Invasion of Privacy

Invasion of privacy is the feeling that one cannot escape demands, pressures, or inconveniences caused by someone else. This feeling arises not only from people coming to the door uninvited and disrupting work or leisure, but also from unwanted soliciting telephone calls, faxes and e-mail.

Everyone needs time to work without interruption, to rest and recluse, to feel a measure of peace in order to regroup and fortify against the demands of daily life. Window treatments that provide privacy at any desired time -- day or night -- can provide the means for realizing these desires.

Protection Against Burglary

Protection against theft is another key factor in assuring privacy through window treatments. It has been said, "If it can be seen, it can be stolen." Many people today have invested seriously in their possessions. As a nation, we own a lot of stuff, and sometimes we can be paranoid about protecting it. This is not a criticism; we should worry about keeping possessions safe.

Protection of Self

Finally, and most importantly, is the need for privacy to protect personal safety. No price is too great to pay for this protection, yet how often do we see glamorous interiors in shelter and decorating magazines in which there are no window treatments at all to assure at least nighttime protection? It not only is frightening, but it is potentially a burglary or personal safety threat.

The following is one of my first and most riveting experiences that taught me the absolute necessity for privacy. I had sold casement (see-through) draperies to a family with a beautiful new sprawling, upscale home. About two weeks after the order was placed, the woman came to me and requested a change in the order. I was shocked to see her with cuts, bruises, and an arm in a sling.

Without thinking, and perhaps without tact, I exclaimed, "What happened to you?" She did not reply, but rather repeated that she was there to change the order. Gathering my senses, I replied, "Of course. The fabric has arrived and is at the workroom, but it has not been cut. What would you like to have changed?"

She instructed me to line the casement draperies with an opaque fabric and to add sheers for daytime privacy to the order. When we had completed the change order, I gently asked, "Do you want to tell me what happened?" She replied that one night when her husband was on swing shift and she and her two teenage daughters were alone, a man had broken into the home and attacked them. The three of them fought off the intruder, but one daughter ended up in the hospital and the other was hurt as badly as the mother but with a broken nose. This woman had come to realize that their vulnerability was at least partly due to the lack of privacy at the window and was determined to never let it happen again.

Ensuring Privacy

Privacy is a physical and emotional issue, and one that is often easily satisfied. There are three types of privacy: daytime, nighttime, and emotional privacy.

* Daytime privacy can be assured with a light, thin, sheer or semi-sheer layer at the window.

* Nighttime privacy is a much more serious matter. The treatment here must be opaque or heavily translucent. Once you have chosen a product that blocks nighttime views, use it! No treatment is effective if unused.

* Emotional privacy encompasses the other two, but adds the element of feeling safe, private, and secure.

Whether it be for the protection of emotional well-being, the protection of valuable furnishings, or physical safety, privacy is an issue that is too important to ignore, day or night.

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KARLA J. NIELSON, Allied ASID, WCAA, is assistant professor of design at Brigham Young University. She is a practicing interior designer and has authored several books including Window Treatments and Understanding Fabrics. Nielson's thoughtful writings address the areas of fashion, education, and design. To contact her, or to buy her books, write her at kjn@email.byu.edu

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A SNEAK PREVIEW OF PRODUCTS, SEEN AT THE 1999 ATLANTA WINDOW COVERINGS EXPO
By Jay Steinfeld, President - No Brainer, Inc.

The annual Window Coverings Expo was held in Atlanta, GA this year, and the crowds were as enthusiastic as ever. While many of the fabric vendors were not there, the blind and shade manufacturers were eager to show off all their new gadgets and innovative products.

At the top of the list was convenience and safety. Remote controls with timers and convenient pull cords were just some of the new features presented. Hunter Douglas showed their new UltraGlide pull cord. It is a cord used on honeycomb shades, like their Duette. The cord is pulled repeatedly ("pumped") and while doing so the shade lifts to the height you desire. The cord will never get longer than its original length, except when pumping, so it stays out of the way from toddlers and pets, making it safer. When you want the shade to lower, one pull to the side and the shade goes down smoothly.

The Hunter Douglas Country Wood blind will soon come with an optional looped cord system. It's currently available on the Duette as an EasyRise option. This system allows you to raise large heavy blinds easily, and eliminates multiple unsightly cords from view.

Levolor is very proud of its cordless Mark I miniblind, and cordless Cirrus honeycomb shade. Just pull these products from the bottom to lower them, and with a slight pull you can raise them - without any cord at all. Very safe!

Both Levolor and Comfortex displayed their own versions of a soft shadings product. This is a product that operates like a miniblind, but is made of sheer fabric. So you get the light control of a blind, but the softness of a shade. Hunter Douglas has already had their version (Silhouette) out for some time, and there are some legal issues that need to be settled between these companies. For now it seems that everyone is proceeding without regard to these issues. Levolor's version is called Sheer Essence and Comfortex's is known as Shangri-La. Karla Nielson refers to these products in her guest article appearing in this issue of BRAINWAVE.

Another new Hunter Douglas product is a Duolite Vertiglide. It's a honeycomb shade that moves sideways, and perfect for sliding glass doors. The Duolite option works like two shades in one-a sheer shade accompanies a privacy shade, giving you more flexibility to control your light and privacy.

As these become available later this year we'll let you know how they perform. Until we've had some practical experience with them, however, we will not endorse them, although it appears they will perform satisfactorily and I see no reason not to buy them.

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BRAINWAVE SPECIAL OFFER

As a Brainwave subscriber, you’re entitled to a special offer not available to non-subscribers. This time we're running a HALF-PRICE offer for the Delight option on Hunter Douglas Country Woods. These are the best wood blinds made, and with the De-light option has the best features.

Normally the Delight Option is an extra 14%. But as a Brainwave subscriber, you'll get it for only 7% more. On average you'll save about $10 per blind.

This offer is valid beginning today, and EXPIRES on May 31, 1999. YOU MUST ALSO MENTION CODE BW0599.

If you'd like to subscribe to BRAINWAVE, or know someone who should, then: Click Here

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CONTRACT VOLUME DISCOUNTS AVAILABLE TO HOMEOWNERS

We want to remind you again that homeowners can qualify for the same incredible savings previously offered only to our large volume customers, such as hospitals, schools, general contractors, etc. Qualifications are listed on our contract page, and there are positively no exceptions made to those qualifications. To see if you qualify, or if you are already a Contract customer, Click here for the Contract Page

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RECOMMEND NO BRAINER TO A FRIEND..... SIMPLY

Do you know someone buying a new home, or remodeling? Could they use the decorating advice and useful articles found on the No Brainer Site, or need blinds at a substantial discount? Then we’ve got a handy little form for you to recommend us. Just enter their email address, press SEND, and they’ll get a short message about No Brainer, telling them how to find us. And of course all the addresses are kept strictly private and confidential, in accordance with our stated Privacy Policy.

Recommend No Brainer now at: http://www.NoBrainerBlinds.com/recommend.asp

Warm regards, Jay Steinfeld, President/Founder (The Brainman) No Brainer Blinds and Shades The world's most popular and trusted on-line source for blinds and shades.

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To subscribe to BRAINWAVE: Click Here!

To make comments/suggestions about this or future issues of Brainwave, send them to:
jay@NoBrainerBlinds.com

Visit the No Brainer site at:
http://www.NoBrainerBlinds.com

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BRAINWAVE MAGAZINE-
(c)COPYRIGHT 1999, by No Brainer, Inc. All rights reserved. Please do not reprint or host on your Web Site without explicit permission, which we grant under proper conditions. However, if you found Brainwave useful, we grant you permission, and strongly encourage you to email it to a business associate or a friend. Thank you.

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