To make a long story short, I first started out with a home design center. They gave me a quote, and of course they tried to sell me upgrades. This was for my second home, and my wife usually handles these kinds of things, but she was at our home in Chicago at the time, so this was my first experience getting quotes. Even so, I thought it was a high price for curtains, so I decided to go to a local home improvement store to do some research, and they recommended Window-ology.

A girl that worked at the store told me that while they themselves sold a good product, they use Window-ology as a subcontractor, and she had heard great things about them. She could tell I was picky, so she recommended I go there.

I drove to Windo-ology and met Alan in the showroom that day. He was giving me an overview of the product, along with a couple other people who came in without appointments, just like me. He gave us all a quick rundown on the products, then I set up an individual appointment with Window-ology to have them come to my home.

Alan himself came out to do all the measuring. He gave me some ideas on the different options that I had, and though I wasn't 100 percent sure I was going to go with wood shutters at that stage, that's what I ended up doing. I felt comfortable with him. He answered all my questions and told me how well they could match the existing crown molding and window frames. It was great to know that they could fabricate wood shutters that would work with the sliding doors to my two upstairs balconies.

I felt comfortable with them, so I signed the contract. I was expecting to get my special order in following an 8 week lead time, but I think it was roughly 4 or 5 weeks instead. It definitely was not the 8 weeks that was quoted, and it definitely got here earlier than I anticipated.

The installers came out once the shutters arrived. I felt comfortable with the two installers, comfortable enough even to leave and leave them a key, and I never do that. They were clean, they vacuumed, and they cleaned up after themselves. They also explained the process of what they were doing, even though they didn't have to, but they wanted to make sure I knew, as a customer, what they were doing. They worked there all day, got it done, and I'm very, very happy.