SMART LIVING

By Mary Ellen Stancill 
How it started
The Curtain Exchange opened in Homewood eight years ago, but Terri DeSantis and Cindy Germond purchased the business three and a half years ago when “we walked in the door and fell in love with silk,” jokes Cindy. Both women say they’ve always loved decorating their own homes, but Terri was a CPA and Cindy was in marketing before they went into business together. Terri and Cindy balance work with family too. At 3 p.m. each weekday afternoon, they leave their shop in the capable hands of employee Joan Goldberg and take on the roll of “taxi drivers” for their young children.

What’s in a name
“Curtain Exchange is a name that we’ve had to kind of get the word out to Birmingham that it’s not just a consignment [store],” says Cindy. In fact, 99 percent of their curtains are brand new. “They’re designer quality curtains that are ready to go,” says Terri.

How it works
Purchasing custom curtains can be an overwhelming process. The Curtain Exchange makes things easy with curtains displayed like works of art in a boutique-style setting. Mistakes are avoided because you see the finished product from the beginning—not just a tiny fabric swatch—and you are encouraged to check panels out, take them home and hang them up for 48 hours in order to ensure you’re happy with your purchase. They’ll also do inhome consultations and recommend an installer. They carry all Hunter Douglas products and recently joined the Charrette Group—a design team made up of area resources for every part of a home’s design, organized by Roxanne Lamb.

If you don’t see what you want hanging in their showroom, they can have curtains made exactly like you’d like them. “It’s a mix of luxury and convenience,” says Terri. “We keep the process simple but if people want to get down in the details, we can certainly accommodate that and make [curtains] to order.” Adds Cindy, “We play for a long time making sure it’s the right thing. We’ll pull everything down in the store until it’s right.”

It’s all in the details
A wide selection of window hardware is available for you to choose from and tassels, trim and other accessories may be added to existing panels. You don’t even have to think about the headings for your curtains. The Curtain Exchange designers pick the pleat that works best with a chosen fabric. All Curtain Exchange curtains are lined and silks—the most popular choices—are inner-lined and weighted at the bottom to give them a more luxurious look. In-home consultations are available as well.

What’s to come
This fall, The Curtain Exchange will offer a new hybrid silk, a cross between taffeta and dupioni that is priced between the two as well. “It’s got more durability like the dupioni but it has a little sheen like the taffetas,” says Terri. September marks the 10th anniversary of The Curtain Exchange franchise. Stop by the Homewood location for specials during the first week of September.

Curtain trends:
  • Velvets, especially high-end velvets that are rich and thick
  • Grommets
  • Sheers with designs (Example: silk sheers with a taffeta pattern sewn on top)
  • A clean, simple look with panels hung as close to the top of the wall as you can get them
  • Woven, natural fiber shades hung on the same windows as dressier silk panels
  • Iron hardware, especially oil-rubbed bronze
  • Most popular fabric: silks but also a rising interest in linens, especially for downtown lofts
Colors:
Cindy: “They’re saying gray is the new brown.”

Terri: “Blue is always there, it just changes shades.”

Color combo: “Birmingham is a red and gold town,” says Cindy.

Cleaning and maintaining curtains “Unless something hideous happens, take them down once every six months, have somebody with you and take them outside and shake them to get the dust out,” says Cindy. If you do have a spill, spot clean with Suds. You can dry clean silk but it will change the texture of the fabric, so if you’re going to take one panel, take all of your panels. Fabrics other than silk may be washed.

Leave the wrinkles
“Wrinkles are a natural characteristic of the fabric. The more expensive the silk, the more crinkly it’s going to look; the same with linen. You don’t want all the wrinkles out because that shows that you have a very high quality, rich silk. That’s what you pay for,” says Terri.
January Birmingham, Alabama

  

 
Digital Newstand

View Magazine

bmag buzz

What are you doing
this Weekend?
 



 
bmag bonus


This Month's Giveaway ...
Tickets to the Rigling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus, which will be in Birmingham from Jan. 28-Feb. 1.

Sign up for our weekly e-newsletter,
the bmag buzz, and be automatically entered for your chance to win!