The following is also available as a free case study. To download the pdf, click here.
When you have a lower floor apartment in a big city with nice street views, privacy is a concern. But when that apartment is part of a well-designed, beautiful building, the last thing you want is to have the integrity and beauty of the space compromised by ugly, intrusive products.
This was the dilemma faced by one New York City couple who wanted to redecorate their recently-purchased apartment.
“They wanted to have privacy without losing the architectural beauty of the space. And of course they still wanted to allow in a lot of natural light,” according to Marc Chelnik, a Draper dealer who was approached by the building’s architect to help solve the dilemma. Standard roll down shades were not the answer, nor were mini blinds; the customers needed an aesthetically appealing solution that would keep the space well-lit yet private.
“Draper’s Bottom-Up FlexShades ™ worked the best because with the second floor location, when they are used on the lower half of the nine foot high windows, they provide privacy and light simultaneously,” Chelnik says.
Draper’s Bottom-Up FlexShades™ are exactly what they sound like—window shades where the fabric rolls “up” on a spring roller located at the bottom of the window. Depending on the model, either a clutch-operated or motorized second roller, or two pulleys, are secured at the top of the window, and thin, unobtrusive cables lift the fabric up into position. Chelnik went with the system which utilized two cable pulleys, Draper’s Dual Roller Bottom-Up FlexShade™, so called because it features both rollers in the headbox at the bottom of the window.
On most windows the single roller Bottom-Up FlexShade™ worked great, but on one of the main architectural features—a beautiful arch window—something special was needed.
“Since the arch window is the main feature of the area, we needed a stealthy design,” Chelnik says. The dual roller was perfect for the job, but Chelnik did customize his installation, using a unit that is taller than Draper is typically able to provide. “The Dual Roller Bottom-Up FlexShade™ allows us to use the 1/2 inch pulleys at the top. Since they are fourteen feet off the floor they are nearly invisible.” The pulleys were attached with anchors in the mortar.
But the increased height wasn’t the only custom part of the job..
Draper provided fascia or headboxes to hide the rollers, endcaps and operating mechanism on most of the shades in the apartment, but the dual roller version on the arch window was, again, another story.
“All of the lower millwork was designed by the architect based on the specs supplied and coordinated with us,” according to Chelnik. “The results are great—the unit fits right in and when lowered is completely unobtrusive.”
To make control simple, Draper provided remote-controlled radio-operated motors, with a multi-channel remote to allow control of single shades or all of them as a group.
For more information on Bottom-Up FlexShades™, click here.
