Window treatment suggestions
 

We are looking for suggestions for window treatments for the entire first floor: 4 sliding doors, 1 picture window and many windows. We welcome suggestions from anyone who has had experience with Home Beautiful and Lowe’s or any place that you would recommend. We are looking for the best possible value and quality. Thanks in advance.
Sue

Just finished a project with Home Beautiful. They were great to work with and reasonable prices!

Dan

Have used blinds.com a few times of the past year. Happy with the product and prices are less then anything you can get around here


Sent from my iPhone using Winnipesaukee Forum mobile app

I think it really depends on the house. I hate treatments on my windows.

Our last house was in the woods and we left our windows bare.

Live in a small cottage now with no privacy so creative with some window film and leaving some bare or half bare.

Save a lot of money this way also. So no blinds or shades or curtains - dust collectors.

We got proposals for shades for the family room. Blinds.com, 3dayblinds.com.
Their product was very cheap but the price was expensive. We ordered from Costco. The owner of the business came out and measured and had samples from Graber which were fantastic. So we went for motorized since the windows are 2 stories high. The price with motorized was less than the others without motorized. In addition we received 15 % off. We love that we do not have to play around with raising and lowering the shades.

______________________________

I am a retired workaholic and continuing aquaholic

Great suggestions from you all. Thanks very much for helping us to sort out some options, some of which sound interesting and doable.

Window treatments
 

To do your whole house will be, I assume, a serious investment in product, and under these circumstances, I suggest you go with the best product you can find. You certainly don't want to go with some off-brand, lower quality product only to find problems shortly down the road. I would take the time up front to interview several installers, and I would want to know the material of the blind skeleton (plastic, vinyl, metal, wood) because in the blazing sun some materials distort leaving you with a problem. We used an interior decorator who provided the blinds and the installer, so any future problems we only needed go to her for solutions. Good Luck.

When we had our new house built in 2012-2013 we had window shades in various styles installed by Lowe's in Gilford. We shopped around and they had the best price and selection. They came out and measured and then sent an installer out. The price for installing in excess of 25 window shades and slider shades was incredibly reasonable considering how long it would have taken me to do the same (and with far less than the perfect results the installer achieved). The installer was an independent contractor and some years later when we bought a large window valance from Decorative Interiors in Laconia, guess who they used to do the install -- the same guy from Lowe's.

Sad Sue with bare windows
 

We have had one runaround after another with window treatment “pros”. It is now amusing. Pro #1 came from Lowe’s, measured every door and window, and weeks later we were invited in to make selections. Okay...we went....the window lady couldn’t read the dimension from the report he sent. Oh....he will come out again...they sent the same guy...he measured, and we still have zip. We’ll try the blind outfit in Bristol. Wonderful! They actually came to the house and brought tons of samples. Nice guy....measured everywhere...showed us his stuff...we chose styles and colors and sent him off after about three hours. ...he promised to send out his quote that night, along with some other info. It’s four days later.....nada! I called this morning and left a message questioning what might have happened. Nada. I think we are going to have naked windows forever. I don’t think we have any peeping toms in the area. Anyhow, frustrating as this is, I have to wonder: WHY would anyone bother to schedule an appointment, go through the motions, then not follow through? Big mystery to us.

The last part is key: I get if a company is so swamped they just choose not to respond—it's not a great business practice, but I get it—but to invest time and resources and THEN not respond is doubly ineffective.

Maybe the second guy is waiting on new pricing or info and figured he'd wait to get you all the details. Having been in sales for ten years myself, I'd have sent a message if so, but who knows these days.

Side note: I'm working with two bath showrooms in southern NH, and both have been super easy to work with, as has been my contractor, which, given all the horror stories here, I've been pleasantly surprised to find.

Godspeed, friend!

Sent from my SM-G950U using Winnipesaukee Forum mobile app

Sue Bartlett, Bartlett Designs

(603) 496-3484 sue@bartlettdesign.net

Sue used to be my neighbor, did my whole house and many homes in Meredith Bay.

She is excellent and she does only deals with Hunter Douglas, which depending on your choices can be pricy.


Sent from my iPhone using Winnipesaukee Forum mobile app

Window saga , next chapter.....
 

This is for those of you who have been sleepless, worrying about the poor blind guy.......we had given up, when Voila! ......we received a quote last night. We won’t rule them out, but it was pretty pricey, and the week of silence from them has made us wary .....their dependability quotient is pretty iffy.

Ahh now I can finally sleep! :D good luck!
Going through the same with plumbers/gas fitters