June 25, 2015

Window Treatment Thursday: Why Solera Shines so Bright

When Hunter Douglas introduced Solera window treatments in 2012, they were an immediate hit – an exciting new alternative that combined the soft folds of roman shades with the efficiency and practicality of honeycombs. And now the soft shades known for their beauty and versatility have even more options, with more colors, textures and fabrics available this year – along with a new motorized version.

“It’s just an upgraded look from honeycomb shades,” says Bonnie West of Hirshfield’s Shop at Home. “It’s just a much richer look than a honeycomb shade and less expensive than a roman shade.”

Sloan Light Filtering – Solera by Hunter Douglas

It’s also a finished look. “If you just have a honeycomb shade, you still need a valance or side panels to finish the room off,” she notes. “But with the Solera, it looks nice on its own. You don’t have to add any treatments to make it feel finished.”

“The other advantage is that it stacks very small,” Bonnie says. “It’s just 6 inches when it’s up, compared to the 20% stack on a roman shade. If you have a 60-inch long window, it needs 12-15 inches of stacking space, and people don’t like to lose that much window.”

Bonnie also appreciates the top-down, bottom-up feature Hunter Douglas introduced this spring, giving Solera even more versatility and privacy. “Especially when some people have a big window over a tub, or even in a powder room,” she says. “But when it’s opened from the top down, you can have light coming in as well as your privacy.”

Dilworth Room Darkening – Solera by Hunter Douglas

Solera is available in eight fabrics, and in 49 colorways, with four lifting systems – Literise, Ultraglide, and Easyrise, with PowerView motorization, added on July 1st. “They’re just so versatile,” she says. “They look great in a sunroom, they look great in an office, a bedroom, a living room, or a dining room.”

Bonnie also recommends Solera for bedrooms. “It comes in both room darkening and light filtering versions,” she says,”and it’s a tight fit, so you don’t have a big edge gap when you want it to do room darkening.”

Solera with Alexa fabric
Solera with Alexa light filtering, lace

“I just think it’s a good product,” Bonnie says. “This is a little more up-to-date looking, and it looks more finished than a honeycomb” she says, “and it comes in large sizes, so you can get one for a large window – and it’s still easy to operate.”

You can see Soleras at all of our Hirshfield’s locations across Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Dakota. Or you can schedule an in-home consultation with Bonnie or one of the other design professionals in our Shop at Home service by filling out an appointment request online.

“I think a lot of customers that come in to Hirshfield’s don’t realize we have this free service,” Bonnie says. “There’s no charge to have us come out, and the prices are the same, but you get to see everything in your home, which helps people an awful lot.”

Since Frank and Elizabeth Hirshfield opened their first store in 1894, it has been our mission to do the best job possible meeting customer needs and solving customer problems. Hirshfield’s. People and products you can trust.

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I have come to rely on the staff at Hirshfield’s Design Resource for their fabulous customer service and variety of products. The service is always friendly, timely and professional.

As a designer, their advice on window treatments is forever appreciated, and they are always able to show me something new in the displays and samples. They provide quick and accurate estimates, measurements and suggestions when I am struggling with a budget. The final product and installation has been nothing but flawless on every project.

I truly value what they continue to bring to our design community!

Pamela Kilian
Simply Designed

Want to give a shout out to Madi. Madi took a pretty awful experience and made it right for us. We had ordered cordless blinds and over half of them did not work right or hang right. Madi helped us return all the blinds and reordered a new product for us which we are very happy with. Madi was persistent in helping us get the issues we experience resolved.

She is always so warm and friendly and definitely puts her customers first. Thanks Madi you are a gem! Also want to add that my overall experience with Hirshfield's in St. Cloud has been an excellent experience. They made things right and put their customers first!

Kim Kaluza

Greg is amazing! We have worked with him throughout the years on both existing homes and new builds and we could not be happier. One of the things I appreciate about Greg is that he gets us to really think about how we will use our space, not just now but in the future when the kids get older. This has honestly has saved us from making some pretty big design mistakes. Finding durable fabrics and pieces is important to us while we have a preschooler running around, yet on the other hand, our teens have a different use for the space.

He is able to make it all work together seamlessly by understanding the space and its function. He has a fresh and distinctive feel to his work and builds in a variety of styles. I HIGHLY recommend working with Greg out of the gate, you will not be sorry. I honestly don't know what we do without his help;)

Kim Strout
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