March Into Spring

March into Spring.......
With window covering by Hunter Douglas and Custom Draperies

We can see the start of warm weather ahead of us and it is time to freshen up your home just in time for Spring. And what better way then changing out your window coverings or adding Custom Window Treatments. I love to open the windows at the beginning of Spring and see nature at it's glory and to smell the freshness of Spring. 

A Great way to open up your home is to update your window coverings! 

Silhouette, Pirouette, and Roman Shades

When customers ask us what we would do we always suggest shades. These include Silhouettes, Pirouettes, Roman Shades, or Roller Shades all from Hunter Douglas. These are products where you can easily lift them all the way up and let the sun shine in. 

Silhouette transforms light. Like the subtle cast their name suggests, Silhouette window shadings, with the Signature S-Vane, create beautiful and ambient light ande shadow. Soft fabric vanes are suspended between two sheers, diffusing softened light deep into a room. Tilt the vanes to achieve the privacy you desire while maintaining UV protection. These shades can easily be rolled all the way into a cassette to give full view of the outside. 

Stringing design, dramatically filtered light. With Pirouette window shadings, the look and feel of a traditional fabric shade is enhanced, the gentle pull of a cord lets you change a room's lighting in a whole new way. Soft, horizontal fabric vanes close to filter natural light, or open to give you a perfect outside view. Our revolutionary invisi-Lift system allows the vanes to float gracefully, and even opened they offer UV protection and reduced glare through the sheer backing. 

Vignette and Design Studio Roman Shades offer a simple, uncluttered look. Luxurious fabrics and soft folds give the shades a clean, crisp look. The range of styles and help you create a warm, inviting, and beautiful space. Offered in Top Down/Bottom Up design, this product is versatile and functional. Create amazing light scapes with this design and control the light that enters your home. We love the way this product adds style and beauty to any room.

Sophisticated but uncomplicated is how we describe Roller Shades. For a look that is both custom and classic, our Designer Roller Shades offer a clean appearance in a beautiful range of fabrics and have a variety of design options and operating systems. 

There other Shades from Hunter Douglas that also fit this bill including Duette Honeycomb Shades, Provenance Woven Shades, and Solera Soft Shade.

Stop in to see us at Read Design in Southlake or Plano let one of our designer help you select the perfect shade for your home. And because we are a full service Interior Design Studio, we can help you with Custom Window Treatment. We can even pair them to Hunter Douglas Shades. With the thousands of fabrics available, we are sure that we can find the perfect fit for your home. Here is just a few ideas.

Stay Warm With Energy Efficient Window Coverings

Stay Warm with Energy Effiecient Window Coverings

It is winter and the cold months are here to stay for a while. During these chilly months being bundled up next to a warm fire while you read a book or watch TV is the best feeling ever. But the worst feeling is trying to keep your energy bill down when on an average we spend 59% more on energy bills. But don't worry - Read Design has a solution for you with energy efficient window treatments from Hunter Douglas.

Cellular Shades and Roman Shades

Cellular Shades and Roman Shades are the top energy-saving window coverings. They both are very trendy and have plenty of factors that help you save money on your energy bills.

Cellular Shades, also referred to as Duette Honeycomb Shades by Hunter Douglas, are the most energy efficient window coverings. They are designed to have dead-air spaces which increase their insulation by trapping the warm air inside which helps to keep you warm all winter long. With the introduction of Hunter Douglas Architella Duettes, this got even better. The Architella Duette is a honeycomb within a honeycomb which gives 3 air pockets and keeps even more of the warmth inside. Duette Honeycomb Shades are very versatile window coverings with a variety of fabric and colors to choose from. They offer various degrees of light filtering options including sheer, light filtering and room darkening. This also helps with privacy and insulation. Duette Honeycomb can also be made in specialty shapes including arches and skylights. There are a number of lift options including Ultraglide, LiteRise, or can be motorized with Hunter Douglas PowerView Motorization making them easy to open and close as well as child safe.

Roman Shades are similar to cellular shades and are one of the most popular window coverings today. They are both functional and beautiful And they offer great energy efficiency. Hunter Douglas has the Vignette Modern Roman Shade and the Solera Soft Shades to choose from. The both come in a variety of colors and textures that add beauty to your home Roman Shades can also trap in the warmth which can save you money on your electric bill. Also, like the Duette Honeycomb Shades, Roman Shades come in various degrees of light filtering options for privacy and light control. They also have a number of lift options to choose from.

Here is one of our recent installation in Prosper, Texas. We used Tierred Vignette Modern Roman Shades by Hunter Douglas. The fabric we choose was Drake. The color of the fabric blended all the colors in this new home together. They have a total of 10 windows in the Family Room so we chose to use PowerView Motorization which will make it easy to open all of the shades at once and with this system the customer can set the shades to raise to their favorite spot. We all were very pleased with the look the Vignette Modern Roman Shades created.

Right Now Hunter Douglas is offering Rebates on these Energy Efficient Window Shades- Duette Honey Comb Shades, Vignette Modern Roman Shades and Sonnette Shades. For every Vignette shade you purchase, you will get $50 back (with a minimum of 2 shades). For every Duette and Sonnette Shades, you will get $25 back (with a minimum purchase of 4 shades).

Custom Drapery

At Read Design Plano and Read Design Southlake, our Designers can also help you with Custom Window Treatments including Draperies, Valances, Cornice Boards and much more. And now we are receiving New Fabrics from all of the manufactures which makes now an exciting time to start thinking about updating your home. Many drapery treatments are designed for insulation which also helps with the energy efficiency of your home during the window but also during those hot summer months in the North Texas area.

Where to find Energy Efficient Shades in the Dallas / Fort Worth Area

Read Design has bed a leader in Hunter Douglas and Custom Window Treatments in the Dallas / Fort Worth area and have 2 convenient locations- one in Plano and one in Southlake. At Read Design you can see our many displays and our designer can help you find a solution just for your windows. And we can help you solve all of your interior design needs. Stop in or give us a call.

Plano. 972-608-4999
Southlake. 817-416-7164

We service all of these areas and more
Irving, Dallas, Grapevine, Plano, Highland Park, Preston Hollow, Carrollton, Allen, McKinney, Richardson, Rockwell, Garland, Prosper, Celina, Southlake, Keller, Trophy Club, Colleyville, Arlington, Westlake, Northlake, Robson Ranch, Flower Mound, Little Elm, Lewisville, The Colony, North Richland Hills, Mabank, and all areas in between.

We will be having a Window Dressing Event starting in February and will have a number of events running throughout the Spring. Watch for our Blogs and info on Facebook.

Plantation Shutters

Custom Plantation Shutters... and best of all - Made In America!!!!

Yes, Plantation Shutters are still as popular as ever and are still a great way to add value to your home. Shutters for your windows will last for generations and is one window treatment that is seldom changed if you sell your home. This is especially true with Wood Plantation Shutters. The beauty of wood is classic, will add warmth to your home and will last a lifetime. And today their are many different choices you can make including louver size, trim design, hidden or standard front tilt, divider rails, custom paint or stain color, and hinge color.

Introducing Heritance Hardwood Shutters by Hunter Douglas.

The simple elegance of rich, hardwood shutters gives lift to any room. Now, the maximum strength and durability of our Heritance Hardwood Shutters make them a wise investment in many ways. They feature dovetail construction and a vast selection of frame choices, specialty shapes, and louver sizes- and a variety of paint and stain finishes, as well as custom colors. Also available in six Handcrafted Series Techniques to enhance the inherent character and color of the genuine hardwood and making your shutters truly one of a kind.

Six Techniques

The first technique is textured, which enhances the woods natural grain and creates a contrast and depth of the natural wood grain. You can also choose glazed which enhances the richness of the stain finish with a hand rubbed glaze. The Glazed and Burnished technique creates an antique effect. With the Rustic technique the natural characteristics of hardwood are arranged so you will have your own unique shutter. The Heirloom distressed technique will give your shutters an Old World effect with the addition techniques. Including burnishing,, rasping, and flyspecking. An finally the Classic Technique give the wood a beautiful worn finish with the techniques including glaze, dents, cracks and wormholes.

Or you can choose any of our paint selections including Custom Paint Match.

So how does it work? Give Read Design Plano or Read Design Southlake a call and schedule an appointment with one of our Designers. We will gladly meet with you at your home and check out the windows where you would like shutters. We will suggest louver size keeping in mind scale of the window and room. We will also help you decide on the trim and which tilt system is best for your look. And finally we will help decide if paint or stain is best for your design and walk you though the different techniques.

Read Design is a leader in Hunter Douglas Window Coverings with 2 Gallery locations, one in Plano and the other one in Southlake. We offer personalized service that you will only find with a locally owned store. This is our family business and we are here to help you personalize your own design. Stop by and see over 60 working displays including PowerView, the latest in home automation. Our designers can also help you with drapery and window treatment selections as well as anything you might need for your home including furniture, rugs, lamps and home decor items.

Here is one of our projects which includes Custom Plantation Shutters. We had the walls painted and then came back and designed drapery panels to finish off the look. Next we will be moving on to the Dining Room.

And at our Plano Store you will see our new displays of our RD Home Collection where you will find anything you might need for you home. New products are coming in weekly! 

Don't miss out on Hunter Douglas rebates going on now (shutters excluded). Give us a call now to learn more about all our different products and features and benefits of each. We look forward to working with you!

Motorization Is Not Just For Shades

Our Motorization Event has been going strong and it continues until September 11, 2017. So if you are building a new home or in the process of a Home Renovation or updating to new window coverings, you might consider using Power.

Introducing PowerView Motorization only from Hunter Douglas.

PowerView Motorization is the Future. With Builders putting in more and more windows and even adding upper windows, PowerView will add ease of operation. These Window Shades are powered by battery or if you are in the building stage, you can add wiring at the windows. We would be happy to give you some insight as to how this can be done and walk you through the process. Or you can also read back through the past few Blogs to learn more about PowerView.

But we are not only adding Power to Shades and Shadings, we can also help you with Motorizated Drapery Treatments.

We recently helped a client in Southlake with their master bedroom. They have 2 windows on the side wall where we installed New Style Shutters made by Hunter Douglas. The back window, though, is where we had more of a challenge. The window is actually a sliding door and the view to the back yard is beautiful so we wanted to open this up with draperies. The client wanted to easily open the draperies so we installed them using a Drapery Rod that is operated with power. They love the ease of operation opening the bedroom to the outdoors!

Where to find Motorization in the Dallas/ Fort Worth area.

Stop in today at Read Design Plano or Read Design Southlake. Our Designers can help you with Shades by Hunter Douglas using PowerView Motorization and can also help you with custom Window Treatments and these can be powered as well. There are so many fabrics to choose from and many rod selections too. We can walk you through the steps to help you get acquainted with Motorization.

We service Dallas, Fort Worth, Plano, Southlake and all areas in between

Draperies & Shutters

Do you need to add draperies to windows with shutters? ........Answer.......... that is up to you.

We are asked this question all the time. My answer is "it is up to the individual." Plantation Shutters do stand on their own. Most of the windows in the Dallas/Fort Worth area are sheetrock windows - no framing around the window. So when framed shutters are installed all of a sudden the window is squared and looks like an expensive wooden window. And because the framing is beautiful, it really dresses up the window all on it's own. Some windows will work wonderfully with drapery panels, while others have too little room or are at an unusual angle. Drapery panels certainly add softness, texture and color and real accent any design. 

NewStyle Shutters by Hunter Douglas

Here is a great example of how Framed Plantation Shutter create a Finished Look. These Shutters are New Style by Hunter Douglas. We used the Classic "Z" Frame with the 4 1/2" louvers and the Hidden Tilt to give a modern and clean look. This is exactly the look this customer wanted so we did not add a drapery treatment to these windows. These shutters dramatically change a room while providing the function of keeping the home cool in our harsh Texas summer.

Heritance Shutters by Hunter Douglas

These Shutters are Heritance Shutters by Hunter Douglas. They are made of North American Basswood. We used the Classic Frame and they completely finish the look. Here is also an example of where you would not use draperies because there is not enough room on the right side. Adding drapery would crowd the look and cover too much of the window losing light in the room. When we think about draperies is a room we always look at the window placement and spacing and think about stacking and amount of glass that would be covered. You do not want to add draperies if it creates a crowded look. In this room the shutters using a 4 1/2" louver really opens up the room, gives a lot of light, and beautifully finishes this Dining Room.

Draperies With Shutters

Here is an example of where we added drapery panels to NewStyle Shutters by Hunter Douglas. This is a Dining Room and the customer wanted to add a touch of elegance to the room without giving up the light. There was plenty of room between the window edge and wall so we added Drapery panels made of a neutral Grey Velvet. The drapery panels frame the windows with softness and add a touch of sophistication. Perfect for a Plano dining room. The finished look was what the customer wanted with out giving up light.

Sheer Drapery

We recently finished a project where we installed New Style Shutters by Hunter Douglas  in the customer's Master Bedroom. They turned out beautiful and gave privacy but the room needed softening. The room had a transitional design where the customer combined old with new. The master bedding was white with just a soft blue touch in the pillows. So we added sheer panels in a soft white color with a delicate design in the fabric. And we took the panels all the way up to the crown moldings to give a feeling of height. These drapery sheer panels finished the look of this room.

If you are looking for a new look contact us at Read Design in Plano or Read Design Southlake.  Our Designers are ready to help you. We will look at your space and help you see all of the different ways you can treat your rooms. If you are wanting Plantation Shutters, we will show you all of the choices that would work. And if you are interested in Draperies or Drapery Panels we have a large selection of fabrics that we will show you. Stop in Today

We service the Dallas/Fort Worth areas including Prosper, Colleyville, Grapevine, Allen and everywhere in between.

Beauty Is In The Layers

Layer The Look

It all begins with Hunter Douglas Silhouette Duolite Shades.

Our Favorite projects are those where we can put together a look designed specifically with you in mind. A look that cannot be repeated because it is unique to your style.

Recently we helped a client in North Dallas who had remodeled her ranch style home. More square footage was added to the master bedroom as well as three extra windows for more light. She wanted a whole new look which included furniture and decor. We decided on a soft contemporary design using neutral fabric colors for versatility and texture for an element of design. She needed privacy during the day and a room darkening option for nightfall without losing her light during the day. The second layer needed to be different and have the best solution to meet all of her design requirements is Silhouette Duolite Window Shading only from Hunter Douglas. The Duolite is a room darkening shade that falls behind the Silhouette making it darken the room and provide complete privacy. This unique product provided a solution to all of our clients window covering and design needs. With so many windows, the window coverings are a very important feature and focal point. There was no other option for this homeowner! And she loves the way they look and function. We decided to use Silhouette in the Alustra Collection Brio fabric for her bedroom because the beautiful textured fabric adds a unique element. She can leave the shades in the opened position during the day while still getting privacy, UV protection and allowing light to cascade into the room. 

For the final layer we added these soft contemporary sheers with a nice texture and modern pattern creating a sophisticated look. This is a soft linen sheer fabric from Kravet. The neutral colors accent the shades and wall paint while providing a softness. It's everything we wanted the finished look to be. It paired very well with the gray velvet chaise and neutral bedding. By mounting the drapery panels at the highest point and letting them flow to the floor, we draw your eyes up and make the room feel larger and maximize out space. It all aligned beautifully and we couldn't be happier! We plan on adding a touch of color using pillows, accessories and art. 

Another feature we added for easy operation and convenience is PowerView Motorization. This exclusive automation system makes raising and lowering your shades a breeze. These are intelligent shades that simplify your life. Particularly convenient in the master bedroom, you can set schedules to have your shades move to any desired position at any particular time of day. Have your shades rise with the sun to get an early start to your day and have them lower with the sunset to ensure privacy. Or simply shout out to Alexa to set your desired position. The PowerView system is so versatile it can be paired with most home automation system including Nest, IFTTT, Amazon Echo, Control 4, Logitech and more!

“The secret to a well-designed room is the selection of truly special products that beautifully weave light and texture together with ultimate functionality and performance.”

Silhouette by Hunter Douglas

Silhouette window shadings are designed to offer a surprising combination of light-diffusing textured sheers and light-controlling soft fabric vanes that enhance the ambiance of a room. In an understated ethereal way, they bring a textural quality that is naturally illuminating, quickly signifying style and subtle sophistication. Undeniable, natural light is one of the most precious elopement of any environment and of good design. These organic textured sheers magically transform light and offer an evolving art that elevates any room with a refined aesthetic. 

The Silhouette Duolite feature gives another layer to an already exclusive product. This feature allows a room darkening liner to lower for more privacy and a darker sleeping environment. Silhouette Duolite shadings seamlessly combine a Silhouette shading together with an independently operated room-darkening roller shade that nestles behind it in the same headrail. The addition of the roller shade enhances the room darkening and privacy benefits of Silhouette, while still allowing you to enjoy the softly diffused light and view through that Silhouette shadings are known for. Once the Silhouette shading is down with the vanes open, the room-darkening roller shade can be positioned in the window at any height to allow maximum flexibility when determining your light control and privacy needs. The shade can even be completely recessed into the headrail and out of sight.

Where To Find Hunter Douglas And Custom Drapery

Find it all here at your one stop shop for all your interior design needs! Read Design in Plano and Southlake have been creating beautiful designs for 30 years! Stop by either of our showrooms to learn how we can transform your home into a unique living space designed just for you. We can walk you through all of the beautiful window fashions Hunter Douglas offers and discuss features and benefits of each one. We will be showcasing our updated fabrics for each product line and introducing our brand new products beginning May 16th! We are very excited about this! 

Areas we service: Southlake, Plano, Dallas, Highland Park, Colleyville, Coppell, Celina, Fort Worth, Prosper, Gunter, Roanoke, Trophy Club, Allen, Frisco, Grapevine, Flower Mound, Robson Ranch, Keller, McKinney, Carrollton, Euless, Arlington, Rockwall, Richardson, Murphy, Lewisville, Anna, Denton, The Colony, Little Elm and every where in between!

March Into Spring......

          With window coverings by Hunter Douglas and Custom Draperies by Read Design

We can see the start of warm weather ahead of us and it is time to freshen up your home just in time for Spring. What better way then changing out your window coverings or adding Custom Window Treatments?! I love to open the windows at the beginning of Spring and see Nature in it's glory and to smell the freshness of Spring.

A great way to open up your home is to update your window coverings.

Silhouette, Pirouette, and Roman Shades

When customers ask us what we would do to open up a room, we always suggest shades. These include Silhouettes, Pirouettes, Roman Shades and Roller Shades all from Hunter Douglas. These are products where you can easily lift them all the way up and let the sun shine in.  

Silhouette transforms light. Like the subtle cast their name suggests, Silhouette window shadings with the Signature S-Vane, creates beautiful and ambient light and shadow. Soft fabric vanes are suspended between two sheers, diffusing softened light deep into a room. Tilt the vanes to achieve the privacy you desire while maintaining UV protection. These shades can easily be rolled all the way into a cassette to give full view of the outside.

Stringing design, dramatically filtered light. With Pirouette window shadings, the look and feel of a traditional fabric shade is enhanced, the gentle pull of a cord lets you change a room's lighting in a whole new way. Soft, horizontal fabric vanes close to filter natural light, or open to give you a perfect outside view. Our revolutionary invisi-Lift system allows the vanes to float gracefully. Even when opened they offer UV protection and reduced glare through the sheer backing.

Vignette and Design Studio Roman Shades offer a simple, uncluttered, look. Luxurious fabrics and soft folds give the shades a clean, crisp look. The range of styles can help you create a warm, inviting, and beautiful space. With so many fabric color and texture options, there is something for any style of home.

Sophisticated but uncomplicated is how we describe Roller Shades. For a look that is both custom and classic, our Designer Roller Shades offer a clean appearance in a beautiful range of fabrics and have a variety of design options and operating systems.  

There other Shades from Hunter Douglas that also fit this bill including Duette Honeycomb Shades, Provenance Woven Shades, and Solera Soft Shade. All of these designs are beautiful and dynamic. 

Stop in to see us at Read Design in Southlake or Plano and let one of our designers help you select the perfect shade for your home. Because we are a full service Interior Design Studio, we can help you with Custom Window Treatments. We can even pair them to Hunter Douglas Shades. With the thousands of fabrics available, we are sure that we can find the perfect fit for your home.  Here are just a few ideas.

Don't Forget! March is Motorization Month! Ask us about PowerView!

We service all of the following areas: Garland, Richardson, Farmer's Branch, Dallas, Rockwall, Fortworth, Plano, Frisco, Southlake, Westlake, Trophy Club, Roanoke, Denton, Celina, Prosper, Allen, McKinney and every where in between!

Making The "Dark Dallas Dining Room" Light Again

DINING ROOM BEFORE

We Recently made an appointment with a client in North Dallas. Her home was a little dated - especially the dining room. I could tell that the previous owner had invested quite a bit to make this room beautiful. The walls were faux painted a deep red with brown and gold highlights. They had plantation shutters on the windows and also a heavy drapery treatment in red. This was definitely the traditional trend that was popular a decade ago. But now it is dark and uninviting. 

Our client has a light and fun personality and this room definitely did not reflect that. She likes a more transitional look and definitely wanted to brighten up this room. 

The Design Plan

She loves her dining table and chairs, which have that transitional look, so we used those as our inspiration. We also kept her side board, plantation shutters and a few accessories. But that was it, the rest had to go.. starting with the heavy drapery. 

We began with a new window treatment - new fabric and a new design. We chose a fabric from Fabricut that has a beautiful neutral pattern and we knew it would hang beautifully. Because less is more for this type of design, we custom made simple drapery panels to frame the beautiful shutters. We raised the rod up to give the feeling of height and we also made the treatment wider to allow more light into the room.

We pulled out the light tan color in the fabric to paint above the chair rail. Paint can change everything and immediately the room brightened up. 

The Finishing Touches

This was the fun part! We took down the small framed mirror that hung above the sideboard and replaced it with a large arched mirror. This gave a lot of reflection to the room making it appear lighter and larger all while adding some character. I love this mirror by Guildmaster! Then we added two matching lamps and just a few accessories (some new and some old). We also removed the red runner on the table and replaced it with the large tray. The tray was the clients before and wanted to incorporate it into the new design so all we did there was rearrange the accessories. We suggested that in the evening she leave the chandelier off and turn on these two lamps and she let us know that she does this every evening and loves the way it looks and feels! She also commented on how beautiful our custom drapery panels are. 

This was a fun project from the very beginning to the end and I think we achieved the objective and made the room light, livable and a true reflection of our client's personality.

Call Read Design Plano or Southlake For Your Next Interior Design Project!

Read Design has been a leader in Window Fashions and Interior Design for over 25 years. With two generations of the Read Family working together, we are dedicated to making your home beautiful and a true reflection of you. We can help you not matter how large or how small your project is. Stop by either of our stores to see the latest in Hunter Douglas window treatments and to learn about PowerView Motorization. After all, smart homes are the future! Our designers can help you visualize and give your personal service to help you find the perfect solution for all of your projects.

Read Design Services All Of the Following Areas:

Carrollton, Lewisville, Westlake, Southlake, Dallas, North Dallas, Fort Worth, Roanoke, Keller, Coppell, Colleyville, Irving, Las Colinas, Denton, Argyle, Allen, Sachse, Wylie, Benbrook, Hurst, Euless, Addison, Farmers Branch, Frisco, The Colony, Plano, Parker, St Paul, Prosper, Celina, Little Elm, McKinney and many more!