Drapery, Textiles & Furnishings
Soft architecture and layered comfort, from full-height drapery and window treatments to bespoke furnishings that finish a home.
At Martire Custom Homes, drapery, textiles and furnishings are treated as architecture in their softest form. Led personally by Courtenay Martire, this is the layer that warms a room, quiets a window wall, and settles the eye after the structure is built. We design drapery, window treatments, upholstery and larger residential furnishings as one considered language, drawn from the homeowner's story and woven through the home so that comfort and refinement arrive together rather than in pieces.
Soft architecture, planned before the walls
Drapery is not an accessory hung once a room is finished. It is architecture in cloth, and its proportions are decided long before the rod goes up. Because Martire is most often engaged in the pre-architect and pre-construction phase, we plan for it early, framing returns and pockets, blocking for hardware, considering ceiling heights and the fall of light so that a panel can break cleanly at the floor and a window wall can be dressed without compromise.
The difference is felt rather than noticed. Drapery that reads as part of the building, headings that sit true, stack-backs that clear the glass, and treatments that soften acoustics and light in equal measure. Nothing looks added, because nothing was.
Textiles chosen by hand, layer upon layer
A Martire room is layered patiently. We weigh weight against drape, the matte against the lustrous, the linen sheer against the heavier wool, until a window and the seating beneath it belong to one another. Drawing on more than two decades styling couture and editorial work across New York, Miami, Los Angeles and London, Courtenay carries a fashion designer's eye for cloth into every selection, reading texture, hand and the way a fabric moves in the light of a particular room.
Through long-standing artisan partnerships, we commission custom drapery, upholstery, cushions, bed dressing and the soft furnishings that carry a scheme through. Each is selected for how it sits with the next, with the palette, and with the architecture that holds it.
Furnishings that complete the portrait
Beyond the window, we direct the larger furnishings that give a room its weight and its ease, sofas, beds, occasional pieces and the bespoke commissions that anchor a space. These are planned alongside the drapery and the broader interior, never bought in isolation, so that scale, comfort and line resolve as one composition.
We source, commission, place and dress every piece ourselves, then style the final layer by hand. The home is delivered settled and complete, with the homeowner unmistakably at its centre.
A complete, considered scope.
Engaged as your design lead, Martire carries the work across disciplines so nothing falls between trades.
- Drapery design and full-height window treatments
- Custom curtains, sheers, shades and blinds
- Hardware, headings and motorised systems
- Upholstery, cushions and soft furnishings
- Bed dressing, linens and throws
- Larger residential furnishings and bespoke pieces
- Textile, weave and trim selection
- Final placement, styling and dressing
Good to know.
Can you design drapery and furnishings on their own?
Yes, though this layer is at its most resolved when woven into a larger interior or renovation. We regularly take on drapery, window treatments and furnishings for homes already underway or recently completed, particularly for clients we have worked with before. For new projects, we are happiest brought in early, so the soft architecture can be planned alongside the building rather than fitted around it.
Why does it matter to involve you before construction?
Because the best drapery decisions are structural ones. Engaging us in the pre-construction phase lets us plan window returns, drapery pockets, hardware blocking and ceiling heights before they are built, details that decoration alone can never recover later. It is the difference between treatments that read as part of the home and treatments that sit on top of it.
Do you handle window treatments throughout the whole home?
We do. From a single dramatic window wall to drapery, shades and soft furnishings across every room, we design the treatments as one continuous language so the home reads as a whole. We coordinate measurement, workroom fabrication, hardware and installation, and dress each room ourselves once it is hung.
Which areas do you serve for drapery, textiles and furnishings?
We work across Chicago and the affluent suburbs, including Hinsdale, Winnetka, Lake Forest, Oak Brook and the wider North Shore, as well as lakefront homes in Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana. Select projects are taken on nationwide for the right engagement.
If your rooms are ready for the softer, layered hand that makes a house feel finished, we would love to hear about your home.