PICTURE PERFECT

Photography adds new dimension to window coverings

By Ellen Ashton-Haiste

When the view outside the window isn’t optimal, there’s an option available that can add flair to any room. It’s a technique that brings art, from photographs to abstract designs, to window shades.

Imagine X - developed by Altex, an internationally renowned Quebecbased window coverings manufacturer – is a system that prints virtually any image onto window shades. The possibilities for customizing home décor are limited only by imagination, says Kevin Fellner, president at London’s Covers Designers’ Edge. “It could be personal photos of the kids or animals, sports shots, landscapes, patterns or designs – really anything.”

While the technology is not new, its quality has evolved and improved drastically over time, Fellner says. “So, today, images can be displayed on very large shades in high resolution colour with spectacular results. We installed a 10-by-10foot shade in our London showroom, with a landscape image of Flowerpot Island in Georgian Bay near Tobermory, and the quality is truly stunning.”

He says the idea started in the commercial sphere with businesses putting ads and logos on window shades for marketing purposes. But he believes improved technology, resulting in higher quality results, will generate increasing interest in the residential market. “I see a lot of potential for this in residential as well as commercial settings. It’s a unique system, and you can do huge screens on huge windows. Builders are putting massive windows in new homes, and it can get boring looking at the roller shades. This has the potential to add some spice.”

Fellner says the process works on many sizes and styles of shades. “It can be on a solar screen that you can see through; it can be on a black-out fabric or anything in between. It puts an image onto the shade, so that image can be facing inside or outside, but most often it’s facing the inside.”

Whether a client is looking to take a living room to a new level or brighten up a child’s bedroom, he says the product will be expertly crafted using the highest quality fabrics. 