When Standard Drapery Sizes Won’t Work – We Can Help!

There is nothing quite like walking into a store and falling in love with the perfect drapery or window covering. The exact fabric pattern you have envisioned in your head is now laid out perfectly in front of you – just waiting to adorn your front window.

As you imagine the envy of passers-by admiring your breathtaking window treatment, you notice a number. A number that specifies the length of this particular window treatment, and you immediately feel a pit in your stomach. The length and width of your dream drapery is a far cry from the size of your beautiful picture window.

Briefly, you negotiate in your head whether you can live with curtains that are five inches too short, and that isn’t quite able to stretch the full length of your decorative rod. Shaking your head in disappointment, you walk away from the store display and wonder whether you will ever have the ability to choose window treatments you truly love.

6 Ways Store-Bought Drapes Disappoint
The scenario that played out above, is, unfortunately, a common occurrence. Aside from sizing restrictions, store-bought drapes deliver plenty of other headaches for homeowners.

Deceptive Catalog Displays – If you prefer to shop in a store’s catalog or on their website, it’s important to note that the products displayed aren’t representative of the product you will receive if you place an order. Products in magazines are expertly installed, carefully staged, and photographed to look incredible. Windows used to showcase display draperies are sized to fit the product with perfect precision, and will likely look very different on your window at home.

The Absence of Fullness Standards – When you purchase a pre-made drapery from a store, its package will indicate height and length measurements, but will rarely account for fullness standards. When you install your store-bought window treatment, it’s length will stretch across your window, but the drapery will become a flat piece of fabric when closed.

Improper Ring Spacing – Even high-end draperies from Restoration Hardware and Pottery Barn can’t account for how you want your window treatment to hang on your actual window. Improper ring spacing on pre-made panels can make even the most expensive drapery look like a messy blob of fabric once installed.
Inadequate Lining – Store bought window treatments are not always backed by the proper type of lining. Proper linings are critical to the longevity of the material, as well as to the vibrancy of the drapery color.

Lack of Professional Installation – When you splurge on window treatments from a store like Restoration Hardware, their high-end price tag does not include professional installation. Unless you are in the mood to spend more money, you will be left to your own devices once those curtains arrive on your doorstep.

Limited Fabric Options – Pre-made window treatments are exactly that – pre-made. If you aren’t keen on the fabric options available to you in a store’s catalog, you will be faced with the decision to settle, or go elsewhere.

We Can Help
Colleen McNally Interiors crafts custom window treatments for clients throughout the Chicagoland area. As much as we love perusing through Pottery Barn or Restoration Hardware, we are just as frustrated by the six ways store bought draperies disappoint. We meet with clients every day who share this same frustration, and who are surprised to learn that our custom designed window treatment prices compete with the cost of Restoration Hardware’s pre-made draperies.

Our team can meet with you in your home to consult on your custom window treatment goals. Accounting for length issues, fullness standards, bracket placement, and the scale and proportion of your room – we will design beautiful draperies that will complement your entire home.

More often than not, we are able to match fabrics found in stores like Restoration Hardware. Rather than succumb to frustration and interior decorating woes, enlist the professional services of Colleen McNally Interiors. Our team will craft custom, one-of-a-kind window treatments that won’t be found in any other home in the world. Professional installation guarantees that your window treatment hangs exactly as you envisioned it would – beautifully and flawlessly.

When your interior design isn’t quite complete, we are here to help inspire creativity by crafting custom finishing touches that will transform your house, into your dream home.

Give us a call today, and schedule a consultation with an interior decorator at Sew Many Windows.