Archive for January, 2009

This is an old article from Home Companion Magazine. My sister-in-law sent it over.

Tips: Try painting the room in a warm pastel such as a cream yellow or a pinky-peach. These colors actually throw light back into a room rather than absorb it. Use a semi-gloss paint for maximum effect. Also keep in mind that mirrors brighten the room by reflecting the light, so place a large one opposite side of a window.

It would be nice to just let sunshine stream in through bare windows but privacy is usually an issue. Try top down, bottom up shades. They let light in and sky views at the top of the window which provides privacy where you need it on the bottom. If you have curtains, opt for swing out curtain rods (crane rods) to allow for maximum daylight.

You can always just fake it and conceal up lights behind plants and furniture or tuck them in corners, where they will create pools of light on the ceiling.

I got some excellent ones coming up for February. Prestige Woven Wood blinds will be one and I am waiting to here back for either a free top down, bottom up for cellular shades or a Rio bamboo blinds sale back from Timber blinds. Rich, our sales rep, is checking on it. I would prefer the Rio so we can run a “super woven woods” sale but we haven’t had a free top down, bottom up for the cellular shades in a while so that might be good also. It’s a great option and most find they will use the top down feature more than the regular up and down. There will also be a surprise that will be a huge help for us and one of our main suppliers. The only thing we are allowed to say is “ask us about” so keep your eyes posted Feb. 1st.

This article comes directly from Hunter Douglas™ and I thought would be useful. We do not sell a ton of the Provenace™ mainly because of price but the fabric quality is some of the best (if not the best) out there.

They broke down the Provenance book into three categories: bamboo, reeds and grasses. Some are a mix of all three or one or two. They combine a traditional look, natural materials and colors and ultra-modern technology. Most of these are porous and filter the amount of light entering a room for dramatic effects.

 Here are the options:

• 5″ fabric folds when raised and flat when down.
• They have an optional classic natural wood shade cascades fabric down from the front of the head rail which prevents the need for a valance.
• The option band edging will protect the fabric from fraying and will allow more customization.
• You can enjoy added privacy with a light filtering or room darkening backing.

Check out Provenance™ by Hunter Douglas™ for the best woven wood blinds out there.

Woodwinds™ SuperNatural™ Shutters reach above and often beyond most composite shutters expectations. Not only does the Woodwinds astonishing durability set a new industry standard, the wood grain process looks really, just like real wood. It’s very hard to tell the difference even when touching the louvers. Below is a side by side comparison that Comfortex gave us verses real wood. You can find this AMERICAN made product at: Composite Shutters. It is a little more expensive than some of the other composite shutters on the market but, they are made here in the USA, ship in two weeks, and have a lifetime warranty. They are some of the best we have seen, have been tempted to sell cheaper products but the quality and the “no headaches” with Comfortex makes this a suburb buy. They are on sale for Jan and Feb.

	100% Wood Shutter	Comfortex Supernatural Shutter
Grain Comparison- The patent-pending SuperNatural color process creates the rich look of real wood grain. Subtle variations make these stained woodtones come alive with textural beauty.
Strength Comparison- The resilient SuperNatural finish protects every panel and frame for uncompromising performance. The integrity of the surface is no longer at risk from everyday wear and tear. Scratches and scuffs, typical of 100% wood, are a thing of the past.
Moisture Comparison- Moisture is no match for the SuperNatural finish. Condensation simply beads up the louvers rather than soaking in and ultimately warping or cracking the material. Real wood shutters do not have this innovative safeguard.

We just added the new ComforTrack Plus™ side track system by Comfortex to our Symphony cellular shade (honeycomb) line. This is the ultimate in energy savings and blocks out all the light. This is an excellent option for media rooms where no light is a must. Go to Symphony Cellular Shades by Comfortex to check this out. See the video or scroll to the bottom of the page to see pictures.

Prestige window fashions has some materials that they discontinued but still have material in stock that they need to get rid of. These are a true closeout so samples are not available. They are high quality, all options are available, and are at an excellent price while supplies last. We will take the colors off of the website as they let us know they are gone. There is a chance that an order cannot be placed or the total quantity cannot be produced and we will let you know. We can switch to a different fabric or just cancel it. Your choice. Again, these are high quality. The factory just has some left over due to supplier changes etc. It is an awesome deal. Go to: Closeout Woven Woods to see the colors and get a price.

Hunter Douglas goes Hunter Green

Hunter Douglas™ just started their Hunter Green™ program. Here are the details taken directly from Hunter Douglas™.

Hunter Douglas™ as you know, is the world wide leader in creating innovative, energy-efficient blinds that save energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. They are trying to serve a larger purpose along with making homes brighter, more beautiful, more private and more comfortable.

One of the first innovative, energy efficiency improvements Hunter Douglas™ came up with was the Duette™ honeycomb shades. Air contained within the honeycomb cells proved to be an effective insulator. Yes, they invented the honeycomb shade! It keeps the heat inside in the winter and the cold inside in the summer.

A couple of years ago, Hunter Douglas™ improved the honeycomb shade even more with the invention of the Duette Architella™, which takes this energy conservation to a whole new level. The patented honeycomb-within-a-honeycomb design forms 3 air pockets to dramatically reduce heat flow at the window. Fact, if installed in every window of every American home, these shades have the potential to cut our annual energy consumption by 2 1/2% total!! That’s massive just for blinds.

Another thing that is impressive is that Hunter Douglas™ is going to reduce their energy consumption by 15%, water usage by 40% and overall carbon emissions by 20% over the next 3 years.

Some of the projects that Hunter Douglas™ is involved in finacially is supporting the Arbor Day Foundation™ by planting 15,000 new trees and saving over a million feet of rain forest. They also help Habitat for Humanity™ by donating a whopping 100,000 window coverings over the last 15 years.

As you can see, Hunter Douglas™ is doing their part in making the world a better place. They are indeed “Hunter Green™”.

We want to inform you that for the cordless cell shades (honeycomb shades), the head rails are WHITE. They are not color coordinated with the fabric. That’s just the way they are made. The factory will put a metal strip in the head rail which is color coordinated. For the Hunter Douglas™ name brand, they do it slightly different. They will wrap the head rail in fabric. It looks much nicer but the cost can be significant.

Comfortex Cordless Roman Shades

Comfortex™ just came out with a new cordless option for the Serenade™ Roman Shades. You lift the blind by a handle. It is perfect for hard to reach areas and is a safe alternative if you have young children. Check it out today. Pricing is reasonable and it looks great.

The composite shutter arches have been discontinued due to lack of sales, slow production and high pricing. Sorry about that.

We just added a bunch of new colors to our real wood blind selection at much better pricing. For our 2″ basswood blinds we added 21 new colors in the standard basswood blinds. We also added 8 new furniture quality distressed wood colors. These are high quality and the stains are incredible. Our 2 1/2″ wood blinds offer a better view and comes in 5 colors.  It is a flat slat.

Updated sales for January include some awesome ones given by Comfortex™.

Comfortex Brand™ runs until Feb. 6th

• 15% off all Symphony honeycomb shades plus free top down-bottom up (runs till Feb. 6th) Shows up automatically in Quick Quote. No Promo code needed.
• 16% off Ballet Drapery Sheers- Runs till Feb. 6th. Shows up automatically in Quick Quote. No Promo code needed.
• 12% off Woodwinds Composite Plantation Shutters- Excellent deal. Runs until Feb 6th.
• Serenade Roman Shades- 14% off.
• Woodwinds Composite 2″ blinds- 15% off
• *Great Promo* 15% off Woodwinds 2 1/2 plantation slat (shutter slat) blinds.
• Serenade Roller Shades- 5% off
• Envision Group One and Envision Group Two- 5% off

We just added around 10 new colors for the Prestige Collection Group 2 and Prestige Collection Group 3. ery nice fabrics and all op0tions are available. Colors are: Columbia Heights Peru INWE355, Brentwood INWL842, Cambridge INWT357, Clifton Park INWC300, Eagle Creek INWL138, Glendale INWL280, Hudson Falls INWC340, Lake Ridge INWC776, Los Altos Golden Rod INWE350, Los Altos Saddle Brown INWE360, Mission Hill INWC330, Morning Side INWT107, Pineville Light Walnut INWC360, Pineville Natural INWC350, Pratts Hollow INWL194, Princeton INWT403, Solena Beach INWT920, Sunset Cliffs INWL270, Suttons Corner INWL382, and Wellesley INWT862. These are pretty cool so check them out.

We hope everyone is having a very nice new year. We only have one offical sale going on right now but that should change by next week. Our sales reps haven’t sent over next months promos yet and we will probably have them by Monday or Tuesday. So far, only Hunter Douglas™ has sent those over and it is an excellent deal. Free UltraGlide™ option (a $40 value). This is a unique operationg system for the Duette™ honeycomb shades. The string never gets longer! Click here to see all of the Hunter Douglas Duette™ Honeycomb Shades. I will have the other sales posted once I hear back from our reps. Have a great 2009 everyone! It seems just like yesterday for V2K. Remember that?