The Shade Store

I love my blinds and Andrea was a huge help — she was patient as I looked at samples and couldn’t make up my mind, had great design tips, and gave me advice on installation (which was fairly easy). She responded to my emails quickly, too, which was great. The only thing I would say in terms of design is that, if you want complete dark, go with one shade instead of multiple shades — light comes in between them. It’s fine for us, but maybe not for everyone.

I stopped in the other day and worked with Maaike to get window treatments for three rooms. Maaike was amazing, the showroom was also amazing. Tons of samples to see and example window treatments.
Where it falls apart is their quote system. The plan was to get a quote, then order. It took 4 business days to get a quote, as the auto email in the computer system is faulty. Our treatments will SHIP 1 to 4 days after we are in our house with ZERO on the windows. Moral of the story, 14 days is not enough lead time for this company. Leave AT LEAST 3 weeks to be sure to get your window treatments in time.

This review is for Andrea and the Shades Store@University Ave.
We have a huge french door towards the back yard, and since it is facing west, the sunlights get very strong in a regular summer afternoon. Our daughter loves playing around the french door, but her head is always full of sweats because of the sunlight and the heat.
The Shade Store was recommended by another furniture retailer because we want to have rods and 2 layers of draperies, and due to our extra wide french door, they feel that the Shade Store would be a good choice for us.
Andrea was excellent from the very beginning, she reached out to me to set up an appointment and asked for a picture of the door so she can start to prep. She also went extra miles to help us schedule measurements and followed up on the adjustments of the draperies, and even the shipments.
We in the end installed 2 track systems with 2 draperies. We absolutely love our choices and of course, it thanks to the fantastic variety of the styles and fabrics from them. Yes, those beauties don’t come cheap, but we know we could easily spend the same amount of money somewhere else but definitely not be able to meet our expectation.

We are very pleased with our selections from The Shade Store. There is a excellent variety of styles and textures to choose from. We chose the reverse roller Chilewich and Solars for several bedrooms. The reverse roller is simple and elegant. All of the shades allow a lot of light in while providing adequate privacy. My husband measured and installed the blinds and they turned out perfectly, though he is experienced with do-​it-​yourself projects.
Andrea was lovely to work with and helpful every step of the way. We were lucky to have caught the sales. I will be a return customer for other rooms when we are ready.

Love this shadestore in Palo Alto. Very friendly staff, easy to work with, and knowledgeable with all their window covering solutions.

The Shade store is awesome. Amazing customer service! Excellent choices and Andrea at the Palo Alto location was super patient with me as I tried to narrow down my choices… they have tons of samples and it can be quite daunting making a selection. However they are really helpful guiding you through the process. She also followed up once my shades were shipped and helped me find an installer. Even when one of the shades shipped happened to be wrong they were quick to remedy the situation and make it all better. Couldn’t be happier and well worth the money!!!

Thi review is for Maaike Hoogland, who has been so helpful and lovely!
I am in the process of replacing all the blinds in my home and needed some drapery in my living room and bedroom. She helped match me with fabrics and textures she thought would work and couldn’t have been more spot on with her choices. She was very patent and always on top of what I needed from her. Couldn’t have been happier with her selections and the outcome! Thanks so much — everything looks awesome!
I would highly recommend seeking her out if you need help with selections and choices.

I randomly found The Shade Store on FaceBook by their advertisements on my newsfeed. I showed my husband and we browsed around their website, while we found the website easy to use and to create a profile, we felt it would be important to actually see the product.
This location is a small store on University Ave with easy street parking. The displays are well represented. We were greeted right away by Andrea, (the other 2 staffer were extremely nice and offered our kids some coloring stuff. I should also mention that they didn’t just ignore us because someone else was already working with us)
We had a pretty good idea of what we were looking for and told Andrea we had already gone over the site. She then showed us some samples. It was just the right amount too, because once she opened the sample drawers I felt overwhelmed at all the choices. I felt she really listened to what we were interested in and pulled only those samples. If we didn’t like a suggestion, she moved on and didn’t try to argue :)
We did not know our exact measurements, only had an idea, but since we used our own measurements on different coverings from home depot and were short, we decided to have a professional recommended by Andrea to measure.
The guy who came was really nice too. For $ 75 he’ll measure up to 21 windows. We had him measure all of our windows & doors incase we decide to order more in the future… so that the measurements would already be on file.
He said that he also installs for 3 Day Blinds (another company we got a quote from), and after chatting with him about customer service and quality, he recommended The Shade Store. 3 Day Blinds were cheaper for us, but I read the reviews on Unilocal on what a nightmare customer service can be for 3 Day Blinds. Also The Shade Store makes their shades in Texas vs Mexico with 3DB, and shipping was free with the Shade Store. 3DayBlinds charges an INSANE amount for shipping. Lastly the install fee was half of the 3 day blinds quote.
Andrea was very communicative– she contacted us quickly when she said there wasn’t anyone in our area to measure, she also let me know when we did get our measurements done she would not be in the office for 2 days to complete the quote. She also politely checked on us when I didn’t order right away and our offer expired, she corrected the quote with out us asking (I was just too busy to finalize, dang kiddos!)
Submitting the order was easy. Andrea’s final email was VERY detailed to make sure everything was correct.
I have already recommended The Shade Store to our friends, and we are looking forward to using them again once we get our tax return! ahaha

This was the start of my search for window coverings for a modest home. Though this shop most likely deals with very high-​end customers time was taken to give me practical information, to show me window covering options, and instructions on how to measure my windows, and a complimentary tape measure was thrown in even though it was obvious I would probably move on to less expensive options. Appreciated the courtesy shown.

Great selection. Very competitive pricing
If you know what you are doing you can use the online computer stations.
I needed help which I was offered and got.
Two salespeople and one was talking to a customer the entire time — very talkative.
I was very efficient and placed a ‘temporary order’ which I received in a printed format. I was promised a final quote tonight that includes tax which I have not received via email.
I was ready to order and pay.
Now I am at home looking at other stores online.
Why couldn’t I just put in my name and email and get this done?
Been open two weeks and they kept repeating they have only been open two weeks. Bad excuse. Get more help. I am not sure I could have placed my order on my own with the online system — be sure to have a salesperson help.
It’s not like I am going here every day like the grocery store (where I use self checkout) so sales staff is critical.
I was never told how long the order would take either — the blinds are manufactured and shipped. I have a window with no blind — I’m anxious.
Q: I wonder how many of their ‘temporary orders’ turn into actual orders. Given I was ready to pay today I’m thinking this is where the store can make $$ and not have a bunch of wasted paper. Close the deal.