Window Treatment DesignerPosition Overview
We are seeking an experienced Window Treatment Designer to join our team. This is a specialized sales and design position for someone who already understands custom window treatments and can manage the entire client experience from the initial consultation through final installation.
This is not an entry-level design role, a general decorating role, or a position for someone who only wants to help customers pick fabrics. We are looking for someone who comes into the role with strong existing knowledge of custom window treatments, especially draperies, textiles, soft treatments, shades, hardware, and installation details.
The right candidate must be able to consult with clients, sell confidently, specify treatments correctly, write accurate work orders, order products, communicate with vendors and workrooms, oversee installation details, and take responsibility for the project from beginning to end.
This position requires a combination of design ability, technical knowledge, sales skill, organization, and ownership.
Primary Purpose of the Role
The Window Treatment Designer is responsible for growing profitable window treatment sales while delivering a professional, high-end client experience.
This person must be able to walk a client through the full process: understanding the client’s needs, evaluating the windows, recommending the correct treatment, explaining the value of the product, preparing and presenting pricing, closing the sale, writing the work order, ordering the necessary products and materials, and overseeing the project through installation.
The ideal candidate already understands that custom window treatments are highly detailed. Draperies, shades, hardware, lining, measurements, mounting, fullness, stack-back, pattern placement, and installation conditions all matter. We need someone who knows how to design beautiful treatments, but also understands how those treatments are fabricated, ordered, and installed.
Key ResponsibilitiesClient Consultation
The Window Treatment Designer will meet with clients in the showroom and/or in the home to determine their window treatment needs. The designer must be able to lead the consultation professionally, ask the right questions, and guide the client toward the best solution.
Responsibilities include:
- Meeting with clients for initial consultations
- Understanding the client’s style, budget, timeline, and functional needs
- Evaluating privacy, light control, glare, heat, insulation, and aesthetic goals
- Reviewing the architecture of the windows and room
- Identifying any technical or installation challenges
- Recommending appropriate window treatment solutions
- Explaining the difference between treatment options
- Helping clients select fabrics, trims, hardware, lining, shades, and finishes
- Narrowing choices so the client does not become overwhelmed
- Creating confidence in the design direction
- Moving the client toward a sale
This person must be comfortable leading the conversation. We are not looking for someone who waits for the client to tell them exactly what to do. The designer must be able to make professional recommendations and explain why those recommendations are appropriate.
Sales Responsibility
This is a sales-producing position. The Window Treatment Designer must be able to sell custom window treatments, not just design them.
The designer is responsible for presenting the value of custom work, preparing quotes, following up, handling objections, and closing sales. They must be comfortable discussing price and asking for the order.
Responsibilities include:
- Selling custom window treatments, especially draperies, textiles, shades, and layered treatments
- Explaining the value of professional design, custom fabrication, proper measuring, and expert installation
- Presenting pricing with confidence
- Asking for the sale
- Collecting deposits according to company policy
- Following up on open quotes
- Re-engaging clients who have not made a decision
- Looking for additional rooms, phases, and future opportunities
- Building repeat and referral business
- Maintaining strong client relationships
The ideal candidate understands that custom window treatments require a consultative sales approach. They should be able to build trust, create urgency, communicate value, and close profitable business without relying on unnecessary discounts.
Drapery and Textile Expertise
This role requires strong knowledge of soft window treatments, especially draperies and textiles.
The candidate must understand how fabric behaves, how different styles are fabricated, and how design decisions affect the final result. They should be able to make intelligent recommendations regarding fabric selection, lining, fullness, heading style, length, hardware, and installation.
Knowledge should include:
- Drapery panels
- Stationary panels
- Functional draperies
- Ripplefold draperies
- Pinch pleat draperies
- Euro pleat, tailored pleat, inverted pleat, goblet pleat, and other heading styles
- Roman shades
- Valances and cornices
- Sheers and layered treatments
- Blackout lining
- Privacy lining
- Interlining
- Pattern repeats
- Fabric width and yardage requirements
- Seams and pattern placement
- Fullness calculations
- Stack-back requirements
- Hardware selection
- Rods, tracks, rings, brackets, returns, and finials
- Mounting height and width
- Finished length and break
- Fabric suitability for different applications
The designer must be able to explain these details to clients in a way that feels professional and understandable.
Technical Window Treatment Knowledge
The Window Treatment Designer must understand the technical side of windows and window treatments. They must be able to identify what will and will not work before a project is sold or ordered.
This includes understanding:
- Inside mount vs. outside mount
- Ceiling mount vs. wall mount
- Stack-back requirements
- Projection and return requirements
- Window depth
- Molding and trim issues
- Door and handle obstructions
- Baseboards, vents, built-ins, furniture, and other site conditions
- Light gaps
- Privacy concerns
- Child safety requirements
- Motorization requirements
- Electrical and battery considerations
- Hardware weight limitations
- Specialty windows
- Arched, angled, oversized, or difficult windows
- Installation access
- Product limitations
- Fabric limitations
- Workroom and vendor specifications
This person must be able to think through the entire project before it is ordered. Accuracy matters. Mistakes in specifications, measurements, lining, hardware, or installation details can be costly, and this role requires someone who takes those details seriously.
Work Orders and Specifications
The Window Treatment Designer is responsible for preparing complete and accurate work orders. The work order must clearly communicate exactly what is being made, ordered, and installed.
Responsibilities include:
- Writing detailed work orders
- Confirming all client selections
- Specifying treatment style, fabric, lining, trim, hardware, measurements, mounting details, and installation notes
- Including all necessary product numbers, colors, finishes, quantities, and vendor details
- Communicating clearly with the workroom, installer, vendor, and internal team
- Reviewing details before orders are placed
- Making sure the order matches what was sold to the client
- Preventing avoidable errors caused by incomplete information
The candidate must understand that the work order is not a casual note. It is the document that guides the fabrication, ordering, and installation of the project. It must be complete, accurate, and professional.
Ordering Product and Materials
The Window Treatment Designer will be responsible for ordering or coordinating the ordering of products and materials related to their projects.
Responsibilities may include:
- Ordering shades, blinds, shutters, hardware, and related products
- Coordinating fabric orders
- Confirming availability of selected fabrics and trims
- Verifying yardage requirements
- Reviewing vendor acknowledgments
- Checking order confirmations for accuracy
- Communicating backorders or discontinued items
- Coordinating with vendors, workrooms, and internal staff
- Making sure all materials are ordered correctly and on time
This person must be organized and detail-oriented. They should understand that one missing bracket, wrong lining, incorrect color, or delayed fabric can affect the entire project.
Installation Oversight
The Window Treatment Designer is responsible for overseeing the project through installation. This does not necessarily mean physically installing the product, but it does mean making sure the installer has the information needed and that the client experience is handled properly.
Responsibilities include:
- Communicating installation details clearly
- Coordinating with installers before the job when needed
- Providing installation notes, photos, measurements, and special instructions
- Confirming that hardware, treatments, and products are ready
- Addressing installation questions
- Helping resolve any issues that arise
- Following up after installation when appropriate
- Making sure the final result aligns with what was sold and specified
The designer must understand how treatments should look and function after installation. They should be able to identify whether an issue is related to design, fabrication, ordering, installation, or client expectation.
Full Project Ownership
The Window Treatment Designer owns the client experience from the first conversation through completion.
This includes:
- Initial client consultation
- Design recommendations
- Product selection
- Pricing and sales presentation
- Quote follow-up
- Closing the sale
- Deposit collection
- Work order preparation
- Product and material ordering
- Vendor and workroom communication
- Installation coordination
- Client communication
- Post-installation follow-up
This person must not drop the project after the sale. They are expected to stay involved and accountable until the project is completed.
Portfolio Requirement
Candidates must provide a portfolio of previous window treatment work.
The portfolio should demonstrate experience with custom window treatments and may include:
- Drapery projects
- Roman shades
- Layered treatments
- Motorized treatments
- Custom hardware applications
- Before-and-after photos
- High-end residential projects
- Designer or builder projects
- Textile and fabric-based work
- Challenging or technical window treatment solutions
The portfolio does not need to be overly formal, but it must show actual completed work and demonstrate the candidate’s ability to design, sell, specify, and execute custom window treatment projects.
Candidates should be prepared to discuss their portfolio, including the client’s needs, the treatment selected, the technical considerations, the sales process, and any installation or fabrication challenges.
Required Experience
Qualified candidates should have previous experience in custom window treatments.
Required qualifications include:
- Proven experience selling custom window treatments
- Strong knowledge of draperies, textiles, shades, hardware, and soft treatments
- Ability to lead client consultations
- Ability to sell and close custom projects
- Understanding of window treatment fabrication and installation details
- Ability to write accurate work orders
- Ability to coordinate product ordering
- Ability to work with vendors, workrooms, installers, and clients
- Strong organizational skills
- Strong communication skills
- Professional appearance and demeanor
- Ability to manage multiple projects at once
- Ability to work independently and take ownership
- Portfolio of completed window treatment projects
Preferred Experience
Preferred candidates may also have experience with:
- High-end residential clients
- Interior designers and trade accounts
- Builders or custom home projects
- Motorized window treatments
- Custom drapery workrooms
- Hunter Douglas, Graber, Norman, Kirsch, Horizons, Fabricut, Kravet, Carole, Rowley, or similar vendors
- Fabric and textile selection
- Luxury retail or interior design sales
- CRM, quoting, or point-of-sale systems
- In-home consultations
- Measuring and specifying specialty windows
Performance Expectations
This position will be evaluated based on sales performance, accuracy, client satisfaction, and project execution.
Key areas of accountability include:
- Window treatment sales volume
- Gross profit dollars produced
- Gross profit margin
- Close ratio
- Average sale
- Quote follow-up
- Quote conversion
- Accuracy of work orders
- Accuracy of product orders
- Client satisfaction
- Project completion quality
- Ability to manage details without unnecessary hand-holding
- Ability to build repeat and referral business
The successful candidate must be able to produce sales and manage the details that follow. We are looking for someone who understands that selling the project is only one part of the role. The project must also be ordered correctly, communicated clearly, installed properly, and completed professionally.
Ideal Candidate Profile
The ideal candidate is polished, experienced, organized, and sales-driven. They should be confident with clients, knowledgeable about window treatments, and comfortable managing technical details.
We are looking for someone who:
- Already knows custom window treatments
- Has strong drapery and textile knowledge
- Can sell, not just decorate
- Can explain value confidently
- Can ask for the sale
- Can write detailed work orders
- Can order products accurately
- Can oversee installation details
- Can manage projects from beginning to end
- Can communicate well with clients and internal teams
- Can work with high-end homeowners, designers, and builders
- Can solve problems without creating unnecessary chaos
- Takes ownership and follows through
This is a position for someone who understands that custom window treatments are both beautiful and technical. The right person must be able to combine design, sales, product knowledge, project management, and attention to detail.
Position Summary
The Window Treatment Designer is responsible for the complete custom window treatment process: consultation, design, sales, specifications, work orders, ordering, installation oversight, and client follow-through.
We are looking for a true window treatment professional who comes with the knowledge, experience, portfolio, and confidence needed to sell and manage custom projects successfully.
The right candidate will be able to walk into a client’s home, evaluate the windows, recommend the correct treatment, sell the project, write the work order, order the materials, coordinate the details, and oversee the job through installation.
This is a specialized role for someone who knows window treatments, understands draperies and textiles, and can produce profitable sales while delivering a high-quality client experience.
Pay: $50,446.98 - $60,753.35 per year
Work Location: In person
