Being part of the largest Window Covering Franchise in the world allows me to make many wonderful friends. Recently, I worked with Wade and Phyllis Shanklin, and they proved to be just that. They are wonderful people with great taste and I truly took great pleasure in helping them make their house their home.

The Shanklin’s had several concerns for which we needed to provide solutions. To begin with, their beautiful Landfall home came with three large sliding glass doors. Each door provided a wonderful view to the rear of the house, which included viewing the pool and the golf course. Providing a covering for this opening needed to be functional, beautiful, and allow for great visibility to the outdoors. To keep the uniformity throughout the home, we decided to install Norman Open By-Pass Plantation Shutters, since shutters with a 3 ½” louver is what was selected in the rest of the house. An Open By-Pass Shutter allows for much privacy, light control, easy operation, and beauty. It operates much like the sliding glass door itself, allowing for convenient entry and exit. The louvers allocate light control and privacy, while the Open By-Pass feature permits the doors to be open and not obstruct the view. A wonderful choice for sliding glass doors.

The Shanklin’s also had a concern with their front entry doors. Containing arched topped glass and stained in color, this opening can be a challenge to treat without taking away from any of the elegance and beauty. There is a great solution and it worked very well. A stained, wood, arch top shutter is a perfect selection. This keeps the beauty of the door intact and gives the Shanklin’s the needed privacy. Many people don’t realize that leaving front doors uncovered can reveal much at night when the lights are on inside the home and it is dark outside. Privacy is no longer available. Treating it with this product not only solved the problem, but also added to the beauty of the door and tied in nicely with the other shutters located inside the home.

Finally, in solving the Shanklin’s organizational needs, they asked us to help them organize their closets. After consulting with them and determining their wants, needs, what they had contained in their last closets, and their budget, we were able to design the closets to fit their individual needs. They chose the color Chocolate, one of the newest colors in Wood Laminated Closet Systems by ClosetMaid. This added a great richness and sophistication to their beautiful new closets.

I meet many friends in my career and Wade and Phyllis were no exception. I count it a joy, a privilege, and just plan fun working with such wonderful people. They are not just customers, but they are now my friends.

RaDonna Torgeson     Call 910-790-3630 

Window Treatment Specialist and Closet Designer

Open By-Pass Shutter

Arch Top Stained Wood Shutter

ClosetMaid Wood Laminate Closet

ClosetMaid Garage System

I recently had the privilege to work with the Smiths* in the Brunswick Forest development located in the Leland area outside Wilmington, NC. Like many people with outdoor porches in the Wilmington area, they may not use them as often as they wish because of issues like heat, humidity, cold, glare and many other issues. As an experienced Window Covering Consultant, I have seen this problem many times and there haven’t been many products available for this type of application. Now there are.

The product Mr. Smith* chose was Solar Shades, also sometimes referred to as Outdoor Shades, Porch Shades or Roller Shades. With many new companies specializing in this product, there are now a variety of fabrics, colors, and textures available. Since these shades must withstand the elements, the material should be made with Fiberglass, PVC or a combination of the two. This will help ensure its stability when faced with intense sun. Mr. Smith’s* main issue was glare, which hindered him from sitting on the porch during certain times of the day; however, he now has the ability to sit without much glare, but still be able to see through the material so his view isn’t hindered.

I enjoyed working with friends like the Smiths* and being able to assist them in enhancing their beautiful home.

Aaron Yarborough     Call 910-790-3630

Window Covering Consultant                                                              * Name has been changed.

Sheer Roller Shades in Raised Position

Sheer Roller Shades Partially Lowered

Sheer Roller Shades Completely Lowered

As an experienced Window Covering Consultant in the Wilmington, NC area, I have worked with many wonderful people. To top that list, I recently had the opportunity to work with Jim and Troy Kenny of Hagood Homes. In their beautiful Landfall home, Troy and Jim’s expertise, quality, and superior design showed throughout their home.

The beautiful layout of their new home incorporated the use of many windows. As with many of my friends, three issues of concern were Heat, Glare, and Privacy, all of which were successfully resolved. With all of these being equally important and the fact that they didn’t want to give up their view, a combination of Window Coverings and Window Treatments were successfully used to solve these issues, while maintaining Troy’s personal taste.

To handle the heat and glare, a light window shading, commonly known as Window Tint, Window Film or Glass Coating was applied first. In working with the privacy, while maintaining the view, a Bamboo Roller Shade with a Sleek Cassette Headrail or Valance was then installed. This allowed privacy while the roller shade is down, but maintains the view, as the roller shade is neatly hidden when raised. Lastly, in keeping with Troy’s fabulous style, rather than simply covering her windows with traditional 2” Faux Wood blinds, she chose to decorate with Roller Shades, which have become very popular in offering many styles, fabrics, colors, and textures.

As always, it has been nice working with great friends and helping them solve their Window Covering needs.

Chris Torgeson     Call 910-790-3630

Window Covering Consultant

Master Bedroom with Roller Shades and Cassette Valance

I recently had the opportunity to work with Kenny Scholerz of the Cornerstone Condominium Community. He, like many people, has what’s known as sheet rocked or dry walled window openings. This is when a builder wishes not to frame in the interior window with wood and wood trim, but rather simply wrap the dry wall into the window casement. This is a common item for many homes in the Wilmington, NC area.

To have these types of windows framed in and trimmed after the home is built can be rather costly. However, there is a solution to have your windows not only covered, but to have them trimmed as well. Kenny decided to update the look of his condo by taking down his 2” Faux Wood Blinds and replace them with the beautiful look of Plantation Shutters. By investing in Shutters, Kenny was able to use what’s commonly known as a trim frame that comes with the shutter. So, not only did Kenny beautify and add value to his home with Shutters, but also with the addition of trimmed windows.

There are many benefits to adding this combination to your windows. To start with, many times when windows are sheet rocked in, they tend to be greatly out of square and will appear crooked. By putting a Trim Framed Plantation Shutter, the window can usually be made square again and no one will ever see or know. A second benefit to plantation shutters with trim frame is the color of the trim is the exact match of the color of the shutter, making it appear as part of the house and not something added later with a slight difference in color. Last shutters are not a cost, but rather an investment in your home. Unlike many window coverings, which are viewed as removable, shutters become part of the home and are generally viewed as a product that adds value.

It was wonderful working with Kenny Scholerz. I like working with individuals like him, who are ready to make their house their home.

RaDonna Torgeson     Call 910-790-3630

Window Covering Specialist

Bi-Fold Shutter with Trim Frame

Bi-Fold Shutter and Single Shutter with Trim Frames