Five Things To Do Before You Buy Custom DraperyThere are many things to consider before you buy custom drapery for your home, but there are really five basic things pertaining to buying advice that will keep you out of trouble and closer to being a satisfied and happy customer as a result. 
These five things are: 1. Consult A Designer - Before You Buy When you look for a designer to give you new buying tips, or discuss your window problems; have an idea of what you might expect of them. What exactly do you want them to do? How do you want to work with them? How extensive a part in the decision process do you want them to have? Call around, or go visit a few showrooms and talk to some designers. Find one that is on the same track as you and your needs of buying advice. Find one that listens more than they talk. When they are talking they are already invoking ideas into their heads - THEIR ideas - and not listening to your needs or what you should do before you buy window coverings.
When a designer is "listening" they are processing what you are saying and making a "mental file" of your likes and dislikes, needs, wants and desires. They want to "hear" you, want to "feel what you feel", and wants you as a customer, and they want to make you a happy customer. They are warm, friendly, and professional. If they give you a sense that they are trying to sell you something quickly - walk, walk very fast, away from them. Good designers are about YOU, not about them. You won't find your window problems solutions here and your new buying info will be to line their pockets; not fill your needs! If they don't listen to you, you will never get what you are looking for. You will get what they want you to have, what they think you should have, and what you never intended to have in the first place. They won't be there for you to answer your buyer beware questions! So be picky about your choice. Make sure you have a good verbal communication going with a clear, concise direction and intentions. Make sure they are about YOU and YOUR NEEDS! You will know, you will get a "warm fuzzy" feeling about this person and will look forward to your next visit with them, and you will walk away from the first meeting with buying advice guidelines and perhaps even some solutions for your window problems. This is so important before you buy. Not every product works for every window, and not every design on paper that looks good works in reality! 2. Have Preconceived Ideas - before you buy Custom Drapery Be upfront with your designer about what your likes and dislikes are. Go through some magazines, pictures on the internet, photo albums, catalogs, etc. Make a file of your "I like these ideas". Collect paint swatches of your favorite colors, too. 
Go to a home show, visit design centers, walk through some model homes and get more new buying tips and ideas. Get a clear picture of what you would like to accomplish - or at least what you don't like. It doesn't have to be perfect, it doesn't have to be etched in stone. Just start gathering ideas and store mental pictures.
If your designer can start with a "blue print" of your desires and wishes, likes and dislikes, whims and idiosyncrasies, any window problems; the process will will go much smoother and the closer to exactly what you want will actually be attained.
Too many people today call for an appointment with any designer to "get ideas" from them. If you haven't learned yet, designers are NOT going to give up their ideas to you until you sign on the dotted line - nor should they. "Free Consultation" does NOT mean "take my ideas, drawings, and estimates and submit them to the lowest bidder" to produce for less. This is both unethical and down right unforgiving! It also is the reason you don't get more out of your designer on your free consultation in today's market. She is not eager to repeat this practice after she has been burned a few times. She has some great wisdom for you to draw from, buying advice, window problem solutions, before you buy ideas; but it's not free for you to dissect, absorb, and take elsewhere. There are many hours of preparation involved to make that appointment prepared and detailed! Work with your designer on a budget figure BEFORE you waste everyone's time - including your own. If you are on a limited budget and you see something you would like to have, don't just assume you can't afford it! There's alternative buying advice, purchasing differently, and ideas to do "look alikes" at a lower budget outlay of your new buying. Don't walk away from things you think are not within your budget! TALK! Ask your designer if she can duplicate that with changes to make it affordable for you. Good designers can work with just about any budget as long as you don't set your sights on a $10,000 window treatment with a $2500 budget! Be reasonable. She has the buying advice you need no matter what your budget, and can make it work before you buy. Just be up front with her! 
Bottom line is, you get what you pay for, usually. However, you CAN achieve the look you want for less if you are open and honest with your designer and talk about it. Have a clear open line of communication with them. THEY CAN WORK MAGIC FOR YOU! Changing fabrics, changing hardware or eliminating it entirely, exchanging some embellishments, and use less fullness are ways to achieve what you want. You can still be on a budget and have beautiful window coverings. It IS possible! Trust her before you buy!
Workrooms are one of the most critical of these steps! You want quality, uniformity, consistency, and attention to detail. If you don't have those things, you have a sloppy job that is mediocre at best. Ask to see examples of the workrooms finished products. Ask to see their licenses and credentials. Make sure there is a clear understanding there and is not broken by language barriers and other key factors. Your designer should already have a good working relationship here and will give you good buying advice on types and styles before you buy custom drapery.
Good workrooms will alert you that changes may need to be made on a particular design. What are their standard procedures? Are they reliable and trustworthy so that the fabric you provide them will not be lost or damaged?
Will they match patterns at seams? Are corners squared and mitered? Are hems straight and precise? Are side hems doubled and hang straight without flaring out or in? Is the trim sewed to the top fabric only - and not top stitched through the lining, too? So many things to consider before you buy custom drapery. Are the pleats spaced properly and uniform? Is lining and interlining used when needed to get the best results? Look for consistency and perfection. Will fabric be biased cut where needed, like for formal swags, instead of straight to save labor? Make sure your designer can answer these questions for you. 
Will the workroom tell you if the fabric is not suitable or if it stretches? Will they take care to add stiffening where needed on pillow ruffles and tops of drapes to keep them from sagging? Will they use real goose down when asked to, or a cheap alternative? And how will the finished product be handled? Will it be pressed to perfection and carefully folded and plastic bagged? Will it be pre-pinned for the installers to hang? Will the storage be adequately protected from smoke and harmful chemical smells and spills? You can see how important these factors are to the overall outcome of your custom drapery treatments before buying. The only thing that can make a larger difference than the workroom is the installer. These are all important facts to consider before you buy and can either be a solution or add to your window problems.
An installer can either "finish" the drapery or "finish" the designer's career! He will make or break a designer in an instant with his drill, his personal habits, his cleanliness, and his professionalism; or lack there of. He can add great value to your new buying, also. He should know his hardware and ways to save you money. He should be able to tweak the product, if needed, into beautiful finished windows. I have had some nightmares in this area! I actually saw one installer drill right through the fabric of drapery one time. I can't tell you what a shock that was, and what a mess he made! I had another who put up brackets and never attached them to the cornices he was hanging. Just sat the cornices up there to fall on whomever or whatever was beneath them.
Some people call themselves installers just so they can case the home to see what they can take! But the all time classic of "bad jobs" for me was when an installer climbed up on the granite counter to hang a valance from the kitchen window and fell into the sink and broke off the clips keeping the sink in place. He went to his van and found a "quick fix"; then placed a 2X4 under the sink to prop it up and left like nothing happened. Remember, I said they can also add to your window problems? Prime examples! Just so happens this customer had invited several guests for the weekend and they were fixing dinner and flooded the kitchen. You can just imagine his rage when he discovered the 2X4 under his sink!!! I received several phone calls before this one was resolved, and I not only lost a good customer, I'm sure word spread like fire; because I never received any work from this development again! (I've also never used this installer again!) The worse part of this deal is this was the same installer who "forgot" to attach the cornices to the brackets! Equally important is how the installer handles the product when he picks it up from the workroom. So this is a very important step to take before you buy! Make sure you have a good installer! 
An installer that doesn't take care with the product, like smoking in the van, or food and drinks sloppily placed to eventually cause an accident of spillage; or drapes thrown into the back of a van and blind and shutter boxes thrown on top of them. These are boxes that have traveled from coast to coast, walked on, dropped in the mud, thrown in the back of a dirty UPS truck . . . well, you get the picture. Okay, so the drapery is plastic bagged at the workroom, but smoke accumulates on the bags and when the installer removes them then takes the same two hands and puts them on the drapery; UGH! is all I can say about this!! But more important than that, you just paid a lot of money for this product to be handled so outrageously. A great consideration to take before you buy! As always, Buyer Beware!!! Now he arrives at your house. A good installer will not have to be asked to remove his shoes. He will also carry a clean tarp to place on the floor for his tools and parts. He'll have clean ladder shoes on the feet of his ladder, too! He will wear gloves when he handles your drapery. Part of his tool chest that he brings with him is a vacuum cleaner and a hand steamer. What he won't do is add to your window problem! He will be cleanly groomed and well spoken, and have a smile on his face. He will be pleasant to you and with his few words offer a quick assurance that he is going to take very good care of you and your home. He is licensed and bonded and will offer you proof if you ask. This is probably the most important thing to consider before you buy!
The beauty of this installer is that he is a true artist. He will spend more time dressing the drapery than he did hanging it. He is pure perfection, he loves what he does, and when he is finished, you will never know he has been there except for the beautiful art work he left behind in your window that is perfect in every way! He is the installer we all want and when we find them, treat them like the gold that they are! This is the installer you want for your work! You will have to book him in advance because this installer will forever be very busy and in great demand. Wait! He is worth the wait!!
So, here you have my opinion, for what it's worth, on some of the things that will keep you on the right path to attaining what you want in your window treatments before you buy. It is not a complete list, by any stretch of the imagination, but enough to point you to the right path. If you are lucky enough to find a designer that has already formed a relationship like the ones mentioned here with a specific workroom and a specific installer, well, all I can say about this . . . IT'S A THING OF BEAUTY!!!
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