Today we’d like to introduce you to Linda H. Bassert.
Hi Linda H., thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
After college, I had zigzagged my way into a Shop at Home position selling custom window treatments and other custom products at Montgomery Ward, before I left the field to have children. After 12 years away from the field, I came back into the Shop at Home niche in 1989. Even then, not many had experience in selling window treatments, so it was easy to find a job. Unfortunately, the company I worked for at first had all sorts of financial shenanigans behind the scenes. My first paycheck bounced, and I found a new employer two months later. Barrington Draperies & Shutters, in Barrington, Illinois, was a wonderful company to work for, and believed in training. They sent me to my first Window Fashions Expo (now known as the International Window Coverings Expo, or IWCE), where I first discovered design boards about the Design Competition winners. Studying those photos, I wanted to design like that – and hoped someday I would be entering in the competition. Through the Window Coverings Association of America, or WCAA, I became a Certified Window Treatment Consultant, taking an exam that included understanding the history of Window Treatment Design.
We moved twice more, to Massachusetts and then to Northern Viginia, where I live today. I was the senior Shop at Home consultant for a high end furniture company, until they went under. I started my business in 2006, about a month before they went out of business, and as soon as I had my FEIN, the next step I took was to join WCAA. (Back in those days, you could not join WCAA unless your employer was also a member, a rule which no longer exists.) I started my business re-writing my customer’s open orders under my business name, for the balance due amount, persuading vendors to ship things to me, on my word that they would be paid, and with the clients paying my business the balance due they had originally agreed to, so that I could keep my word to them and deliver their window treatments.
One of my first new jobs as a new business was done at cost, with the caveat that I could photograph it afterwards, and enter it in the IWCE Design competition. That project, for an Arts and Crafts Collector, included my original Ellis Cornice design, inspired by the furniture designs of Harvey Ellis, a project which took second place in Whole Room Integration (the interior design category) in 2008. I may have been a new business, but I was quickly an award-winning one.
Awards which followed included second place in Whole Room Integration in 2010 for a Dining Room transformation, second place in Combination Window Treatments in 2012 for a Bedroom custom window treatment design which frames a woodland view, First place in Whole Room Integration in 2014, for a project in an historic home which I had taken on as a volunteer, and First Place in Specialty Window treatments in 2020 for a two story Great Room design. In 2024, I was awarded First Place in Top Treatment Design, was a finalist in Soft Shades Design, and received the Award of Excellence in Design: Designer of the Year 2024. For a specialist in Custom Window Treatment Design, that award is equivalent to winning Best Picture at the Oscars, the pinnacle of recognition in my field. Each of these projects is very different from the others, because the focus of my work is not to inflict my “signature look” on my clients, but to find the design transformation which is right for each client. All of the award-winning projects can be viewed on my website, https://www.masterworksdesign.com.
My journey also included a six month break in 2022 after open heart surgery to replace a congenitally malformed valve. That time spent in recovery convinced me I was not ready to retire, even though my husband had recently retired. I was anxious instead to get back to working with my clients, assisting them in transforming their homes. To come back from that surgery to win the awards and recognition I received in 2024 was gratifying, and assurance that I had made the right decision.
Since then, I have been vetted and invited to be a member of the Better Business Bureau. My business has been recognized as “Best of Houzz” in both Design and Service in 2025 and 2026. I serve as Vice-President of the Northern Virginia chapter of the Window Coverings Association of America. I have two painting contractors and one realtor who rely on my paint color consultation services for their clients. I recently revamped my website and hope to publish the new site very soon.
Personally I am a Christian, happily married to my Dickinson College boyfriend for 51 years, a mother of three adult children, and grandmother of three, and with my husband, dog parent to two German Shepherds. I sing alto in my church choir. I love gardening and have a small collection of daylily varieties. I enjoy watching the birds at my birdfeeders, and find inspiration in the beauty and harmony of nature,
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Starting my business because my employer filed for bankruptcy was one of the biggest bumps in the road. At the time, I was most determined to do what I could to assist my clients who had not yet received what they had ordered. I knew that there were vendors who had fabricated draperies, but not shipped them due to lack of payment; other vendors who were holding onto decorative hardware; and fabric representatives whose sample books were trapped in stores which would likely toss them. I obtained permission to haul sample books out of the stores, and called the reps to come get their books. They came, picked up their books, and asked me which samples I needed. I called vendors and asked them to ship the draperies and hardware to me – with my promise to pay them after I rewrote the orders under my new business, for the balance due amount, and collected it at installation. They knew me, and trusted me to keep my word. After doing what I could for as many of my clients as possible, I then had to learn about networking and marketing. I knew how to design custom window treatments, but running a business had not been in my plans. We had children in high school and college at this point, so saving to start a business had also not been in my financial plans. A friend loaned me $1000, to get a logo designed, order business cards and stationary, and set up a website. I also joined BNI for several years, which taught me much about networking and business to business referrals. Winning that first award gave my fledgling business credibility, and I built on that to the business I have today. Another blessing for my business was a pilot program Benjamin Moore had in our region for two years, trying out a referral program which they had successfully used in Canada. In the Baltimore and Washington DC region, in 2008, they set up a website to refer paint color consultants and painters to potential clients. They knew me as a designer who had recently specified their paint colors for that first award-winning project, and asked me to be in the Link program. I had quite a few photos of art and paint color, and posted them on my page. Very soon I was getting at least a lead a week from that program. It opened my eyes to the desperate need for paint color assistance. Throughout my career I had always helped clients with paint color as needed, even though my employers would have rather I did not take that risk. While I was happily participating in the program, some of my colleagues were in the program but complaining about it, and others would not go near the program. It made me realize that working with color was a strength of mine, and that perhaps some others were good spatially in design, but not with color.
When the program went away, I approached Vienna Paint, a large Benjamin Moore franchisee in Northern Virginia to see if they needed a part time in store paint color consultant. That move confused my husband. “Linda,” he said, “you now have an award-winning business. Why are you working in a paint store?” “Because there I can meet people are moving in, moving up, moving out, or making changes to their homes, who may also need my other services.” I replied.
Then Covid came along. When the lockdowns first occurred, many persons thought they might be home for a couple of weeks till it blew over, and so they swamped the paint store. No social distancing, everyone touching everything, back before anyone knew exactly how it was transmitted. Vienna Paint was freaked out, and the store shut down, taking paint orders on a take-out basis. That was the end of my working part-time in a paint store.
At first business was scarily slow during the pandemic. I had one workroom artisan who had a leased space, not working from her home. So I hired her to make masks, and offered them to clients. I also gave them the opportunity to pay it forward, and pay for masks for others, if they were inclined, and many did. I also gave away fabric out of remnant yardage which I had to those who wanted to make their own masks. And I was able to find and purchase masks and gloves to send to my installers.
Then the phone calls about in-home appointments began, and I became quite busy during the Covid period. I also still had relationships with painting contractors, who used my color consultation services, continuing to this day. I have given two webinars on color consultation for the Capitol Hill Restoration Society. I find when the colors are put in place and the client loves the transformation in their home, it establishes a trust level, that I understand them, and they can trust me to assist them with other aspects of their home.
Finding at the end of 2001 that I needed to have a heart valve replacement sooner rather than later was a huge bump in the road, but having the surgery before it was an emergency, before my heart was damaged by a heart attack, was a huge blessing. I had not been having a lot of symptoms, which was very unusual, considering how leaky my heart had become, but now the new valve works just fine, I’m back to full strength, and still loving the work with my clients.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Masterworks Window Fashions & Design, LLC?
At Masterworks, I use two different Taglines. “Color Harmonies for Your Home, Artistry at Your Windows” speaks to my two primary specialties of custom window treatment design (soft and hard), and paint color consultation, a secondary specialty which is now about 25% of my business. The second tagline is for the Interior Design side of my business: “Your Story is My Inspiration.” The bedrock of my business is that it’s Your Home and it needs to be right for You. I don’t believe in inflicting my “look” on a client, nor do I believe in what I call the “trust me” school of design. Too many design schools are teaching that clients don’t know what you can do for them, so you need to have a “signature look” to market. If I have a signature, it’s my collaborative approach. We change as persons over time. I help my clients with authentic transformations, bringing their homes into alignment with who they are today. One of the highest compliments a client ever paid me was this: “Linda, I know you had a hand in it, but when I come home, it’s Me.” As a designer, I would like every client to experience that feeling, that resonance with the interior of their home.
I’m a solopreneur, with a talented team of subcontracted artisans, and installers, a CPA accountant who understands my complex business, and a broad selection of vendors for fabrics, hardware, and hard treatments. I also have a number of referral partners, including two painting contractors who refer me for paint color consultation, building my color consultation services into their contract proposals, and one realtor who uses my paint color consultation services for new listings.
I also am available to give seminars and custom window treatment trunk shows. Since the pandemic, I have given two webinars on paint color selection, and exhibited at the Capital Hill Restoration Society’s Home Expo.
On the business page for Masterworks Window Fashions & Design, LLC on houzz.com, prospective clients can view over 40 testimonials to find out more about working with me. I also have a widget to pull those houzz testimonials over to my website.
Most of my soft treatments are fabricated by local WCAA member artisans, although occasionally I will have something made at a workroom out of the area, if that is the best value for the project. One of my installers says, “Linda, you always have that extra something in what you do.” It’s the micro-welting at the hem, the cords at the top of the boards, the trims, the different pleats, the pattern placement, elevating each design to immediately look and feel custom. Not every client chooses all the details they are offered, but together, we find the right combination for them. Those details also make it best to use a local workroom, where I can meet with and collaborate with the artisan who will fabricate my design, review pattern placement, discuss the best way to fabricate something if it’s a new approach, and ensure the best results.
In order as a small business to offer better value to my clients, I am a member of America’s Window Covering Buying Network, and the Window Coverings Association of America, both of which offer member discounts and professional education. There is always more to learn.
I am the sales force, the designer, the marketing team, and the project manager, for all of my client projects. At one point I considered expanding my team to bring in some other designers, but on interviewing my clients, the message I received from them was – no one is going to want to work with them -they all are going to want you to design their window treatments. So it’s both a strength and a challenge that every one of my projects goes through me. It sometimes means I take longer to get a quote back to a client, but once the client gives the green light to their project, I am the one overseeing all aspects to make sure that what we decided upon becomes the result. My being self-employed means that my employer will let me work long hours if needed for a project, but it also means I can take time off to attend a grandchild’s award ceremony or birthday party.
Most of my customers love color, and love art. I work in every style, as it’s all art to me. I grew up with art in the home – paintings by a great-great-grandmother, photographs my mother took and won awards for, and art we purchased in places we lived. I attended the Holton-Arms School in Bethesda, MD, back when they had a boarding department. The History of Art class there was a college level course almost every senior took, and I use what I learned in that class every week.
Having been an English major in college, I may be the wordiest designer out there, but as a wordsmith by training, I can describe what I see to the client who cannot envision it. And I can give complete answers to my more analytical clients, who need details before they make decisions. I understand that the traditional client is nourished by the complexity of a space; that those who are more transitional in taste prefer an edited space with the right balance of detail and simplicity of line and for; and that the client who loves modern design sees a room sculpturally and wants to see and enjoy the light and shadow play within the space, and the effect of form within that space. Communication is key to discerning what a client really wants, and how to deliver it. I work collaboratively with my clients. If someone just wants to delegate all the choices, and have their designer do whatever they think best in the home – I’m not the designer for them. I can help them make educated choices, if needed, but we need to work together on those choices.
Making selections in their home, with the natural lighting of their home, and the items they already own and want to keep, this is the best place to make decisions. While choices they already have made tell me a lot about what they might prefer, I also have a process to help a client work through choices, from “speed dating” with colors or fabrics, to narrowing the field down to finalists and finding the best choice for them. I give my clients time at their initial consultation, so I can get to know them, before we talk about choices. And then I need them to give me the grace of enough time for my team to work, to deliver the results we all expect.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
Digital printing of fabrics and wallcovering is offering new choices for clients, and more personalization and uniquely custom choices. I have vendors who have patterns which I can custom color, and they are also capable of taking a design I send them, working it into a fabric repeat, and printing it for me. AI is also offering designers a creative tool to generate a unique design to print on fabric. Social media offers an ever expanding resource of idea candy for homeowners, and the opportunity for clients to research the portfolios of interior designers. For some this is inspiring, and for others overwhelming. The designer can help take the overwhelm out of the choices, and zero in on the best choices, but I believe the designer needs to be focused on the client’s preferences, not the designer’s “signature look”. Another change is the ongoing increase in automation of custom window treatments. Cord locks, and loose cords are now outlawed in this country. Window Covering Safety is paramount. Manual cordless shades function better than ever, but there are many windows where manual operation is too difficult: the window above the sink, the window behind a soaking tub, the window high above a front door, the second story windows in a Great Room, all need automated solutions. Fortunately, with the new regulations came reasons for manufacturers to put more time and resources into developing new solutions. The cost of automated window coverings is coming down, while the range of choices is increasing. It requires ongoing self education for those of us in the field, to stay on top of the choices, while offering great value to clients. For those comfortable with technology, there are great choices to simplify the operation of your window coverings with scenes programmed by time of day, time of year, and favorite settings. Window covering automation can work with consumer friendly devices such as Alexa, Siri, Google Home, and Apple HomeKit, as well as with the more extensive Control Four and other Home Integration systems. For older clients less comfortable and less trusting of remotes and phones and automation, we have wall switches and simpler cost effective options in automation.
In paint color, new technologies are resulting in paints for colder temperatures, so exterior painting can be done even more months of the year. While Benjamin Moore still has more colors than the other companies, Sherwin Williams recently came out with new Designer colors which have been popular.
Unfortunately, with more shopping online, and more resources available, consumers are working less often with professionals who can advise them on the best textiles for a particular application, or the best design for a particular textile. People are learning the hard way that colors seen on a computer monitor, color carried by light, is very different from color as seen in paint or in fabric. Sometimes it’s close, and sometimes it is very different. I have clients showing me images found on certain websites, unaware that those websites often are offering fabrics which are closeouts with limited availability. When I order fabrics, I can hold a vendor accountable when there is an unacceptable amount of flaws (vendors do ask for cut lengths so they can work around some flaws in the amount of fabric they send us), but if a client has purchased the fabric on their own, it might be the wrong amount of yardage, and they might not notice a problem with flaws.
And with more DIY, and less professional input, clients are still trying paint colors out in side-by-side patches of color, on a wall of the color which is going away, unaware that that way to try colors is distorting their view of the colors, making it more difficult to select the right color. This is why I try to educate my clients about the best ways to “try” a color, as well as helping them make selections.
Another challenge in the specific specialty of custom window treatment design is that fewer designers and artisans are coming into this specialty, and fewer installers are coming in to learn the skills. Both designers and installers are “aging out”. No one teaches custom window treatment design in design schools. We learn the hard way, or ideally learn from someone who learned the hard way. Those of us in this field stand on the shoulders of those who came before, and I certainly feel an obligation to do what I can to share what I know. But we do need more people to look into this specialty as an option for a career path. The need is acute and the opportunity is great.
Pricing:
- An initial Masterworks design consultation is $250, applicable at least 50% or in full to an order.
- Paint color consultations are priced by the number of rooms. The first three spaces are $250, and then the rates go down.
- I allow three hours for an initial design consultation. If I need to return with additional fabrics or samples, there is no charge for the second appointment.
- Larger projects are priced on a flat fee basis, plus a project management fee for purchases which I would make rather than purchases the clients make.
- Because what I do is different for each client, I need to work with a client to make selections, and get back to each client with a custom quote.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.masterworksdesign.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/masterworks.design/
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/masterworksdesign
- Other: https://www.houzz.com/pro/lindabassert/masterworks-window-fashions-design-llc
