Five hundred years ago, Leonardo Da Vinci drew up a quote for interior-design work. The job was to be done in the home of his patron, the Duke Ludovico Sforza. Window treatment materials were prominent on the list of nine items, including fabric and cornices. Great artists of the time were simply those who could capture what is beautiful, and Da Vinci was a master at taking simple resources and making them into something awe-inspiring, whether it was bronze, oil paints, or fabric.

But we find ourselves in a time and an interior-design market that has moved toward specialization. One reason is that some designers receive little formal training in the execution of window design. Others find the utilitarian execution of a window design as a project best left to those who make it their sole focus. Some see it as outside the realm of design itself, and perhaps even unworthy of their design prowess. Some have lost money on difficult designs, while others are interested in the window-covering market but don't know where to begin. "There is a gap between the integration of window treatments and the professional interior designer," says Donna Elle, CEO and president of Nantucket Windows Inc.

But strong market trends are forcing change. Today's attitudes toward design encourage seamless use of window coverings typically created by a single person with a single vision. Nika Stewart, the Designers' Success Coach, says there is "no designing a window without taking into account everything else." This attitude seems obvious, but the white-hot real estate market of the past encouraged busy designers to pass off the responsibility of creating window designs for their custom interior work.

Whatever the rationale, work history, education, or attitude, walking away from the window-coverings business is a potentially dangerous business move. Designers who sub-contract their window designs to others are walking away from a business opportunity. "What they don't realize is that window-covering design is one of the most profitable in interior design," says Deb Barrett, GMI trend specialist. Even designers who don't strictly specialize in windows make room for this profitable segment. Elle finds window treatments are always in her top-three revenue streams for her design business.

While it seems irrational to leave money on the table from window design, industry experts are fully aware that embracing the window business is also risky. "Because if you don't have the experience to do this portion of the job, you can make some very expensive mistakes," says designer Rebecca Shearn, regional director for Interiors by Decorating Den. Mistakes are myriad and run from selecting the wrong fabric to simply creating a design that cannot work.

But doing nothing to secure and grow market share may be the mistake of inaction. "It takes money to make money. Where is another money-making avenue? This is what you'll find at shows like IWCE," says Judith Clark, international president of IFDA. The International Window Coverings EXPO is the world's largest window-covering and design expo, averaging 8,000 attendees and 270 exhibitors filling 250,000 square feet of exhibitor space. IWCE helps to safeguard the initial investment of attending by offering different entry points of skill level for those interested in designing and selling window design. Very experienced designers can learn at their own pace, and perhaps more importantly, in their own way. This can be achieved by taking seminars, or simply talking to suppliers who, in most cases, have years of experience working with their product and with designers. Stewart also believes that attending IWCE should be considered an investment. "It's an effective investment because you have to keep learning and growing in all aspects."

The International Window Coverings EXPO has evolved away from being simply a show of window hardware into an exposition that offers vignettes, high-end fabrics, accessories, and GMI's own brand of trend analysis which includes how to take theoretical design ideas and apply them in real-world local markets. The catalyst to attend could be to break profitably into the window-fashion market, but even seasoned designers will find new products to delight a high-end clientele. "It's become a lot more designer-oriented. I think full-service designers think that it isn't," says Stewart. It has become "radically bigger than just blinds and shades," says Barrett. Even a designer tentative about making a push into the window-design market may justify the cost of attendance with the potential of reinvigorating their outlook for all their interior design work. Elle finds, it's the only venue in the country that brings it all under one roof and is a good resource to find out what is new in the industry.

Once designers can create window designs, the window-fashions market can work to their benefit. "They are amazing for making money; revenue is greater than with furniture," says Elle. In the age of websites designed to put price points side-by-side for even the most casual shopper, window design offers a respite. "It's not a commodity because it's a custom product. I can't be shopped," says Barrett. In her business Shearn finds, "It's never apples-to-apples, design can vary the price— essentially, someone can't shop you."

Most designers are feeling the new pinch of new market forces. What window design offers is the chance not only to enter a profitable interior-design segment, but also to reclaim something that should rightfully be theirs: control of all major design aspects of an interior so that their vision can be realized in its complete form. FFI