THE CULTURE OF COUTURE

Elements to complete the room

BY DOUGLAS KING | PHOTOGRAPHY BY HOLGER OBENAUS

When you first step through the door of Curtain Couture’s relaxed showroom, you realize immediately that this is no ordinary drapery store. While custom- made window treatments and motorization are clearly specialties, Curtain Couture also offers select fine furniture, one- of-a-kind Turkish rugs, lighting and more, leading one to quickly discover that owner Mary Ann Young, and showroom manager Dana Moore, have created a full-service, one stop shop that offers turnkey custom design for the entire home.

1

Armed with a seemingly unending array of quality textiles and décor options, the friendly staff guides clients to reach their design goals while striving to stay within budget. Offering exceptional quality craftsmanship in custom window treatments, the company also specializes in motorization, which can be as simple as operating one shade with the push of a button to complete integration into existing home automation. Thankfully, with Wi-Fi technology, adding home automation to an older home no longer requires expensive rewiring. Plus, as a distributor of top-quality brands such as Hunter Douglas, Somfy, MechoShade, BTX, and Qmotion, Curtain Couture is well positioned to address any special motorization need. With the ease of installment and the automation expertise of the Couture team, motorization has become an ‘everyday’ offering at Curtain Couture.

Young worked as a real estate agent for several years before she opened her company in 1998. As an agent, homebuyers increasingly asked Young for her design input and assistance and, ultimately, began to refer her to friends and associates. Soon, Young realized that her true passion was for redesigning homes, not selling them. She started her business by offering hand-tailored drapery with a focus on high-end materials, including finishes not normally found in “ready-made” products. Today, Curtain Couture offers fabrics, trims and hardware that are not readily available elsewhere in the United States. “Due to the vast textile resources I have developed over many years, I am able to offer a wide variety of unique products that can truly set a home apart,” Young says.

2

“We have several clients for whom we’ve designed and installed window treatments and home furnishings that return time and again,” says Moore. “We have clients that we worked with three, six or eight years ago, who return with new projects or a second home to design.” These long-lasting relationships with clients are based on one simple fact: “We help our clients achieve their dreams,” states Young. “Rather than force my design ideas onto clients, I focus on how to help clients achieve their design goals. In many cases, clients have a vision of how they want their home to look, and my job is to turn their vision into reality.”

To help clients achieve their design goals, Young offers a full spectrum of interior design services. “Some clients may initially ask for drapery and then decide they would like to add bedding or wall coverings to the room design. It’s amazing how relieved clients are when they discover we offer those services, along with many others, as well,” says Young. “I assure my clients that we provide every design service, from furniture upholstering to room painting to granite top and lighting installations.”

When Young is asked to refresh a room, she explores many options, such as adding or replacing furniture, rugs, hardware, bedding, accessories and lighting. For clients who have difficulty letting go of a piece of furniture, Curtain Couture offers alternatives for repurposing the item to fit the plan and look of the refreshed room.

“We solve problems that others don’t think about,” says Moore, who recently helped a client with a design need that is not normally within the company’s purview. In the end, the client paid Young and Moore their highest compliment when he said that he loved working with those who took exceptional pride in what they do.

Indeed, a visit to Curtain Couture is a visit to a wonderland of interior goods: quality textiles, an assortment of window treatment hardware, fine furnishings and lighting, this working showroom offers it all and so does the talented staff who bend over backward to make their clients happy. To put an ever so perfect point to her philosophy, Young says, “When we are creating an environment that a client is going to live in every single day, they have to love it and that’s what we set out to do.”

More Information