When John and Diane called to discuss to upgrade their window treatments, as with all clients, I entered with an open mind and blank slate. Though we don’t have a formal “intake” process during our design consultation, with most clients I tend to just spend the first few minutes just chatting, getting to know them, understand their needs, any inspiration they might have found while doing their own research, and just get a “feel” for what they are looking for.

During this discovery process, I learned that they were originally from Montana, and had moved to Huntington Beach in the 70s (purchasing their home for a price I’d rather not think about in today’s market). No stranger to the Yellowstone area, I’ve been going there every few years for about the last decade to either fly fish or snowboard, we found common ground and both got excited about a creative concept personal to them to anchor their project.

Of course, the next obvious question, and one I figured I had a pretty good idea the answer of, was “Are you guys fans of Yellowstone?” (as in the TV show). At that point, we were locked in as they immediately fell in love with a Dutton Ranch inspired concept in their living room, combining a warm drapery with a custom fabricated wrought iron rod and rings, complimented by real wood blinds with a complimentary decorative cloth tape. Our wood blinds are hand made to order of only the highest quality, durable bass wood, right here in Los Angeles - we were able to find the perfect combination of wood stain and accent cloth tape color to seamlessly fit into the room.

I say “Yellowstone inspired” as the actual window treatments in the Dutton Ranch on the show are pretty “western,” but we both loved the idea of moving on from their old cellular shades and to a more western-contemporary look - especially given the authentic American west antiques dotting their home, mostly made of dark hard woods.

We wanted something that felt contemporary yet suggestive of the Yellowstone style, so went with a two-finger pinch pleat. We also wanted the drapery fabric to be simple yet textured and not too busy, and compliment the dark colors in the room, so a linen blend with some warm tones interwoven fit the bill perfectly.

Though solving this living room drapery and blind design was the main event, we also tackled a large glass slider in the dining and kitchen area, removing some pretty old and worn vertical blinds and replacing them with a simple sheer drapery and solid black rod, utilizing the same two-finger pinch pleat as the front drapery. Their original idea for this zone was to go with a top treatment or cornice box as privacy was not their concern. But after discussing how much warmth a sheer drapery would bring the room, as well as the added bonus of light filtration, a softening of the hard colors and lines in the back yard, and just a touch of privacy when it might be desired, we all loved the idea and the result. For the color we felt a brighter white would bring some additional life and energy to the area and compliment some of the heavier furniture.