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Sheer Coordination

Hunter Douglas announces winners of its' Counterparts® On Parade' decorating contest.

by Hillery Meier and Sarah Narowetz

A ll concerned say it was a sheer delight to coordinate two delightfully sheer products that also boast incomparable light control and privacy options. Nonetheless, the Counterparts On Parade Show Home Decorating Contest sponsored by Hunter Douglas Window Fashions, Upper Saddle River, NJ, has come to an end. The contest challenged dealers and designers to artfully combine Luminette Privacy Sheers® (fabric vanes that float vertically) and Silhouette® window shadings (fabric vanes that float horizontally between two sheer fabric panels) in a Parade of Homes or show home installation. Participating dealer/designers were assisted by the Counterparts program of complementing fabrics and colors for the Luminette® and Silhouette brands, developed by the company. The Counterparts On Parade contest ran from May 15 to November 15, 2000; winners were announced December 15. Contest guidelines were simple. To enter, participants had to qualify to receive the Luminette sheers and Silhouette shadings. After the products were installed, the dealer/designer had to take a photograph illustrating the Luminette sheers and Silhouette shadings in the same or adjoining rooms. They also had to provide a description of why the products were selected. The success of the contest speaks for itself. Ninety-six dealers and designers participated in more than 100 Parade of Homes installations and show homes across the country, for a total consumer attendance estimated at nearly four million. INDIANAPOLIS-AREA DEALER WINS TRIP Marcia Duke, Elegant Window Fashions, Bargersville, IN, captured first prize. As the winner, she received a four-night trip for two to Lisbon, Portugal. Duke's winning entry was in the 2000 Home-a-Rama on the Hickory Stick Golf Course in the Indianapolis area. The style of the home was English Country inside and out. The master bedroom windows presented a challenge. Duke and her team needed, in their words, "to highlight the view of the golf course, while maintaining a high-end custom drapery look without sacrificing light control options." They also faced another common challenge: how to treat both windows and doors within the same room or adjacent rooms with a cohesive look. According to Duke, the Counterparts program made it simple and fun for them to accomplish their goals. They paired Luminette sheers in Linéa—a soft-textured sheer that accents the vertical lines of the product—with Silhouette shadings in the crinkle-textured Naturelle[TM] fabric. Both products were selected in soft white hues. The sheers were used for the expanse of doors opening onto an atrium and the shadings on adjoining windows. They were both topped with a Renaissance-style treatment of silk douppioni swags and jabots and small fringed valances for a look of tailored luxury. TWO SECOND PRIZES AWARDED Two second place prizes were awarded: one to Steve Rile, Ida & Norma's Draperies, Spokane, WA, and another to Danny and Laura Livov, Nationwide Floor & Window Coverings, Virginia Beach, VA. Each received a three-night trip for two to Las Vegas, NV. Rile won first place last year in the "Luminette On Parade" contest for which he constructed a shoji-style cornice out of Luminette fabric by the yard. (See D&WC, February 2000, and October 2000.) Said Rile, "The most exciting aspect of a home show is the opportunity to 'think outside the box' and create a treatment that is completely different." This year Rile's entry for a parade home in Post Falls, ID, once again showed his ability to "think outside the box." For the living room with its expansive window and sliding glass door, Rile used two Luminette sheers in the elegant, traditional Angelica fabric with one drawing right, the other drawing left to appear as one treatment. This created a wall of Luminette sheers almost 25 feet wide that stacked off the windows completely. For the adjoining breakfast nook with a bay of three windows, Rile chose Silhouette in the linen-like Toujours[TM] fabric for a clean, "out of the way" treatment around the kitchen table. To make this truly a one-of-a-kind installation, Rile topped the window fashions (both of which were specified in gentle whites) with cornices and attached "melting icicles" of Luminette fabric by the yard in random lengths. He selected the new Stria sheer fabric with its subtle, even lines for the icicles because he felt it would be the most light reflective. At the tip of each icicle, a small crystal drop was attached by hand. The crystals added weight to the fabric and created the look of melting icicles glistening in the sunlight, a not uncommon sight during the winter months in northern Idaho. In a more conventional, but equally stunning installation, the Livovs chose the Counterparts program for the Home-a-rama 2000 Feng Shui House they worked on in Chesapeake, VA. They selected Luminette sheers for the living room and dining room and Silhouette shadings for the dramatic two-story central foyer. Unadorned in the foyer and with side curtains in the dining room and simple valances in the living room, these light, airy window coverings let the architecture speak for itself and adhered to the principals of feng shui, which maximizes the flow of energy throughout a space. A TRIO OF THIRD PLACE WINNERS Third place prizes were awarded to Ronda Divers, Ronda Divers Interiors, Lake Oswego, OR; Carol Palm, Exclusive Custom Designs, Hudson, WI; and Carrie Nemec, Carrie's Interiors, Port Charlotte, FL, who won second place last year in the Luminette On Parade contest. For the master suite of a 2000 Portland, OR, Street of Dreams house, Divers used Silhouette shadings in the room-darkening Bon Soir[TM] fabric for the bedroom area and Luminette sheers for two windows by the Jacuzzi. Divers praised "the ease with which Silhouette can be raised and the minimal space it occupies when off the glass, allowing for a full view of downtown Portland." For the corner windows in the Jacuzzi area, Luminette sheers provided privacy for one window that overlooked another home, and could be completely pulled off the other window for generous views of the Willamette Valley. "Aesthetically," noted Divers, "the mix of the vertical lines of Luminette sheers and the horizontal lines of the Silhouette shadings gave each of the areas their own sense of space, while still complementing each other and the design scheme." Carol Palm selected the Counterparts program for the Prairie-style Bruce Lenzen Fall Preview House she worked on because she needed a soft, airy look and was covering two windows with a door in the center. The Luminette Privacy Sheers on the door also set off the transom window nicely. "Luminette sheers and Silhouette shadings are the perfect couple," according to Nemec, who worked on two model condominiums overlooking Charlotte Harbor in Punta Gorda, FL. "They block out the sun during the day without making the room dark or having the heavy feeling of drapery. They also give you an elegant look without interrupting the view. And, the ease of operation and carefree maintenance is a plus for the Florida lifestyle." In one home, Nemec chose Luminette sheers in the Linéa fabric to add texture to the room and coordinated them with Silhouette shadings in the larger three-inch vane size. Valances above the windows were fabricated in matching Linéa fabric by the yard. In the other, she opted for a neoclassical décor and selected the embossed Filigree fabric for the Luminette sheers and Silhouette shadings in the three-inch vane size in a subtle off-white. Luminette fabric by the yard, also in the delicate Filigree, was used for valances in the kitchen—punctuated by scrolled tiebacks that were custom-made to match the wallpaper—and for pillows and accessories. TWO RUNNERS-UP AWARDED Joann Lamberto, Interiors by Joann, Port Charlotte, FL, and Jan and Dave Hauge, The Blind Lady, Tacoma, WA, were runners-up in the contest. For a look packed with movie-star glamour á la 1940s, Lamberto and her associate dressed Luminette Privacy Sheers with Silhouette window shadings in sage green satin cornices adorned with tasseled swags of Luminette fabric by the yard. They also used Luminette fabric by the yard for stationary panels on the sides of the Silhouette shadings. The Hauges' project was a model home in Puyallup, WA, boasting spectacular views of Mount Rainier. Luminette sheers on the nearly full-length windows and Silhouette shadings on the door proved the ideal solution for them and worked well with the Victorian-inspired décor. "Originally the builder's wife had thought that she was going to have to use a sheer drapery and a shade to meet her needs," said Dave Hauge. "The sheer and privacy features of these innovative window coverings allowed her to have everything without a bulky, clumsy working combination or restricting the view." EVERYONE WINS "The versatility to work in any room design, the ease of privacy and light control and the ability to achieve an overall cohesive look to a room made the Counterparts program such a winner for us," said Marcia Duke before she even knew she had won first place. Of course, everyone's a winner with Counterparts On Parade. Increased exposure of two dynamic products paired to perfection expands decorating possibilities, not to mention sales. Hillery Meier is Hunter Douglas marketing director for Silhouette® window shadings, Sarah Narowetz is Hunter Douglas brand manager for Luminette Privacy Sheers®.