fashion. You'll not only find that perfect window fashion at Hunter Douglas, you'll find highly energy-efficient products. In fact, Hunter Douglas window fashions are an extremely effective way to conserve energy at the window. Not only do their insulating qualities help to keep rooms warmer in the

I love fall, for many reasons, but one of them is the great rebates Hunter Douglas always offers for the Fall Promotion. Fall is the time everyone is starting to gear up and get there homes beautified (is that a word?) for the upcoming holiday season, therefore it is also the time Hunter Douglas offers the best rebates of the year. As well as some free upgrades! Along with the great rebates, fall is also the time to focus on child safety throughout the home, and with doing so, Hunter Douglas is offering free upgrades to the most child safe lifting systems, so in addition to the great rebates being offered, you can also receive free LiteRise® cordless system, or Ultraglide® retractable on select products for a limited time. Call us for more information, and definitely don't hesitate to take advantage of these savings!

Continuing on with even more specialty shapes and design challenges with hard to cover windows: French Doors: French doors are distinguishable because both sides open as opposed to only one. While virtually any Hunter Douglas window fashion can be outfitted for French doors, keep in mind that they are typically mounted "outside" of the opening (beyond the glass frame), which may require the use of extension brackets or spacer blocks for proper handle clearance. Regardless of which product you choose, you'll enjoy a beautiful look and greater lighting control and energy efficiency. Cut-outs: Cut-outs provide on opportunity to cover windows with unique architectural elements and are suggested for clearance around obstructions such as door handles, window cranks and levers on operable windows. Creating a truly customized look, many Hunter Douglas window fashions are available in a variety of cut-out shapes, including bottom side, center and even headrail cu

Every house has at least one of these design obstacles...specialty shaped windows and how to cover them. I love the look and architectural detail that uniquely shaped windows add to a home, but they can be a challenge to cover. Hunter Douglas probably has the best selection of specialty shaped options, and they are constantly striving to improve them and add more options all the time. I was at a customers home the other day that had some angle top windows and he said he had been checking around for quite some time, and Hunter Douglas was the only manufacturer that had a product that would work on his windows. There is a reason why Hunter Douglas has quite a name for themselves. Here are some examples of specialty shaped windows that Hunter Douglas manufactures a product for. I will break it down into 2 posts. If you have any of these issues in your home that you want to find a solution for, give us a call and we would be happy to go over your options with you. Angles:

  HGTV'S color of the month for August is Chrome Yellow. While a very bright cheerful color, it can be very overwhelming. I like it as an accent to add a pop of color in a room. Here are some ideas of how to use yellow in your decor.  Yellow walls really make these black pleated shades from Hunter Douglas pop.   A very warm room with the yellow walls and the warm tones of the wood blinds  Yellow and Grey together is a very popular choice in home decor these days, and while I don't necessarily love yellow, I do love grey, and I really like the two together.  (photo source)   I love this idea! So fun! (photo source)   (photo source) 

Hunter Douglas brand products are designed and custom-assembled in the United States to assure that American consumers have the superb quality, outstanding service and enduring style they expect and deserve for their homes. An exclusive Hunter Douglas network of fabrication companies with facilities around the country work in the communities they serve. They understand the local and regional needs and offer top-quality products and unparalleled support to their retail customers. “Our over 5,000 United States employees are very proud to be providing our customers with the finest quality and most innovative products available anywhere while supporting the local communities where they work and live,” said Hunter Douglas President and CEO Marv Hopkins. Underscoring the excellence of American design and craftsmanship, an exclusive Hunter Douglas Lifetime Guarantee instills confidence and trust that all the company’s products are of the highest quality and workmanship. A dedicated Colorad

When it comes time to decide whether you want your custom window treatments with a motorized operating system, convenience is a key consideration–but it is not the only one. Enhanced safety is another benefit. As is greater energy efficiency. Below, you can browse the benefits of all our motorized operating systems. Virtually every Hunter Douglas product can be outfitted with a motorized system–we offer the most innovative technology in the industry. The system appropriate for your custom window coverings depends mostly on the type of product you purchase. Some systems raise and lower window treatments and adjust slats, vanes and louvers, while others move the window covering from side to side, rotating vanes and louvers. PowerTilt™ with Platinum™ Technology The PowerTilt battery-powered system easily tilts slats open or closed. To use the 'point and press' method, simply point the remote at the satellite eye and press the UP or DOWN button to tilt the slats. Or select a

Here are some before and after pictures of a job we just completed. What a transformation. This customer really wanted to block out the UV from the sun coming through her large windows and causing her wood flooring and furniture to fade. She also wanted an updated look from the draperies she had on there before. The Silhouette shades were a perfect choice for her, allowing her to still have her fantastic view (her home sits right on a river bank) and blocking out those UV rays at the same time. We motorized the upper windows to give her the ease of operating those with just a remote control. She loves them! Before After

I must say, I love HGTV's July Color of the month. LIME It is so refreshing, and I love the color for decorating!   Hunter Douglas Vignette Roman Shades Hunter Douglas Vignette Roman Shades Photo source Photo source Photo source So...here are a few window treatment ideas using this color or a variance of it either at the window itself, or in the room.