“OUR NEED WILL BE THE REAL CREATOR.”—PLATO
It’s long been said that necessity is the mother of invention. In the case of The Drapery Room’s founder Amy Hunley, it was necessity that drove her to learn a skill—ultimately leading her on an entrepreneurial journey.
At the time, Hunley was living in Atlanta and raising two young children, while her parents were buying investment properties along the Emerald Coast of Florida. Tasked with assisting in the preparation of the homes for rental, it became clear that procuring window treatments would not be a simple undertaking.
“The service felt fragmented, communication was inconsistent, lead times were unpredictable and the design options lacked the character and sophistication that the clientele expected,” Hunley recalls. “It seemed like an important element of the home was being treated as an afterthought.”
To circumvent the issue, Hunley tackled the project herself, sourcing the fabrics and designing window treatments. The more she learned, the more she realized there was a need to fill—an opportunity. Hunley’s vision was to create a better experience that would offer exceptional service, clear communication, reliable timelines and thoughtfully curated fabrics and designs that reflected the relaxed elegance coastal homeowners were looking for.
It was then that a business idea for Drape98 was born. As Hunley explains: “The business really found me, rather than the other way around. Once I started sourcing and designing drapery for my family’s properties, other homeowners began asking if I could help them, as well. Before long, I had projects lined up without even having a formal business.”
Formal business or not, Hunley knew she had to hit the ground running. She enlisted the help of her mother-in-law, Shirley Reeves, who had a strong sewing background, along with two other employees, and launched the company with only a few sewing machines, a large worktable and a small workspace. They were fulfilling orders almost immediately.
Humble though its beginnings might have been, the business had an enduring foundation of craftsmanship, service and a dedication to excellence. It was during her 15 years as a founding partner of Drape98 that Hunley learned every aspect of the business, immersing herself in client relations, fabric sourcing and fabrication, design and installation. When the partnership split and Hunley launched The Drapery Room in 2020, she once again found opportunity in the midst of trial.
“I was able to clarify my vision, focus on the type of work and clients I wanted to serve, and build a company that fully reflected my values,” she says. “Since then, we’ve expanded far beyond our original footprint in the Florida Panhandle. Our client roster has grown significantly, and we’ve broadened our service offerings and built relationships with some of the most respected designers in the country. What initially felt like a challenge ultimately became an opportunity for reinvention.”
For Hunley, reinvention didn’t mean leaving behind the principles that had guided her previously. As she says, the commitment to quality, craftsmanship and customer service remained exactly the same. Rather, she found the freedom to grow—through an investment in new processes, expansion in geographic reach and continual improvement of the client experience. “We were able to strengthen our operations, build our team and evolve the business in ways that weren’t previously possible,” Hunley notes. “The goal was never to become bigger simply for the sake of growth. It was to become better—to refine what we do, elevate our standards and create a company capable of serving designers and clients at the highest level.”
That high level of service begins with a meeting with the designer or sometimes the homeowner on-site, so that Hunley and her team can get a feel for the space and understand the vision, discuss functionality, review design details and identify any unique challenges that may affect the finished product. From there, the team confirms measurements, calculates fabric requirements, develops specifications and provides detailed yardage estimates and recommendations. This phase is one of collaboration between The Drapery Room team, the designer and the client as final selections are refined.
Central to this phase and each that follows is a team of experienced craftspeople and specialists whose expertise helps bring every project to life. In fact, while Hunley’s successful growth of her company is a point of pride, it isn’t the enormity of The Drapery Room’s 13,000-square-foot facility that she values most. “It’s the expertise we’ve built within it,” she says. “As we’ve grown, we’ve continued to invest in our people, our processes and our commitment to quality. That dedication has earned us recognition through some of the industry’s most prestigious awards for both design and fabrication. More importantly, it has earned the trust of designers and clients across the country.”
Building that level of expertise has required a deliberate approach to hiring and training. “We’ve learned that the best approach to finding people for the team is often to identify those who genuinely enjoy creating things with their hands and then invest in teaching and developing those skills,” she says. “Beyond technical ability, I look for people who take pride in their work, pay attention to detail and care about the finished product as much as we do. Craftsmanship can’t be rushed, and it can’t be taught to someone who doesn’t value excellence.”
Those shared principles have created an incredibly positive culture within the company and a sense of loyalty that shows in the quality of the work. “Everyone understands that what we do is special,” Hunley says. “We aren’t simply producing products. We’re creating custom pieces that become part of someone’s home or business, and that responsibility is something we all take seriously.”
As much as they become part of a space, these window treatments play a dynamic role in finishing a room. “Fabric plays an enormous role in shaping how a space feels,” says Hunley. “It influences not only the visual design but also the atmosphere of a room. The texture, pattern, color and movement of a fabric can completely change the character of a space. For example, a crisp linen creates a very different mood than a rich velvet. A subtle woven texture feels entirely different from a bold print. Because window treatments often occupy a significant visual footprint within a room, the fabric selection becomes one of the most impactful design decisions. Fabric is what brings softness, warmth and personality to a space. It helps transform a room from simply being furnished to feeling complete and lived in.”
There is a natural balance in designing to meet the needs of form and function. In window treatments, Hunley contends that beautiful design must also function beautifully. “What I love about custom window treatments is that they represent the perfect marriage of form and function,” she says. “They should elevate the beauty of a room while enhancing the way people experience it. A window treatment may look stunning, but if it doesn’t perform properly for the people living in the space, then it isn’t truly successful. We must consider how the room is used every day. Does the client need blackout capabilities? Is privacy important? Are they concerned about noise reduction? Will the treatment be operated daily or only occasionally? These practical considerations influence every decision we make, from lining selections to hardware choices and fabrication techniques.”
For Hunley, custom window treatments are about far more than fabric and fabrication. They are the finishing touch that imbue a space with warmth, personality and purpose. It is a philosophy that has guided The Drapery Room from the beginning—and one that continues to shape every project that leaves the workroom today. *
Liesel Schmidt lives in Navarre, Florida, and works as a freelance writer for local and regional magazines. She is also a web content writer and book editor. Follow her on X at @laswrites or download her novels, Coming Home to You, The Secret of Us and Life Without You, at amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com.
