It’s been five years since Las Sendas resident and interior designer Linda Palm turned her dream into a reality. You’ve come a long way baby! And, to celebrate this anniversary, Window to Design is passing on a five percent savings to you.
If you are ready to transform the look of any room in your home, look no further than Window to Design. “We offer honest, fair pricing and strive to show you the best experience possible for advice on window covering and design,” Linda says.
The original concept of becoming an expert designer — servicing a specific trade of builders, Realtors, and interior designers — has developed into expanded public assistance. Linda has created a business blueprint to parallel her desired lifestyle here in east Mesa. She enjoys personal consultations with her customers, where she can help fulfill window covering needs.
“I come from a family of business owners who told me if you make it five years, you’ve made it! It was scary, with the flood in our Scottsdale store, the move to Mesa, and then COVID,” says Linda.
But all those stumbling stones helped build a thriving business that incorporates Linda’s expertise into the lifestyle she has always dreamed of.
She remembers the earliest days and her initial goal to create a business where she is in charge, a business she could run, rather than a business that ran her. “It was never about being the largest, or competing with any other companies,” she said.
“From the beginning, it was about creating a standard of living for myself and offering professional design advice to each of my customers in a fun atmosphere.”
Three years into the introduction of Window to Design, Linda brought on an assistant, Lisa Bolier, to help her with all the nuts and bolts of keeping the business thriving. She found Lisa, another Las Sendas resident, on the Nextdoor app and hired her as the businesses’ bookkeeper/design assistant. The two have worked together for the past two years to mold the local business into what it is today.
As she turns the pages of an additional year in business, Linda is contentedly satisfied that she is meeting the window covering needs of both business and individual patrons in the East Valley.
Linda sets herself apart from others by being a listener. “I don’t want to tell clients what they need in their personal or professional spaces. I want to listen to their wants and help them tailor choices that are as unique as they are.”
Five Years in the Making
As any business owner realizes, it is not always endless days of smooth sailing when you’re working for yourself. Sometimes unique requests call for some deep soul-searching and can leave you feeling a little doubtful.
Linda recalls one of those nail-biting situations, when one of her clients wished for motorized patterned drapery on four 15-foot window-wall panels. Every part was moving and needed to align perfectly upon closure. The development was challenging for the entrepreneur, but one she can look back on as an accomplishment — a project that turned out beautifully.
It’s these encounters that set the standard for customer satisfaction.
Hunter Douglas Products
Linda most enjoys working with Hunter Douglas products, because she finds them innovative; a company constantly upgrading their products and one that offers exceptional customer service. A tour of her website, windowtodesign.com, will give you a glimpse of some of the latest products, promotions, and inspirations to help renovate your living spaces into the most current and efficient areas of your home.
A particular product that has become extremely popular here in Arizona are Silhouette Window Shades.
“Sometimes Arizona residents tend to under-cover their windows,” says Linda. “A winter visitor or new homeowner might be anxious to conserve the view of their surroundings, capture the colorful sunsets, or maintain the presence of activity and atmosphere in the backyard from indoors. However, the reality of leaving those views unprotected and uncovered, often means hot afternoon summers and uncomfortable indoor temperatures as a result.”
Staying on Top of the Trends
To stay knowledgeable in her field, continuing education is constant for the professional designer. New operating systems and innovative fabrics are forever evolving and changing.
Linda keeps apprised on the most recent technology and trends through online educational courses. In fact, she once provided in-person curriculums in her showroom, but had to take a temporary detour, due to the pandemic.
Just as styles and trends shift, so will the business in the coming months. Looking ahead, Linda hopes to resume her in-home consultations, where she has a first-hand visual of the platform for her design recommendations.
Wondering which old trends are sneaking their way back into our homes? Drapery, she insists, never lost its popularity. Now more than ever adding texture and pattern in drapery and wallpaper is a creative and fun way to add function and beauty to our homes.
With a new movement toward multi-functional homes, where people are transforming living space into places to work, exercise, and spend holidays, updating with window coverings can assist in the remarkable shift we currently desire.
What sort of appeal will add purpose to your home this year? Linda suggests that the year ahead may very well be in window shades, a replacement to the wooden shutters that over-cover a view.
In celebration of a milestone anniversary, Linda looks ahead to a new year of designing for locals. “Referrals from the trade and public kept us going and is growing the business today. We are grateful.”
To speak with Linda to learn more about her Window to Design store, you can contact her at (480) 207-6450, or visit her website — windowtodesign.com, or instagram.com/windowtodesign.