The choices can be confusing! Decorator Carol Beatty offers simple steps you can use to cut through the many selections and pick a window treatment that is right for your home.
So Many Choices! How Do I Pick My Window Treatments?
BY CAROL BEATTY, DECORATOR AND WINDOW TREATMENT SPECIALIST, QUIGLEY DRAPERIES
There are so many window treatment choices! I know, our showroom is full of wonderful ideas to compliment your windows. How do you decide?
Of course we're here to help, but it can seem overwhelming. Here are steps we can help you think through.
First, eliminate categories you dislike. Some styles are simply not right for your home. Others styles you may be tired of, like mini blinds, vertical blinds, or curtains with ruffles and bows.
Become aware! When you're out, look around at decorating you like. Take cellphone photos. Study magazines, Pinterest, Houzz. Create a file of pictures. Visit our Hunter Douglas website at QuigleyDraperies.com and our Lafayette Interior Fashions website at QuigleyDraperies.LIFdealer.com and look around. You'll start to see trends emerging. Some find this fun!
OK, you may not want to invest all of that time and just want to work with a professional. The choice is yours! That's what we're here for, at 860 W. Broadway Ave. in downtown Roosevelt Park, with a showroom full of samples so you can envision window coverings in your home. Or you can call (231) 755-3248 and make an appointment and we'll bring the ideas to you.
Work with a window treatment designer to help eliminate what won't work. For example, no faux wood blinds on a sliding glass door, because they are too heavy to lift. Plus, they pull up too bulky, making it difficult to walk through the door (unless you are extremely short). We've been around a long time and can help you with the details.
Work with a window treatment designer to help with what will work. What colors are you working with in that room? Do you need privacy or just light control? Do you need extra insulation or sound control? Do you like traditional, contemporary or cottage beach style?
A good designer will work with your ideas and room needs, and then make suggestions based on this information. In my training at Michigan State, I was taught that good design is a blend of aesthetics and beautiful decor, combined, with utility of superior function. This rule has never failed me! Beauty needs to meet the needs of the room and the client. Function needs to take care of privacy, sun, heat, convenience. When the two are combined, the perfect situation exists and is pleasing for years to come.
Do not be overwhelmed by the choices. In the words of my father, Roy Kroeze, who helped many homeowners decorate from the 1960s through the 1980s, "Stop while you're ahead." After I help you go through the steps above, there will be something you like — go for it! This is great advice that will keep you happy with the results.
You will be happiest with the best quality, expertise and service. Your project will go smoother, last longer and will be more satisfying. If there are any glitches, they will be handled easily. Later, if service work is needed, products built to quality standards are more likely to be able to be repaired.
Relax knowing all of the details are taken care of through expert design, coordination, measuring, specifying, installing and follow up.
Don't be overwhelmed with the choices. Window treatments can do so much to enliven a home! Color can be added with fabrics and shades. New shapes can add a layer of interest to any room. Motorization can add a level of convenience and control. Bermuda shutters can add a look of custom cabinetry to any window. Fabrics can always add softness and help with sound control.
Enjoy having us create your new look this spring, as we have every spring since 1929! Thank you for allowing Quigley Draperies to serve you with 90 years of window treatment design, fabrication and installation!
Quigley Draperies, at 860 W. Broadway Ave. in downtown Roosevelt Park, features their own custom work room and installation, as well as experienced, trusted design assistance. Quigley's is celebrating 90 years of helping homeowners decorate their windows. Call (231) 755-3248 or visit QuigleyDraperies.com.
Click here to return to CONTENTS PAGE.
Brought to you by our advertisers:
Our contributors:
Jazz: Midnight, with art inspired by jazz album cover design, drops readers into the late night music clubs of 1957. From Gary Scott Beatty. Click here for Jazz: Midnight.
Worlds, the first Gary Scott Beatty retrospective is now on Amazon. This 96 page collection includes early work, unpublished art, in-depth articles, a jazz art gallery and more. Click here for “Worlds.”
Wounds, Gary Scott Beatty’s zombie horror book with a twist, is now on Amazon. Click here for Wounds.
