Motorization is the future of your window coverings

Austin Window Fashions and Window Fashions of Texas has recently entered a partnership to carry Vasa Window Coverings and Somfy Motorization Systems. This is a very exciting development as Vasa and Somfy are experts in the field of screen and roller shades and especially motorization. And we think motorization of your window covering is the wave of the future. 

At first you might say ‘Only homes much nicer than mine have motorized shades.’ But think of it this way, back in the 1960’s only the wealthy and upper-class homes had power garage door openers… now every new starter home comes with automatic garage door openers. Motorization of your window coverings is a great useful feature that is becoming more common and affordable every year.

Most new homes these days are designed with beautiful high ceiling and walls full of windows that may be up high and out of reach. Yet the sun still comes in and glares threw these windows into your living space. When you want to maintain the beauty of the architecture and improve the usefulness of the room, you’re going to want to put some kind of window covering on those windows. And adding motorization to those window coverings gives you the perfect combination of decor and usability.

Call or stop by the showroom today to learn how we can help you with these new and exciting innovations in window fashions.

We can still get your shutter order installed in your home by the holidays!

This time of year, there is a great benefit to being a local shutter manufacturer- we can still get your new plantation shutters installed in your home by the holidays. That’s right- it’s not to late!  If you order your new real wood plantation shutters from Austin Window Fashions and Window Fashions of Texas by November 13th, 2009, we guarantee to have them installed in your home by Christmas. You can’t get that kind of service from our competitors who get their shutters from China- their shipping deadlines have already passed. But since our shutters are totally Texan- milwork by O’Hair shutters in Lubbock, Texas and customization done right here in our facility in Austin- we can still offer you the fastest turn around time in all of Central Texas.

Call us today or drop by the showroom to talk to one of our knowledgeable design consultants about how beautiful new shutters would look in your home just in time for the holiday guests to arrive.

www.austinwindowfashions.com

www.windowfashionsoftexas.com

 

Shutters in time to celebrate

Budgeting for your window coverings

Yesterday I heard an interesting statistic: That you should budget at least 5%, and really more like 10%, of the price of your home for your window coverings.

At first, this kind of surprised me. If we’re talking about a $600,000 house, that’s a minimum of $30,000 for window coverings. That sounds like a lot of money. But then I got to thinking about it… if you’re building that beautiful dream home you’ve been planning your whole life… you’ve probably spent $17 a square foot on those gorgeous hardwood floors, $60 a square foot on that beautiful granite countertop, $25 a tile for that luxurious steam shower, and over $4000 for that stunning crystal chandelier in the dining room. Plus, you’ve still got up to 30 windows you need to cover. Unfortunately, window coverings are one of the last things people think of and don’t always budget for… but they really are just as important as all those other purchase.

Your windows are the key to light, privacy, and energy efficiency in your home. And once you’ve gone out of your way to put all the best and beautiful products in your home, do you really want to go down to Home Depot and have the cheapest white PVC blinds cut down to fit your windows? They’re certainly not going to complement the stained wood work in the den and they won’t block much of the heat of the full morning sun exposure in your breakfast room.

So plan ahead. When you’re drawing up those dream plans, or just moving into your new nest- remember to create a budget for your window covering. After all, nobody appreciates it when your neighbors living room windows peer right into your master bath.

Visit the showroom at Austin Window Fashions or Window Fashions of Texas and we’ll be happy to show you the best solutions for your window light control, privacy and energy efficiency needs.

www.austinwindowfashions.com

www.windowfashionsoftexas.com

 

Shutters are excellent for privacy in the bathroom

Before and After pics Plantation Shutters

I love before and after pics! Here are some before and after pics of my plantation shutters from Austin Window Fashions.

One of the great things about getting my plantation shutters from Austin Window Fashions is their really fast turn around time. My shutters we installed in only three weeks- that’s half the time any other window covering place in Austin will quote you, much less deliver. Since the baby was on the way, I really wanted to get something on the windows and I needed it fast. Austin Window Fashions was the only one that could do it on time.

Also, I like that they used waterbased paint with low VOC’s and no stinky offgassing in your home. That was important to me since I was putting them in the baby’s room.

I use my shutters every day! I open them every morning and let the natural light in, and I close them in the afternoon to keep the hot sun out. It’s great! I had blinds before and I never messed with them. Now that I have these shutters, it’s so easy and inviting to just give them a quick tilt and brighten the room or shut them tight so the baby can take his nap. I love how they really do close very tightly to make it nice and dark in the middle of the day for nap time. It also provides really comforting privacy.

My windows are kind of a funky size since this house was built in the 1970’s. Fortunately, since plantation shutters are custom built to each window and Austin Window Fashions has their own factory right here in Austin, they had no problem covering my windows perfectly. Another great thing about Austin Window Fashion’s shutters is that they can cover a window up to 50″ wide with a single shutter panel. It’s because they use better materials and better construction. My windows are 43″ wide and it’s perfect to just have the one wide panel giving me a nice open view. All the other shutter manufactures can only make shutter panels 36″ wide, which means to do my windows they would have to use two panels. That would have cut a large chunk of my view out of the center where the two panels would meet.

Needless to say, I’m really happy with my shutters. They are great and I would recommend Austin Window Fashions to everyone! 

Please share your before and after pics (or just after pics if you’ve got them) of your shutters.

My office before the plantation shutters were installed

My office after having plantation shutters installed

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Baby's Room before plantation shutter- and before baby

The Baby's Room after shutters installed; and after baby!

Austin Window Fashions and Window Fashions of Texas

Welcome to Austin Window Fashions and Window Fashions of Texas- the premier window coverings company of Austin and San Antonio, Texas.

Every day we have people call Austin Window Fashions and ask us to come out to their homes and give them an estimate on window coverings. That is the way most of the window fashions industry works- a sales person comes to your home with the trunk of their car full of little samples for you to pick from.

Let me take a few minutes to explain why we do things a little differently here.

At Austin Window Fashions and Window Fashions of Texas, we have invested in creating beautiful showrooms which are your best tools in choosing window covering for you home. At the showroom we have full size working displays of all the different products we carry. Instead of asking you to look at a few small samples and try to imagine what it would look like covering your window, we can show you exactly what the products look like in full size in our showroom.

You can see a whole range of products, sizes, and options of the most popular types of window coverings. You can touch, feel and operate all the different lifting systems. Seeing full size products helps the customer to understand and visualize how the product will look installed in their home in a way you can’t get with little handsamples.

Having the full range of the different types of window covering displayed all in one place is a wonderful tool. As Austin’s and San Antonio’s only Hunter Douglas Gallery, we carry the full line of this quality brand. We also sell our own real wood plantation shutters. So many people come in thinking they wanted one thing, but then upon exploring the showroom and seeing all the other options, often find something else they may not have know about but totally fall in love with.

Our knowledgeable design consultants are here to answer all your questions. And if you bring rough measurements of your windows with you to the showroom, we can give you on the spot pricing. All of our pricing is clearly itemized and we do not roll in or hide cost of installation. 

One question people often ask is about installation. We provide top quality installation of all our products. We employ our own crew of full time installers. They wear uniforms and drive company trucks and are bonded and insured. Our installers have earned top customer satisfaction ratings and you can feel comfortable and confident having them in your home.

Once you visit the showroom and get a good idea of what you’re interested in and we get pricing infront of you, if you’re ready to go forward with the order, our knowledgeable design consultant will come out to your home to take specific measurements and help finalize color choices. At that point, we take a deposit on your order.

Delivery time is usually very good on all the most popular products. Sometimes we can have blinds installed in just a few days and our shutter delivery time is often half that of our competitors. Since we are the shutter factory, (the workshop is directly behind the showroom), and source all our shutter millwork here in Texas (instead of China) we can delivery quality custom shutters often in as little as three weeks.

We offer lifetime warranties on all the products we produce and sell. Our shutter warranty is the strongest warranty in the industry and is transferable when you sell your home. We also handle all repair and service work on Hunter Douglas window covering and our shutters. You can always bring your blinds or shades to the showroom to have them sent for repair.

We hope you will come visit us at Austin Window Fashions or Window Fashions of Texas the next time you need window coverings and top notch service.

www.austinwindowfashions.com

www.windowfashionsoftexas.com

 

Austin Window Fashions Hunter Douglas Gallery Showroom