Window Treatment Installation For a Traditional Home

Yesterday, I spent nearly the entire day helping my installer, Don, and his assistant, Mario, with a window treatment installation for long-time clients. They had just moved to one of those Westchester towns on Long Island Sound, and their home is right by the water–lovely! Theoretically, this house was considered “down-sizing,” but not by a whole lot. Luckily, they called me in again to do some fill-ins and windows for three rooms! Which added up to quite a bit. I love it when my good clients move!

The Clients

The Lowensteins (not their real name) first called me about 5 years ago for fill-ins for their long-time family home in Chappaqua. They are lovely, lovely people, and very traditional in their tastes, and I respect that immensely. They know what they like and what they don’t like.

As a designer over the years, while I believe that I have a certain style that I’m known for, I believe in adapting to the styles my clients are most comfortable with. After all, when the last thing gets installed, they are living there, not me. My goal is to give them the best home for THEM. So, when Mrs. L said she wanted something more “flouncy” for this charming home built in the 1930s, I knew that meant long, luxurious drapes and valances. Remember when I researched valances and came up with those by Jim Howard? I have done valances many times, but not for several years, as they fell out of favor for a while, but I think that they are making a comeback. Hey, for some, they never left! But please… no swags!

On the first go-around, I showed them some more monochromatic color schemes. For example, here is a room that I love by Meg Braff

Hunting for the right thing

Mrs. L, who has trouble seeing some colors, wrinkled up her nose and said, “Nooo, I don’t like the sisal rug, and it all looks too beachy.” Fair enough, but I was thinking in terms of something more monochromatic against their traditional mahogany furnishings. However, as soon as she said it was too beachy, I got it immediately. She wanted more patterns; she wanted flowers.

So, I went on the hunt for just the right thing. Once we decided on the fabrics, I spent hours designing every detail of the six valances and making templates for my workroom. I decided on the curvilinear shapes because the doorways were arched, the sofa was curvy, and the end tables from Milling Road were curvy. When designing a room, I take everything into consideration. Here are the results.

Using what we have

The sofa was reupholstered five years ago with a lovely fabric from Cowtan & Tout, which needed to go with a love seat that they already owned. I also added the cool tables from Milling Road and their old window treatments, which the new owner wanted to purchase.

I am always happy to work with what a client has to freshen things up. This time, we found a lovely linen floral from Duralee for the windows. It drapes beautifully and looks a lot more expensive than it is. Hey, that works! They fell in love with it immediately.

This is a detail of the dining room. The chandelier is new from Visual Comfort. The brass is unlacquered and will age naturally over time. The wallpaper is called Spring Lake, from Thibaut.

Mario and Don are hard at work! They are doing the final touches on one of the two master bedroom windows. I got to sit back and crack the whip. ;]

This is a detail of the big window done in Arbre Chinois by F. Schumacher. The repeat of this gorgeous pattern was absolutely ginormous. Therefore, we made the design decision not to make it too matchy. That, too, gives it a bit of a subtle, more modern edge. I rather like it.

all images Laurel Bern

The Lowensteins loved the results, and I hope that you enjoyed them too!

Best wishes,