By design heroes, I don’t mean heroes who are designers, although I have a wide assortment of those, I mean the unsung heroes who make great design possible.

One of the most important trades a designer needs is a GREAT installer.  Installing window treatments well takes way more than a drill and a tape measure.  And it involves way more than just hanging rods or blinds. 

Today I want to celebrate my installer, Wayne.  Wayne has been in the business longer than I have…which is a really long time!  I met he and his wife Bernadette when Bernadette ran a stellar drapery workroom.  He took a brief hiatus from installing for a few years a decade or two ago and it was awful.  There is simply no replacement for Wayne and he is not allowed to retire until after I do!

He knows absolutely everything there is to know about installing and dressing window treatments.  And he is a great problem solver, as well as a really nice guy.  If something goes awry he knows how to fix it and make it work. He will work with me to figure out the best way to measure and create to execute on my vision - like he did for the challenging windows in this dining room where there was millwork we needed to work around.  

He knows all. the. things. and is so generous in sharing information and resources.  I have learned so much from him over the years! And not only does he install window treatments, I always have him come if I need to install heavy, high, or large art or mirrors or those evil things with 2 D-rings on the back that have to be leveled with two separate hooks!

We meticulously planned the gallery walls for 2 of the 12’ high walls in this condo with the owners collections and Wayne executed the installation - I’m sure he got in all his “steps” and “flights” going up and down the ladder doing this job long before Fitbits were a thing!

Today, he came to install the drapes and blinds in our One Room Challenge Vintage Diva Glamour Den.  I have been SOOOO excited to see these up and SOOOO afraid I wasn’t going to get Wayne to do it because, pandemic.  But he just started back up doing socially distanced installations and was able to squeeze me in just in the nick of time for the end of the challenge! Yippee!!

You may remember from earlier posts about my Frankenstein-ed curtain hardware.  I believe my first words after “How are you?” were, “Please don’t hate me…” because cheap hardware and retail hardware is much harder to deal with than our usual custom hardware.  But he didn’t bat an eye and set about to making it look like a million bucks.  He even had a brilliant solution to keep the finials in place since on our McGuyvered rods they weren’t exactly a tight fit. 

But instead of telling you, let me show you! 

Thank you Wayne, my Design Hero!!

And no you can’t have him, I’m very possessive…and he knows exactly how I like my drapes hung and dressed :)