Shades and Blinds

If you are looking to refresh the interior of your home, a great place to start is the windows. Having the right draperies or shades in place can really pull an entire room together, which makes choosing the right fabric, color and style essential to a successful and rejuvenating design makeover.

There are all kinds of options out there when it comes to custom window shades, so selecting the right one can seem just a little bit intimidating at first. However, once you really start researching and look into all of the styles that are out there, you will clearly see that some are a better fit for you than others.

Here are a few reasons why Luminette Privacy Sheers may be the perfect custom window treatments for your home:

• They create an elegant look for your windows: Luminettes provide an elegant look to your room by having a sheer fabric attached to a soft vane that rotates to keep light out. It combines the elegance of sheers with the functionality of blinds. They come in eight different fabrics, including the clean, stylish and sleek Solar Screens; Terra, which incorporates organic elements, as well as an understated and refined pattern in New Voyant.
• They control the sunlight that enters your home: Throughout the summer, you will want to cut down on the amount of sun that comes into each room. Not only will this protect you from the harmful impact of the sun's UV rays, it will also decrease the temperature of your household's interior. You can diffuse the harsh sunlight and filter out the brightness and glare of the sun's rays with the Luminette Privacy Sheers, transforming the look and feel of any space almost instantly.
• They provide the perfect fabric for any room: The fabrics of the Luminette Privacy Sheers are available by the yard, so you can create decorative accents for any room with the matching materials offered. You can create overtreatments, such as swags, that will pull together the look of any space and give it the finishing touches you're looking for.
• You can use your smartphone to control the shades: The great thing about Luminette Privacy Sheers, along with many different Hunter Douglas products, is that they can be controlled remotely with the touch of a button. Being able to open and close your shades with only your smartphone or tablet is effortless. No longer will you have to get up and adjust the window treatments manually to reduce a glare while you are trying to watch a movie with friends or family.
• They come with a lifetime guarantee: The Luminette Privacy Sheers are custom assembled in the United States with the highest possible level of quality, and are protected with a lifetime guarantee from the manufacturers at Hunter Douglas.

Once you have chosen what kind of window treatment you want for your home, all you need to do is have them installed! Window treatments are an essential part of any home design scheme, so this is certainly not a process that you want to rush through. Custom window treatments are one of the best ways to add an aesthetic appeal to your home while also helping to keep it feeling comfortable and cozy.

To learn more first-hand about how window treatments can complement your home and bring out a whole new look in familiar spaces, schedule a free at-home appointment with a design professional from Metropolitan Window Fashions. Our main goal is to help you create a home that you will absolutely fall in love with every time you see it.

Smart homes are truly the wave of the future. If you're looking to upgrade your window treatments to something more hi-tech, Hunter Douglas has recently unveiled its latest and most intelligent innovation that's perfect for your home: PowerView Motorization™.

This smart technology allows homeowners to transform light and set the mood in any room with a simple push of a button or directly from their mobile device. With its customizable features, ergonomic designs and wireless technology, PowerView Motorization™ takes fashion in motion to whole new level.

Whether you have sliding doors, specially designed or multistory windows and arches, they can all be dressed with custom window shades. Hunter Douglas' new operating system enables you to control all your PowerView window treatments with ease. Here are some more reasons why PowerView Motorization™ may be right for you:

• Personalized Environment Customization: The PowerView Motorization™ Scene Controller lets your create a variety of scenes to balance your lighting, warmth and privacy needs any time of the day. In the evenings, you can effortlessly set your PowerView operating system to a setting, Good Night, which lowers and closes your shades at a particular time or whenever it suits the mood.
• Compatibility with Hunter Douglas products: Currently, the PowerView Motorization™ operating system is compatible with 16 of your favorite Hunter Douglas window treatments, including Luminette® Privacy Sheers, Provenance® Woven Wood Shades and Skyline® Gliding Window Panels. You can select a number of different custom window treatment options that best suit your home.
• Wireless Technology: With its sleek, ergonomic design, the PowerView™ Pebble™ Remote is perfect fusion of form and function. Available in seven trendy colors, this device is the ultimate control in the palm of your hand, allowing you to choreograph exactly how the light will play throughout your home.
• In-sync with Your Mobile Device: Another outstanding feature of the PowerView Motorization™ system is the new PowerView App, which is available for Apple® iOS devices and Android™ mobile devices. The RemoteConnect™ feature of the PowerView App enables you to control your personalized settings within one room, multiple rooms or throughout your entire home from anywhere in the world.
• Personalized Scheduling Options: Even if you're not at home, you can schedule the operation of your window treatments in order to optimize your home's energy efficiency and ensure your home's privacy and security. These schedules will even automatically adjust Daylight Savings Time after you connect to the PowerView Hub using the PowerView App.

To learn more about the Hunter Douglas PowerView Motorization™ operating system and other custom window treatment options contact us at Metropolitan Window Fashions to arrange a free at-home design consultation. With more than 80 years of home decorating experience, we are always up-to-date with the latest design trends and window treatment fashions. Our dedicated team of design professionals are here to help you get the best service possible.

Looking to reorganize your home this summer? To do so, you'll have to  go through the house room by room to find the best places to store things effectively. But reducing clutter is more than just a way to keep things clean — it can be a signature part of your home's style, too. A well-arranged, neat layout is a great way to leave your home looking just like new.

Here are five tips for a stylish and newly reorganized home makeover that will leave your place more friendly and welcoming than ever before. 

• Brighten up the place: Not only does natural light leave a home feeling fresh and bright, it also simply makes things easier to see! Choose custom window coverings made with sheer fabrics to make any room in the house feel more open and brighter.
• Make 'micro' units work for you: Efficient use of space is everything. Find some areas around the home that can double as both decorative and storage spaces. Creating a self-contained kitchen, or a bathroom shelving unit that has everything you need in one space will help minimize the concerns of a busy house and keep important items within a single space that's easy to check and clean.
• Install motorized window blinds: It's hard to imagine an easier way to control window shades and blinds than automating them for pre-programmed use. Hunter Douglas custom window shades can be set up for simple opening and closing so that you can instantly set the natural light levels in a room to the way that you want them, whenever you want.
• No closet? Try bins and baskets: For an alternative to closet storage, you can place the items you would normally hang up under benches and tables instead. Placing them near hooks or coat racks on the wall helps you pair different items together. For example, you can hang an umbrella or coat up while storing boots underneath in a nice, dry bin.
• Use stylized storage: Storage is an obvious part of reducing clutter at the home, but you can also make shelves and cabinets part of the centerpiece of your decor as well. With the right colors and furnishings, even small spaces can look like natural extensions of the house while holding your important possessions. Paint or decorate the natural storage areas you use for a fun and unique way to display objects around the house.

Summer weather makes it the right time to revamp your home for a fresh, renewed feeling. To see for yourself how new custom window coverings or draperies can complement your newly organized home, contact Metropolitan Window Fashions today to set up a free at-home consultation with one of our design specialists.

Part of the joy in selecting custom window blinds is discovering how customizable they are. Whatever the size of your home's windows or the texture of the frame, you can find blinds that fit right in and make a great addition to your home's decor scheme. The more you think about what you want, the greater satisfaction you will get out of blinds that are tailor-made just for you!

Metropolitan Window Fashions offer three different types Hunter Douglas blinds that will bring the advantages of wood, aluminum and alternative wood to your home. Blinds are both functional and easy to customize to match the surrounding home for a solution that feels natural.

Here are some of the ways that blinds can be customized to fit your expectations. When choosing blinds, ask yourself the following questions to decide exactly which ones are best for you:

• Cord or no cord? If you decide to use a cord with your blinds, the Hunter Douglas Parkland® Classics' UltraGlide system are child safe with its retractable cord. If you'd rather adjust blinds from a distance, you can use a remote control to tilt the slats however you want. The motorized blinds turn smoothly to just the right angle with the push of a button.
• How much light? Hunter Douglas Parkland® Wood Blinds' de-Light™ option prevents light from filtering through the cord holes. For rooms where absolute privacy is important, this little detail will make a huge difference and leave you feeling more relaxed.
• How wide should the slats be? Houzz contributor Becky Dietrich calls this the first decision homeowners have to make when purchasing blinds, and one that will affect how the light filters through them. A design consultant will help you visualize the lighting effect that a certain slat width will have once the blinds are installed.
• Should you add a top treatment? Pairing blinds with a matching treatment that covers the window is a great choice. Aside from adding visual interest, top treatments can make a window covering blend in subtly to the background. It may also be an opportunity to further match the room's style, tone and color through the choice of material.
• What material? Our three different brands of Hunter Douglas blinds each boast their own unique style. You can use the basic feel of materials like alternative wood as a jumping off point for colors and other decorative options to customize how your windows look. Dietrich specifically says that the durability of faux wood is great for the moist environments of kitchens and bathrooms.

Metropolitan Window Fashions offers a free, at-home consultation to help you decide which blinds would best complement your home. Contact us today to set up your appointment and learn more.

If you are looking for a way to update your window treatments, Hunter Douglas Luminette® Privacy Sheers would make a great addition to your home. Like other Hunter Douglas products, these vertical sheers can be customized to fit any window. Whether you have specially designed windows like sliding glass doors, multi-story windows and arches, all of these can be dressed with custom window shades.

Luminette® Privacy Sheers come with  many features and benefits. Looking for some new window treatments? Here are some more reasons why vertical sheers may be right for you:

• Adjustable light and heat protection: Vertical sheers keep out at least 86 percent of the sun's harmful UV rays. Luminette® Privacy Sheers can also help you control the natural light in a room due to their mix of translucent fabrics and privacy vanes.
• Child Safety: When adjusting the Luminettes after they've been installed, homeowners can use the patented SofTrak Combination Wand/Cord and Traveling Wang systems to eliminate dangling cords and provide reliable operation.
• Customizable color: The Luminette product family comprises 11 different fabric types, each one with several different color palettes. This shows the range that homeowners have when planning out their color scheme and choosing complementary window treatments. If you want to add coverings, like drapery panels or other custom window treatments, they can also be made to match the color in the Luminette vanes as well.
• Ease of operation: The PowerGlide system makes it easy for these sheersto slide open and closed, moving along the track smoothly. You can leave them fully-opened or closed and adjust them to provide 180 percent of light control.
• Easy to coordinate with Counterparts®: The fabric and color selection have been expanded to easily coordinate with Duette Honeycomb shades, Vignettes and Silhouettes. We have taken the guess work out of what fabric works with the existing product lines, for a seamless look in your entire home.
• Perfect for Sliding Doors: One example of the types of windows and entryways that vertical sheers can successfully cover are sliding doors. These doors traverse to the left or right and make a perfect match for Luminettes. They can accommodate expanses up to 192" wide and 120" long.
• Ready for motorization: From a distance, you can adjust motorized sheers to whatever position you want. They work as part of a larger home automation system that you control through your own personal devices, as well. You also have the option to adjust sheers section by section effortlessly.

Learn more about Luminette® Privacy Sheers and other custom window treatment options by contacting Metropolitan Window Fashions for a free consultation at home.

For a classic look with instant style, interior shutters are a great way to enhance your windows. Whether you already have shutters and are currently redecorating, or are choosing interior shutters for the first time, they will create a stunning look with many benefits for your home.

It might be time to add shutters to a room in your home.

Metropolitan Window Fashions offers shutters from Hunter Douglas in three different styles: Heritance® Hardwood Shutters, NewStyle® Hardwood Hybrid Shutters and Palm Beach® Polysatin Shutters. They all have their advantages, and if you don't already use shutters in your home, here are some signs that it might be time to invest in them:

• New light settings: Let's say you've redone a room and it now looks brighter than it did before. Shutters allow you to add some light control to a window to better suit the

  If you don't already use shutters in your home, here are some signs that it might be time to invest in them.

   new look of the space. No matter which type of shutters you choose, they can be adjusted to let in the perfect amount of light based on the coloring and lighting options of the room. The front tilt bar included with the Heritance® shutters makes it particularly easy for homeowners to grab and change the louvers so they can get the right kind of natural light needed. Often, when a window has many panes, shutters with a rear tilt can be used.

• New paint job: On the same note, when you've given a room a makeover you'll need window shutters that match the renewed style. Heritance® shutters not only vary in color but also texture, as part of the Heritance Handcrafted series. Homeowners can have their shutters glazed, burnished or distressed, among other style options, to get the right feel.
• You want to cool things down: Does a room feel warmer in the summertime than is comfortable? Hunter Douglas window treatments can double a room's heating and cooling efficiency. Add some shutters to windows in very warm rooms and feel the temperature drop! The Palm Beach® shutters are especially suitable for homes in extremely hot weather.
• Windows are a different size: A new size of window could require a change in shutters that fits better. Some windows are also naturally more suited to different shutter options for opening and closing. For example, a sliding glass door can accommodate a bypass or Bi-fold track shutter system, which will cover the entire entryway neatly. If you've recently added new windows or doors, consider the shutter possibilities this opens up.
• You need child or pet safety: Hunter Douglas shutters are designed for safe use in homes with children or pets. As a brochure from the website states, shutters come without cords, reducing the danger for pets or young children who play around them.
• You want cleaning to go faster: The Palm Beach® Polysatin Shutters are easy to clean and designed to survive moisture and humidity. All shutters are easy to clean and maintain for prolonged use, no matter where you install them in the home. 
• You've moved your valuable furniture to a new room: Shutters can lessen the chance that colors and textures will fade from exposure to the sun. Valuable, high-quality furniture and furnishings need proper coverage once they've been moved, so choose shutters that will keep them in good condition in a sunny space. Even in a room with no furniture, too much sunlight could affect the floor, so shutters are still a good idea.

Homes will change over time, and you need to find the shutters that reflect the decor style that you love. The best way to find out which custom window coverings are right for you is to work with an expert in your home. Contact Metropolitan Window Fashions today and we can help you set up a free consultation to start considering new shutter options.

Last month saw a nationwide celebration of window films, as April 30 marked the second annual National Window Film Day. Governors and mayors across the country united to express support for the window film industry and the role that it can play in keeping energy costs down for buildings. One of the participating governors, Charlie Baker of Massachusetts, even called window films "one of the most cost-effective means of reducing our carbon footprint."

Now seems as good a time as any to focus on the benefits of window film, and why you might want to use them in your home. With all of the recent attention being paid to it, homeowners may be curious as to what window films can contribute to their home and why they're worth investing in.

Here are five reasons to purchase a window film:

• Adaptability: Window film can apply easily to windows of many different shapes, allowing for equal protection among transom windows, bay windows and other specialized types. If one room contains several types of windows, homeowners can treat them all with the same film and still get an equal distribution of light and heat.
• Better awareness of sun protection: Skin care doesn't end just because a person has gone inside. A video released from the International Window Film Association (IWFA) surveyed people on the street to see whether the average person was aware of the impact of excessive sunlight on their home, and the benefits of using films.  By reaching out to experts, homeowners could get to see the beneficial effects of window film firsthand and witness over time the difference that protection against UV rays makes in the house and health.
• Consistent clarity: Once the film is applied, homeowners can still have the same level of transparency on their window glass as if it wasn't there. This way, window film add their advantages to a space without making it any more difficult to look through a window. As the diagram on our site shows, visible light is let in while solar heat and radiation are kept out. With electronic window film, the opacity can be adjusted easily for homeowner preference, but the same level of protection is always there.
• Energy loss control: By installing window film, homeowners will take more of a stand against heat loss and proactively lower their energy costs. The IWFA video says that window film can contribute to "as much as a 30 percent reduction in cooling costs." 
• Keep glass for longer: In his statement, the governor of Hawaii, David Ige, said that the "reduction of outdated glass in our landfills" is an advantage of window film. The windows you use will provide long-lasting protection if they are treated with the right film.

Contact Metropolitan Window Fashions to set up an at-home design consultation today to find out more about window film and how it can benefit you.