By Susan Semenak
Pina Andreoli brings more than 30 years of business experience and a decade-long background in interior design to her design firm, Gifted Design Inc. But as the owner of The View Window Fashions, window coverings are her main focus and passion. Her expansive showroom in the Toronto International Design Centre (TIDC) on Airport Road in Mississauga has become a hub for designers looking for window-covering solutions for their many projects.
Andreoli, who has been operating The View since 2021, firmly believes window coverings are key to completing a room. “They are both form and function,” she explains. “You have the practical light-filtering function but also the design element that different fabrics and styles of window coverings bring to a room.”
Think of a simple roller blind, for instance. Its function can be to block or filter sunlight. A sheer curtain, by contrast, adds softness to a room. Then there’s the cutting-edge Hunter Douglas Aura Illuminated Shade, which features a textured front shade and a room-darkening liner, along with built-in illumination. It is designed to create “daylight on demand” by providing a warm, relaxing glow on a rainy, overcast day or adding ambience to a room after the sun goes down. The View is one of only a few Toronto-area distributors of the innovative three-in-one Aura Illuminated Shade.
Andreoli says The View’s specialty is working with designers to find solutions for their projects, and she and her team are involved from the first consultation to measuring and right up to the final installation. “We bring a unique blend of technical and creative expertise,” she says. “That’s why our trade program with architects, builders and designers is so robust.”
Another area of expertise The View offers is in automation. Andreoli provides valuable product specifications and advice to designers and builders during construction or renovation on how to bring low-voltage wiring to the windows in order to accommodate automated window coverings, which are controlled with a remote control or a smartphone app. She says that automated window coverings are game-changing. They can be programmed to open and close at the start and end of every day, so you never have to manually adjust a covering. They can also help provide security when homeowners are away by scheduling the blinds’ positions at varying hours to appear as if someone is home. One of her clients even found that her blinds’ automatic closing in her child’s room provided a gentle prompt that it was bedtime.
The View also offers solutions for those looking for an alternative to fully custom-made drapery. Andreoli has curated a collection of drapery fabrics in a range of popular colours that can be made to a client’s specifications in a fraction of the time it usually takes to get custom-made options. They are available online through The View’s website. She calls them “custom ready-made” and explains that “they are for clients who want a quick solution without sacrificing on quality.”
Andreoli’s next venture is to introduce a collection of Canadian-made dining chairs, ottomans, sofas and side chairs through The View’s sister company Gifted Design, which shares a showroom, in response to a burgeoning demand for Canadian-made furniture. The dining chairs will arrive in her showroom by summer, and the other furniture will follow shortly afterwards.