Winners at the Window

Watchung Warmup
Window Treatment: A&J Interiors
Photographer: Marisa Pellegrini

The homeowner thought her ballroom windows needed only Hunter Douglas Silhouette shades. But as Debi Pinelli of A&J Interiors worked in the home’s other rooms, she pitched ideas for the ballroom, which she found “cold and uninviting even with its stylish furniture. The room, with marble floors, also had a big echo problem.” Pinelli won her client over with a rendering of stationary panels and board-mounted box-pleat valances (R.M. Coco’s Chimera fabric in the color Morgana Oyster). The designer pronounces the treatment “warm and welcoming,” plus it absorbs sound.

Elevated Elegance
Window Treatment: The Decorating Store at Terminal Mill Ends
Photographer: Marisa Pellegrini

A Short Hills family room with two-story windows needed warmth without sacrificing views of the wooded backyard. The client had a great inspiration photo, says designer Joyce Baglieri of The Decorating Store at Terminal Mill Ends. However, the room has a ledge that sticks out 14 inches about halfway up the wall so fabric would catch on it. The solution: pregathered panels (Duralee 32332 in Teak; Fabricade 119004 in Mocha) attached to boards at multiple heights and secured with Kirsch medallions. “It’s an elegant treatment with fabrics perfect for the furniture and rug,” Baglieri says. As a bonus, “the room isn’t as echo-y.”

Soft Touch
Window Treatment: Metropolitan Window Fashions
Photographer: Marisa Pellegrini

Lois Croce of Metropolitan Window Fashions in North Plainfield says her choice is all about the fabric. It’s Brookhaven in the color Chambray from a line that Canadian designer and television personality Sarah Richardson created for Kravet. “It features watery blues and greens on soft linen. The drapes tie in all the elements in the bedroom in a nice way,” Croce says of the Madison project. Light control was paramount, so the panels over the door have blackout lining plus a magnetic tape on the center edges to prevent gapping. Hunter Douglas Applause blackout cellular shades do the trick on the drapes flanking the bed. The poles and rings are from Kirsch.

The Right Angles
Window Treatment: The Shade Store
Interior Design: KMW Interiors
Photographer: Rob Kalmbach

“This window [with angled glass coming to a point] is very unique architecturally, slanting outward and really bringing the outdoors in,” says Ian Gibbs of The Shade Store, a nationwide company based in Port Chester, New York, with a New Jersey location in Paramus. “It’s a characteristic that you do not see often.” A custom valance conceals the track for the draperies (fabric is Basket Sheer Rain, a Shade Store exclusive) and imparts a seamless look. “The way we were able to frame the window with drapery adds to the overall beauty of the interior and exterior,” Gibbs says. The interior designer is Kita Marie Williams of KMW Interiors in Beverly Hills, California.

Up to the Challenges
Window Treatment: Window Works
Interior Design: MacWright Interiors
Photographer: Marisa Pellegrini

LuAnn Nigara of Window Works in Livingston teamed with Short Hills interior designer Jody MacWright on this West Orange project. Multisized windows admitted heat and glare into the great room-kitchen combination, which has windows only on the west-facing wall. Another goal was to establish a feeling of individual rooms despite the open floor plan. To tame the sun and define the spaces, they chose Roman shades made of Loma French Grey by Romo Black Edition, inside-mounted to drop behind the bay window’s banquette, and outside-mounted Hunter Douglas Luminettes for the sliders. MacWright, of MacWright Interiors, selected the fabric, which Nigara calls “show-stopping.” Nigara suggested Luminettes for their understated look.

Fashionably Fresh
Window Treatment: CoCo Curtain Studio & Interior Design
Interior Design: Regina McBrearty
Photographer: Eugene Parciasepe Jr.

“What I really like is that this room is traditional, but the window treatment makes it more of a modern classic,” says Mary Gorman of CoCo Curtain Studio & Interior Design in Ridgewood. “We love to do panels in the dining room because it adds formality, and you don’t need privacy” so they can stay open, framing the view. These panels, in a Ridgewood home, graze the floor for a “tap-and-bend” effect, Gorman says. In keeping with the color scheme, interior designer Regina McBrearty used Duralee’s Kedara fabric in blue-green. The Umber rods and rings are from Paris Texas Hardware.