Residents in Sarasota, FL call on Exciting Windows! by Blinds Unlimited to provide solutions for all of their window covering needs.

Great decorating ideas that help design a custom look unique for you with draperies, blinds, shades or shutters in Sarasota, FL are my specialty at Exciting Windows! by Blinds Unlimited. It’s easy to get started with my free in home consultation or my new service… a free phone consultation to help you get your thoughts together.

Have tricky to reach places?  Tired of climbing over the bathtub or moving furniture to reach a lift cord?  Power Rise from Hunter Douglas is a great way to solve the problem.

Motorization has come along way from having to pull wires through dry wall – and here in Sarasota there are no basements and attics can be “interesting.”  Yes, there are hard wired motorized systems that work well when you can install them during construction.  These systems are also ideal if you are planning for whole house automation.  But for most us, these are not an option and Power Rise with Platinum Technology, which is battery powered, provides a perfect solution!  And it is so darned convenient.

Power Rise is available in a number of Hunter Douglas products such as Silhouettes, Duettes, Designer Screen and Roller Shades to name a few.  The recent advances in this product has increased the sizes available which is particularly important for those of us in the Sarasota-Bradenton area as our windows are usually large to let in all that lovely sunlight and so that we can enjoy our great views.  Additionally, there is a sun sensor available so that the shades will be automatically lowered when the sun hits the sensor – if you forget to lower your shades before you leave for the day they will still lower when the damaging sun turns onto your windows.

At Blinds Unlimited, we have really noticed an increase of interest in the product – in fact I am about to install some in my own home.

Great decorating ideas that help you freshen up for spring and summer using custom draperies, blinds, shades or shutters in Sarasota, Florida are my specialty at Exciting Windows! by Blinds Unlimited. It’s easy to get started with my free in home consultation or my brand new service… a free phone consultation to help you get your thoughts together.

Great decorating ideas that help you express your own uniqueness using custom draperies, blinds, shades or shutters in Sarasota, Florida are my specialty at Exciting Windows! by Blinds Unlimited.  It’s easy to get started with my free at-home decorating appointment or my brand new service… a free phone consultation to help you get your thoughts together.

There are several factors to consider, apart from price, before making a decision.  What is your tolerance for stack into the window?  Do you want the treatment to go up and down or traverse side to side?  What is your decor – contemporary, transitional or traditional?  What do you want the treatment to do for you in terms of function – light control, privacy, etc.  That’s alot to take into consideration before making a decision on the right window treatment for you.

So that being said, here are some ideas – minimal stack, middle price range is the Hunter Douglas Vertiglide.  It is available in both their premium Duette line and the price point Applause line.  The stack is only 6 1/2 inches!  This is one of its main selling points, but in some of the fabrics available it is also very energy efficient.

Hunter Douglas has led the way in making everyone in the industry, as well as consumers aware, of the potentially dangerous features of some window fashions.  With their bent for innovative design they have introduced products with child safety in mind. 

The main issue is the cords.  So cordless options are a must in households with young children (including grandchildren).  Some products to bear in mind  – the wood/alternative blind category all have cordless lifting options.  Add a tilt wand and all cords are elminated.  Their honeycomb offerings, Duette, Duette Architella and Applause also come with cordless literise lifting systems.  Vignette Tiered Roman Shades replicate a traditional roman shade, but with a cordless lifting system.  If the shades do not have a cordless option, most are available with battery operated motorization, a relatively affordable approach to motorized shades.

The latest introduction to the cordless shade scene is from B & W Window Fashions in Gurnee, Illinois.  The Vitale line of roman shades is truly a first on the market – beautiful fabrics, 6 shade styles and all with the One Touch Control.  Check out the video below to see this amazing shade in operation!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=eubQLGFnOto

A fabulous look – why change?

The client created this fabulous look in her home – custom made draperies and an elegant rod and then she added the Mackenzie Childs scarves to tie together the decor in her living room which featured the Mackenzie Childs line.

Four years later it was time for a little fine tuning and a room refresh.  She wanted to hide the security system sensors in the windows and requested roman shades inside mounted into the opening.  We suggested mounting the roman shades outside the window and near the top of the existing drapery pole in order to increase the height of the window and ceiling and tie the 2 window treatments together.  She had originally planned to keep the scarves in place. 

However, there are 2 slliding glass doors on the opposite side of the room to which we added Hunter Douglas Duette Vertiglides.  We suggested to complete the look and enhance an already elegant room, we should add side panels and elegant rods.  Now we will need the scarves to use as holdbacks.  The result will be a beautiful room that highlights the client’s collections.

In our homes we have some intriguing window shapes that are architectural gems that add light to the house and give fabulous views. 

These raked windows at the end of a family room are a great example.  They overlook the intercoastal – a scenic view – but they also face west.  In the summer months the heat is brutal and you cannot see the television for the glare.  My clients called and asked what can we do.  They requested an operable shade that could be lowered during the winter months.  Unfortunately there are no options that do not leave quite a large portion of the shade in the opening.  The client did not want this.  So I came up with this is the solution – a sheerweave solor shades in a 3% openness factor. 

Sheerweaves allow for some view but the 3% prevents 97% of the UV entering the room and the light color sheerweave reflects heat and the glare is non existent.  I had the shade custome made to fit the opening and mounted them with tension rods.  If the client wanted to remove them in the winter months he could, store them and then put them up again for the summer.  What do you think of the final result?

Do you live in a highrise with large windows to make the most of the view?  How do you control the heat and light, especially if you live in the southern half of the country?

I had just such a problem to solve for a client and we decided on Hunter Douglas’s Pirouette Window Shadings as the perfect solution.  Blackout to control the light and heat - and also so that the client could sleep-in in the morning.  The the multi-functional Pirouette takes care of the rest.  It can be fully lifted into the cassette to make the most of a fabulous view.  Lower it and get complete privacy and blackout and then all those stages in between….operate the lifting system a little and there is a roman shade.  The open a little more and you achieve the interesting effect my client has in the photo shown above.  Completely open the shade and there is an elegant slat with a sheer which still shows off the view but filters and softens the light.

My clients were thrilled with their new window treatments.

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Would you believe that this room is a rework?  The client had this fabulous custom bedroom ensemble in her home up north.  She LOVED the fabric and the look, but because of the tall windows and ceilings in our Florida homes and a new mattress, nothing would fit!

We came up with a great solution.  We needed a new bedskirt, which we made and recovered the headboard so that it would match.

In her “up north” house the drapes were only 84 inches long and operable, whereas here we had installed some beautiful Hunter Douglas Silhouette shades on the window.  The drapes only had to be decorative.  We made pelmets/overlays for the top of the drapes.  Luckily the client had kept the extra trim from the original installation 12 years ago so we were able to trim out the bottom of the overlay to match the bed pillows.  Add a 3 in pole from Resin Solutions with luscious finials and behold a stunning bedroom.

And all for a fraction of the cost of a complete redo of this luxurious master bedroom suite.