10 Costly Window Treatment Mistakes
A free 16-page guide from our Fort Lauderdale workroom: the ten mistakes we see most often in South Florida homes and condos, what each one costs, and how to avoid it before you buy.
- What each mistake costs, with prices from our published list
- The numbers our own team works to: measuring, mounting depths, overlaps, pockets, fullness
- A 10-point check to run any quote through, ours included
Get the guide
It opens right away, and we email you a copy.
Ten mistakes, and what each one costs
Each one gets its own page: what goes wrong, what it costs, the figure to remember, and how to avoid it.
- 01
Measuring the window like a bookshelf
A custom shade is made to the eighth of an inch from the figures on the order. A rounded reading, or a little taken off “to be safe”, becomes a shade that rubs the frame or leaves a slot of daylight.
- 02
Mounting inside the frame by habit
Every inside-mounted shade is made a little narrower than the opening. In a living room nobody sees the line of daylight at each edge; in a bedroom at six in the morning, everyone does.
- 03
Choosing a fabric by its colour instead of its job
At night, with the lights on, every solar screen becomes see-through. Give each room its job first: view and glare, dark and privacy, or both.
- 04
Trusting the glass to protect the room
Glass keeps the weather out, not the sun. The U.S. Department of Energy puts windows behind 25% to 30% of home heating and cooling energy use.
- 05
Keeping cords a child can reach
The one mistake on the list that is not about money, and what to change in every room where a child sleeps, plays or visits.
- 06
Closing the walls before the motors are decided
At framing, power for a shade is one cable per window. After the paint, it is opened ceilings, or a ladder at every battery change.
- 07
Sizing draperies to the window instead of the wall
Cut the track to the glass and the open drapery stacks in front of the view: on a 20 ft wall of glass, about 30 in at each end.
- 08
Treating the lining as an afterthought
The lining decides how a drapery ages in the sun, how private the room is at night, and what the association sees from the street.
- 09
Buying stock where it cannot work, or custom where it is not needed
The widest cut-to-width stock roller shade we found on the shelf was 73 in wide. Five questions decide which one your window needs.
- 10
Comparing quotes by the price per window
Two quotes for “a motorized shade” can describe two different jobs. Six questions to ask every company, and our own answers.
Plus the 10-point check before you sign, the numbers at a glance, and the sources behind every figure. Prefer to start with an article? Read the 5 costly mistakes condo owners make.
From the people who measure, sew and install
The guide is written by David Martineau, owner of Exotic Shades & Draperies, from what our own team sees on site across Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach.
We measure every opening ourselves, sew every drapery in our Fort Lauderdale workroom with five in-house seamstresses, and install and program with our own team.
Lutron shading dealer · Crestron Residential Consultant · direct Somfy account. Exactly what we hold
Before you download
Is the guide really free?
Yes. Give us a first name and an email, pass one quick robot check, and the PDF is yours to open or save. A copy goes to your inbox too. No payment, no account.
Who is it for?
Anyone choosing shades, blinds or draperies in South Florida: one room, a condo on floor-to-ceiling glass, or a house still under construction. Most of it applies anywhere.
Do I have to give a phone number?
No, the phone number is optional. Leave it blank if you only want the guide.
Are the prices in the guide current?
They come from our published September 2026 price list: budgetary, before tax, measured and installed by our own team. Your written quote follows the free in-home measure, and the quote you sign is the number you pay.