A lot of homeowners who call us for window treatments have a specific anxiety: they don’t want to be sold something. They’ve had experiences with high-pressure showroom visits, confusing product lines, and quotes that somehow keep changing. They want to make a good decision for their home without feeling manipulated into it.
We understand that. Our consultations are structured specifically to give you information and let you make your own call. Here’s exactly what happens when we show up at your door.
What We Bring
Our consultants arrive with full sample kits for the Hunter Douglas products most relevant to what you’ve told us you’re interested in. If you mentioned you want something for a bedroom, we bring the shade and blackout fabric options. If you mentioned a kitchen, we bring faux wood blind samples in every finish. If you’re not sure, we bring a broader kit and we figure it out together.
The samples are actual product samples—not brochure photos. You can hold them up to your window, see how light actually passes through the fabric in your lighting conditions, feel the mechanism quality, and understand the physical scale before you commit to anything. This is something you genuinely can’t replicate in a showroom visit, because the light in your home is different from the light in our showroom.
Why in-home matters: The same shade fabric looks completely different in a north-facing bedroom versus a south-facing living room. The same wood blind stain reads warmer or cooler depending on your wall color. Seeing products in your actual space is the only reliable way to make a good decision.
The Consultation Itself
We start by listening. Which rooms are you working on? What’s working and not working about your current situation? Are you primarily motivated by privacy, light control, energy efficiency, aesthetics, or some combination? Do you have kids or pets that affect what’s practical? Any specific products you’ve already researched that you want to see?
Then we walk through the rooms together. For each window, we hold samples in place so you can see them in context. We ask questions: Does that feel like enough light control? Do you want more or less? What do you think of this fabric color against the wall? What about this finish on the hardware?
We explain the relevant differences between products—why a Silhouette® shade costs more than a roller shade, what you get for that difference, and whether it matters for this specific room and use case. We don’t push you toward the most expensive option. If a simpler product does the job well, we say so.
Measuring
Once you’ve identified what you want, we measure every window. Hunter Douglas requires precise measurements—we measure width and height in three places each and use the most conservative dimension to ensure a proper fit. We also determine whether you’re doing an inside mount (shade fits within the window frame) or outside mount (shade covers the frame and some wall), which affects both aesthetics and the measurements we take.
Inside mounts look cleaner and more architectural but require a minimum depth in the window frame. Outside mounts work on any window and can make windows appear larger. We’ll show you both options and let you decide.
Don’t measure yourself: Hunter Douglas shades are built to the exact dimensions we provide. If the measurements are wrong, the shade is wrong. This is one of the reasons we don’t give quotes over the phone—we need to be in the room with a tape measure.
The Quote
We build the quote on-site using the measurements and product selections. You’ll see a line-item breakdown by room and window, not a single lump number. We include all hardware, all installation labor, and any accessories (cord cleats, hold-downs for bottom-up shades, etc.).
We don’t do same-day pressure tactics. If you want to sleep on it, do so. If you want to call your spouse and discuss it, do so. The quote is valid and we’re not going to call you three times this week with manufactured urgency.
After You Decide: Ordering and Lead Time
Hunter Douglas custom shades are built to order. Current lead times run 3–5 weeks from order placement. We schedule installation for the week your order arrives—you don’t need to coordinate that. We’ll call you when the order is confirmed to ship.
If you’re adding PowerView® motorization, we’ll also set up the Hub and configure your scenes during the installation visit. Plan for about an extra 30–45 minutes for that setup if you have multiple rooms on the system.
Not sure whether shades or blinds are right for your rooms? Read our shades vs. blinds comparison for a room-by-room breakdown.
Installation Day
The installation visit is usually much faster than the consultation. For a typical room of 4–6 windows, plan on 60–90 minutes. We mount the brackets, hang the shades, test every one, demonstrate operation, and clean up. If anything isn’t hanging right or a mechanism needs adjustment, we handle it before we leave.
We’ll also show you how to clean your specific shades—the right method varies by product—and leave you with care instructions. As a Hunter Douglas Gallery Dealer, we can service anything we install for the life of the product. One call and we come out.
One Thing We Always Say at the End
We ask you to operate every shade yourself before we leave. Not just watch us do it—actually pull the cord or press the remote yourself, feel how it moves, confirm the light control is what you expected. We’d rather hear “this isn’t quite what I pictured” while we’re still there than get a call about it later.
Schedule Your Free In-Home Consultation
We come to you anywhere in South Jersey—no showroom visit required. Bring the complete Hunter Douglas sample kit, measure everything, and give you a clear quote before we leave.