Our customer just bought a house in Hoboken, New Jersey on the Hudson River waterfront. The home had massive two-story wall to wall windows in the front of the building allowing them to have a clear unobstructed view of the New York City (NYC) skyline.  They have pedestrian walks in the front of the house so privacy was a concern. Since they only really need privacy towards the lower portion of the windows, we solved this problem by using Top Down Bottom Up Hunter Douglas Alustra Duette Honeycomb Shades.

We suggested the Alustra 1-1/4-inch in a black sheer over a gray for a stunning modern look.  By doing the Top Down Bottom Up shades, they could still see the amazing view of the New York Skyline, but no one walking by at ground level could in the home. They only needed to raise the shades to control direct sun at certain times of the day. Since this was a new building with huge windows there were some architectural factors we needed to consider or the window treatments would have looked strange (e.g. if we would have just put the blinds on the windows "as-is"). The modern framing around the panes of glass was inconsistent. We suggested bringing in a carpenter to create new frames to make the windows appear more consistent and to provide a framework for the Hunter Douglas Alustra Duettes to "fit" the windows better.  This provided a perfect solution to the problem (it only required a relatively small expense to pay a carpenter for a couple hours of work). Cord operation on these massive windows was also a major concern. We considered battery operated motorized shades, but the additional cost of motorization put these blinds out of their budget and we would have had to cover the window with more, smaller shades (since motorized shades have smaller maximize size restrictions) which also wouldn’t have looked as good. We couldn't use a cordless option because the height was too high, and ultra-glide retractable cords also wouldn't work because your hand would hit the wall when trying to raise and lower the shades.  We decided on using continuous cord loops. This lift mechanism provided for easy operation on these large sizes while keeping it light to operate.

We also helped the customer create a guest room out of the loft. We used the same material used on the large front windows for a Vertiglide Duette (vertical version Duette). The Vertiglide Duette allowed the customer to create a room with only a minor stack on the right side of the wall when they weren't in use.

The choice of fabric, window treatment style and the finishing touch of using a carpenter to modify the framing made the difference between a spectacular-looking window treatment that provides needed privacy, and unobstructed view of the New York City Skyline and styling that fit with the decor of the home.