Buckle up, dear readers — and get ready to delve into our latest warehouse full of wonders: a NOS mega-stash of vintage window treatment materials and more — quite possibly our biggest discovery since readers tipped us to the now defunct World of Tile in 2011.
It all started with The Astronaut Wives Club
This gleeful discovery came when Pam interviewed production designer Mark White about all the fabulous interiors inside the homes of The Astronaut Wives Club. It was a Sunday morning, during the phone interview, that her ears first tweaked to Mark’s mention of using retro woven wood roman shades by a company called Beauty-vu … or something close
“They have a line of wood woven blinds,” White said, “a page of retro woven shades — they still make them brand new, and they’re amazing.”
So of course, as soon as they hung up, Pam jumped online and within a few googles found the company.
Retro woven wood shades — with yarn woven into it!
Howdy hudee, here it is: The one-and-only, amazing Beauti-Vue Products Corporation — maker of custom window treatments since 1947 — that’s 68 years! — including retro woven wood roman shades — the kind with yarn woven through them.
Pam has been lusting after roman shades like these for years. And she’s looked. After finding Beauti-Vue on google based on Mark White’s tip, she now understands why she could not find them: She can’t see that anyone on the internet has ever written about Beauti-Vue and their stash of New Old Stock window treatment materials before! Now, woot(!): We have it the complete story — 11 days of stories!
And yes: As Mark White promised, these window shades are amazing. But beware: While Beauti-Vue can still make these into custom shades for you, all of these retro wovens are made from New Old Stock that is no longer manufactured — once this material is gone, it’s gone.
Thank you, Mark White, for this amazing tip!
My visit to Beauti-Vue — the mini-series!
Making this story even more wonderful: Beauti-Vue is located less than hour away from where I live. As soon as we could swing it, Pam had me rocket down there for a visit.
My trip to Beauti-Vue was loads of fun. The company has long been family owned and operated. The current owner is custom window treatment guru Stormy Grumbeck, and several other family members work there too, including Stormy’s sister Joy and his daughter Kristin. Beauti-Vue is a family affair for sure — all but two of the company’s employees are related — making coming to work each day a family reunion of sorts.
During my visit, I spent nearly three hours asking many questions, photographing and ogling their retro-licious goodies and hearing all about the company’s history — including fun personal stories about everything from catalog photo shoots to Stormy’s childhood growing up in the custom window treatment business.
Everyone I encountered at the factory was very friendly, welcoming and had sense of humor that made my time there quite enjoyable. By the time I left, I had a much deeper knowledge of the evolution of window treatments, the process of making woven wood window treatments and an even deeper love for the gorgeous stockpile of NOS retro woven wood shade material and products at Beauti-Vue.
Beauti-Vue blitz — 11 stories all lined up and coming at ya!
The biggest story inside Beautie-Vue is all of their New Old Stock rolls of retro woven shade material meant to be made into roman shades. That gave us plenty to investigate and photograph. But you know how these places are: There were more treasures, too. We were very inquisitive. We Brenda Starred them all.
Yup: That epic Astowives story led to another epic Beauti-Vue series: For the next 10 days or so [barring other breaking news], we will be highlighting everything Beauti-Vue — from the company’s history to all the New Old Stock goodies and other surprises that I found during my visit. All with an eye, of course, to how you can get your hands on some of these amazing treasures yourself.
Next: Click here to take a deep dive into Beauti-Vue’s retro woven wood shades, with tips and photos from my visit.
pam kueber says
Tee hee, my mom just called me and told me that I had these in my bedroom in 1964. Blue yarn on blue blinds, dark blue bedding, I was about 5 years old.
She ordered them from Sears. My brother has brown wood with orange and yellow and white yarn!
Woah: We were stylin’!
JKM says
We had these in the den and breakfast room of the house my parents built in 1973 – dark brown wood slats with rust and gold yarn that matched the den’s rust colored shag carpeting, breakfast room and kitchen’s multi-colored flat “kitchen” carpet, and blended with the stained ash paneling and trim throughout. I have pictures somewhere. Oh my gosh this is fun to see.
Lynne says
These are fantastic! My Aunt Dar had these on her dining area windows in the kitchen. She vacuumed them as I recall.
This place is maybe 2.5 hours north of me. I wish I had known about it when we were working on the breakfast room. I may consider blinds for it now behind the curtains. Orange of course.
Kate, did you order blinds while you were there?
Kate says
I didn’t order any blinds during my visit Lynne, though I’m trying to figure out where I could put some of these in my house. They are awesome!
I did come home with another treasure though…stay tuned to find out what it is! 🙂
Robin, NV says
Gah!! This is so great. The yellow would be so perfect in my house. Can’t wait to hear more.
Jeanne says
Cool! I sold custom window treatments for Montgomery Ward back in 1978. I remember having sample books of woven wood samples and loving to look thru them! I never got one for myself. Looking forward to this series!
Jay says
Hmm… Is that an avocado green and harvest gold combo in the circle behind the Beauti-Vue logo? I guess you have to work through a dealer? Looking forward to the rest of your stories.
pam kueber says
Order this closeout stock directly from Beauti-Vue — we will have more info tomorrow! Meanwhile, jump over to their website and dive in, their ordering materials are there. [although we will have even more info]
Robin, NV says
Whoa. I just clicked through the thumbnails of all their colors and patterns. I’m speechless. So much to choose from!! I’m considering building an addition onto my house with big south facing windows – these would be PERFECT as window coverings for what will be my new family room. So cozy feeling!
Jay says
I took a look at all the retro colors but must have missed the page for individual retail ordering.
pam kueber says
home page — http://www.beautivue.com/
ineffablespace says
I had these blinds in my bedroom growing up from 1975 to 1987. The went with the Karastan tweed berber carpet.
The walkout basement had blinds like this when we sold the house this spring, (1975-2015) The yarns were in shades of red, to coordinate with the red, kelly green and black plaid carpet.
There were also a 9 foot long kelly green lacquer Parsons table custom matched to kelly green corduroy sofas, and a red lacquer bergere chair. All very high 1970s.
It was all in great shape, but the room looked a little bereft without all it’s color-matched furniture, so I am sure if the blinds and carpet aren’t gone yet. They soon will be.
I might be able to find a picture of the blinds and carpet.
Beverly says
Excited? I am simply beside myself! I want some of those green ones–can hardly wait for the rest of your stories.
lynda says
I had the dark colored roman shades with the green and orange shades of yarn in all my front windows in a house we bought in 1974. Of course the blinds went with the burnt orange carpet we put in the family room and the green carpet in the upstairs bedrooms!
I should drive by and see if the shades are still up. Hadn’t thought of these shades in years. Very fun find. I do remember after years of use, the string for the roman shades would fray and had to be replaced.
Amypie says
Me! Me! I’m excited! And I can’t wait to see more!