Hosting the Holidays on the Westside? Which Windows Should You Order First?

If you want new window treatments in place before family arrives, order the hardest openings first: the tall ocean-facing view wall, anything motorized, and any arched, angled, or oversized opening. Those carry the longest and least predictable production time, and the ordinary bedroom and bath windows can be decided later without putting the whole job at risk.

Why the view wall is the long pole in a Malibu or Palisades house

Most of the holiday-deadline calls we take at 310 Shutters & Shades are about one room. It is the room where everyone will actually sit — the great room in a Point Dume rebuild, the ocean-facing living room in Malibu Colony, the second-story wall above The Strand in Manhattan Beach, the canyon-view glass in Santa Monica Canyon or Topanga. It is also, almost always, the most complicated set of openings in the house.

Complicated in specific ways:

• Size. A single roller or solar shade over a twelve- or sixteen-foot span is not the same product as a bedroom shade. Wider fabric, heavier tubes, sometimes a coupled or linked assembly so two shades run as one. Fewer of those get built on a given day at any factory.
• Motorization. Tall glass above a stair or behind a sofa has to be motorized, and motors introduce their own supply chain — motor, charger or transformer, remote, hub. Any one of those being on backorder holds the shade.
• Shape. Angled tops on hillside lots in Brentwood Park or Bel Air, arches, trapezoids, and curved header walls all mean template work rather than a straight width-and-height order.
• Coastal hardware. Within a few blocks of the water in Malibu, Venice, Marina del Rey, or Redondo Beach, the honest specification is corrosion-resistant components and finishes that will not pit. That is a spec decision, not a stock item off a shelf.
• Review outside the house. Some Palos Verdes Estates and Trousdale Estates properties sit under HOA or architectural rules about what the street or the neighbors see. If exterior appearance is governed, that approval happens on someone else's calendar, not yours.

Meanwhile, the four guest-room windows and the two baths are the simplest thing in the catalog. If you are trying to get something done before people arrive, sequence accordingly.

The five stages, and which ones you actually control

Every custom window treatment order moves through the same stages, whoever you buy from.

1. Consultation and measure. Someone comes to the home, measures every window, brings real samples, and you get a firm quote. This is also where you get the current lead time for the products you are considering — not a generic number off a website, but what the factories are quoting that week for shutters versus rollers versus drapery. You control how fast this happens by booking it.

2. Choosing product and fabric. This is the stage that eats the most calendar, and it is entirely yours. Deciding between a solar screen at one openness factor versus another, or between shutters and a layered shade on the view wall, can take an afternoon or it can take three weeks of living with swatches taped to the glass. Both are fine. Only one of them fits a holiday deadline.

3. Final approval and order. Sizes, control sides, mount type, stack position, motor and remote assignments, and the exact fabric and color get locked and sent. Nothing moves until this is signed. A single undecided room can hold an entire order if you are ordering as one job — which is exactly why splitting the job matters (more on that below).

4. Manufacturing. Out of everyone's hands. Each product family is built on its own line with its own schedule, and those schedules are not equal. Shutters, drapery, woven woods, and motorized shades do not come off the same clock, and the same product quoted in spring and in fall can carry different timing.

5. Installation. Install is included in our quoted prices. The variables here are access and scheduling — gate codes and guard-gate lists in Malibu, street parking and permit rules near The Strand, and getting lift or ladder access to a two-story great room without moving your furniture twice.

Two of those five stages are yours. They are also, in our experience, the two that most often blow a deadline.

What quietly adds time that nobody warns you about

A few things reliably surprise people:

• Power for motors. Battery-powered shades are simple. Hardwired shades are not — they need a power source at the header, which on an existing wall means an electrician and a patch, scheduled around everything else. Decide this early, because it changes who else has to show up.
• Drapery is two orders, not one. Hardware and panels are often fabricated separately, and drapery fabric can be cut-to-order from a mill. It is the least forgiving product family for a tight timeline.
• Construction that is not done. On rebuilds and remodels — common right now across Malibu and the Palisades — we cannot measure for a finished product until the window casing, flooring height, and any built-ins are final. Measuring early to "save time" is how you get a remake.
• Remakes. A miscut or a wrong control side goes back to the factory and starts its own production cycle. This is the single best argument for a careful measure rather than a fast one, and it is why we measure every opening ourselves rather than working from a homeowner's tape measure on a deadline job.
• You change your mind after seeing it up. It happens, mostly with fabric openness on view walls. If you are on a deadline, ask to see the actual fabric on the actual glass at the appointment — held up, at the time of day the room bothers you — rather than deciding from a small swatch in the kitchen. Our write-up on west-facing ocean-view rooms covers how those choices behave.

Ask for the current lead time, and take it literally

Lead time is not a fixed property of a product. It moves with the factory's order book, and the fall is when the whole industry's order book fills, because everyone in Southern California has the same idea about hosting in a finished house. It also varies enormously by product family. That is why we give the current lead time at the consultation, for the specific products you are actually considering, rather than publishing a number that would be wrong by the time you read it.

What we will not do is promise a date by which your shades will be hanging. Anyone who does that before your order is in production is guessing, and you should read the fine print on the paperwork rather than the enthusiasm in the conversation. If a competitor has already given you a date in writing, that is one of the things worth checking — you can upload the quote to our free Quote Check tool and we will tell you what the terms actually commit them to.

The practical sequence if you want this done

• Book the measure now, not after you have decided. You do not need to know what you want. The appointment is where you find out what the options cost and what they take.
• Decide the hardest room first. The view wall, the motorized glass, the arch. Get that specified and ordered while you are still thinking about the guest bath.
• Split the order if timing is tight. Long-lead openings go now as their own order; the simple rooms follow as a second. You will pay a second install visit's worth of coordination, but you will not have twenty windows waiting on one undecided fabric.
• Settle motor power at the appointment. Battery or hardwired, and if hardwired, who is doing the electrical.
• Ask two questions and write down the answers. What is the current lead time for this specific product, and what happens to the schedule if something has to be remade?

When you are ready, book an in-home consultation. Someone comes to the home, measures every window, brings real samples you can hold against your own glass, and you get a firm quote with installation included. The in-home consultation is free. If you would rather not wait for an appointment, you can also send sizes and photos for a remote quote.

Frequently asked questions

How long do custom shutters or shades take to make?

It depends on the product family and the season, and it moves with the factory's order book — shutters, drapery, woven woods and motorized shades all run on different schedules. We give you the current lead time for the specific products you are considering at the in-home consultation, rather than quoting a number that would be out of date by the time you read it.

Which windows should I decide on first if I am on a deadline?

The hardest ones. Tall ocean-facing view walls, anything motorized, arched or angled tops, oversized spans, and any opening that needs corrosion-resistant coastal hardware. Simple bedroom and bath windows are the fastest and most forgiving, so they can be decided later or ordered separately.

Can I order part of the house now and the rest later?

Yes, and on a tight timeline it is often the smarter move. Long-lead openings go as their own order while you keep thinking about the simpler rooms. The tradeoff is a second install visit to coordinate rather than one.

Will you guarantee my shades are installed before Thanksgiving?

No, and we would be careful with anyone who does before an order is in production. We will tell you the current lead time, flag anything in your job that tends to add time, and be straight about whether the schedule is realistic for what you want.

What happens at the first visit?

Someone comes to the home, measures every window, brings real samples you can hold against your own glass, and leaves you with a firm quote that includes installation. The in-home consultation is free. You can also send sizes and photos for a remote quote instead.