Creative Window Fashions, Inc. (CWF) is a Hunter Douglas Gallery that provides and installs window coverings for residential and commercial clients throughout the North Bay Area. CWF offers the full line of products from Hunter Douglas and custom draperies to ensure the best fit for every client’s home or office. The company’s 2,500-square-foot showroom, located in Rohnert Park, has all the latest products available, including the new PowerView Motorization line from Hunter Douglas.
CWF's in-house specialists have more than 50 years of combined experience in their fields of expertise—Tom Rhodes is a motorization and hard window coverings specialist, Laura Stolkin is a drapery specialist, and CEO Duane Vos is a veteran in hard window coverings. “From the initial design consultation to the installation, we assure a pleasant and professional experience,” says Mr. Vos. “Our combination of industry knowledge and an approachable business style greatly benefits our clients. We understand their homes are their most valuable investments, and we take great pride in enhancing those investments.”
“We believe in the importance of continuous customer service. On the rare occasion when a customer needs repair service after the sale, we are happy to thoroughly address warranty and non-warranty issues, even many years later. Our product knowledge and dedication to our customers make us unique in our industry. Our ultimate goal is to provide excellent service at competitive prices.”
Light control should be a deciding factor when purchasing a window covering. When choosing window coverings for your home, it’s important to determine how much control you want over the light that streams into each room. You can control natural light partially or completely depending on the type of window covering, so your final choice should be indicative of you and your family’s personal preferences. Before making a decision, consider the following information about the most common window coverings and their light control capabilities:
Cellular or honeycomb shades
Cellular or honeycomb shades provide superior light control and are available in a variety of fabrics, from translucent to opaque, the latter of which is defined as “room darkening” or “blackout.” The control cords are located between the front and back fabric that forms the honeycomb or cell, so there are no visible holes for light to seep through. You can also raise or lower a shade with blackout fabric to increase or decrease the amount of light in a room.
Horizontal or Venetian blinds
Getting horizontal blinds to close tightly enough to completely darken a room can be difficult, because the cotton supports (ladders) that the slats lay on keep the slats separated even when the blinds are closed. Also, most blind slats have rout holes for the control strings to pass through, which allows light to leak into the room. You can order some blinds with a “routless” or “privacy” option—they’ll be manufactured without rout holes but will still have ladders. Even though you may not be able to get a room completely dark with horizontal blinds, you’ll be able to adjust the light from very bright (completely open) to almost dark (completely closed) with the tilt control. This is an additional benefit of any louvered blind or shutter.
Pleated shades
Pleated shades provide marginal light control because they have visible holes for the control strings. Even if you use opaque fabric, you’ll see light through the control holes. Like cellular shades, you can raise or lower a pleated shade with blackout fabric to increase or decrease the amount of light in a room.
Roman shades
Roman shades are similar to cellular or honeycomb shades in their ability to control light and availability in a variety of fabrics, from translucent to opaque. Light is controlled by the lining of the shade, which is usually specified as blackout fabric. There are no visible holes for the control strings, and you’ll have additional control by raising or lowering the shade.
Shutters
Even though shutters close tighter than horizontal blinds and don’t have rout holes, they’re still not ideal for controlling light because they have horizontal slats. Slats invite light seepage around them—it’s like having multiple “halo effects” within the same window covering. As with horizontal blinds, you can adjust the light from very bright to almost dark with the tilt control.
Vertical blinds
Like horizontal blinds, vertical blinds make it difficult to contain light because of their slats. If you have a heating vent or any other air circulating around them, they can move around like individual pendulums and change the light. Because of this, vertical blinds are probably the least effective for controlling light. However, because they’re louvered, you’ll be able to adjust the light from very bright to almost dark with the tilt control.
No matter what type of window covering you ultimately choose, it’s important that it fits your lifestyle and satisfies your personal preferences. Take the following questions into account before proceeding:
• How does your family live?
• What is the purpose of each room in your house? Do any rooms have multiple purposes?
• Do you need a particular room to be as dark as possible?
• Do you want to be able to adjust a room’s light all along the spectrum (from light to dark)?
• Do you or a family member work a night shift and need darkening shades that allow for daytime sleep?
• Do you have young children or grandchildren in your home? Do they take afternoon naps?
• Does sunlight stream onto your TV or projection screen?
Maintaining customer satisfaction is a crucial aspect of any business, but it's even more important for window covering companies that have earned the prestigious Diamond Certified award. For Creative Window Fashions, Inc., satisfying customers is a direct result of its ability to determine the best window treatment for each client's particular needs. "Our industry knowledge really sets us apart," confirms CEO Duane Vos. "We're very meticulous when it comes to installations, and unlike big-box retailers and home improvement stores, if a customer ever has a problem, we'll fix and reinstall it at no charge."
Creative Window Fashions has been selling and installing all types of window coverings for homes and businesses throughout the North Bay since 1998. The company offers a wide variety of custom shades, blinds, shutters and sheers made by industry leaders Hunter Douglas, Kirsch, Levelor and more. It also offers numerous products from the exclusive Hunter Douglas Alustra® Collection, each of which is made of unique fabric and includes special decorative details. "From luminous sheers to elegant woven textures, the Alustra Collection offers a new standard of style found nowhere else," adds Mr. Vos.
Unlike window covering companies that simply sell products and don't follow up with clients, Creative Window Fashions also provides interior design and decorating services for all types of projects. Mr. Vos says he's especially proud of his company's ability to work with color. "We know what colors will work best for a particular room and how different colors will change the room's overall look. For example, a blue shade will turn the whole room blue. We're experts at determining what colors will work well and what colors will be overwhelming."
Another distinguishing feature of Creative Window Fashions is its focus on competitive pricing, which it's able to achieve because it works by appointment and doesn't maintain an expensive showroom. "Once in a while we'll get beat on price, but it doesn't happen often," says Mr. Vos. "We're not the cheapest service around, but our customers aren't just looking for the best prices–they're looking for high-quality service and a firm on which they can rely."