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.”
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.”
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.”
“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.
