When Elliot Laniado opened a small home‑furnishings shop in East Brunswick in the early 1990s, he had no intention of becoming a window‑treatment authority. In fact, he’ll tell you the entire venture began “sort of by accident.”
At the time, Laniado had a growing family, a house under construction, and was running several retail stores in neighborhoods throughout New York City selling budget furniture and home goods. Still, he felt pulled toward something different, something a little more elevated.
So he opened a store in Loehmann’s Plaza on Route 18, hoping it would be his entry point into a higher‑end market. But the jump he made wasn’t quite high enough.
“From the low end that I was at, my high end wasn’t high enough,” he said. And so began a phase of improvisation that would eventually define his career.
When a 3,000‑square‑foot former Linens ’n Things location became available, Laniado took it, even as the chain was shifting toward massive 20,000‑square‑foot superstores. To make his much smaller space viable, he added the Hunter Douglas line, and unknowingly set the stage for what would become Window Treats Inc.
That was 1994. The company officially incorporated the next year. And nearly 30 years later, Window Treats Inc. is a trusted resource for homeowners and designers alike.
But the road to expertise wasn’t instant.
Learning a completely new product category required persistence, and a lot of late nights at the dining room table. Laniado threw himself into vendor trainings and eventually enrolled in a window‑treatment consulting course led by a Brigham Young University professor who quite literally wrote the book on the subject. After his day job, Laniado would study while his kids did their homework beside him, amused that “Daddy was doing homework” too.
He passed the course, earning his certification, and began expanding into what the industry calls hard treatments — shades, blinds, shutters — before eventually tackling the more complex category of soft treatments: drapery.
Laniado didn’t enter that part of the business willingly, he joked.
“I always tell people I went kicking and screaming into drapery,” Laniado said. “It’s much more detailed. Fabrics are endless. Styles are endless. And I want everything to function properly.”
But the work found him anyway. While outfitting a showroom in New York City with shades, the designer called and says the executive office wanted drapery. Laniado had never done drapery in his life. He shares yes anyway, hung up the phone, and immediately scrambled to learn how.
The project was a success, and it opened the door to an entire new side of business.
Today, Window Treats Inc.’s offerings are almost limitless: the full Hunter Douglas line, Hartmann & Forbes, motorized and automated systems, and custom solutions for everything from triangle windows to arched tops to tented ceilings.
“We can do anything,” explains Laniado.
What keeps him in the business, though, isn’t the technical challenge. It’s the people.
“I love meeting people and enhancing their lives,” he explained. “We transform spaces. We make people happy.” He often describes window treatments as “the jewelry of the window,” a detail that can completely shift a room’s tone, mood, or function.
That mindset is embedded in the company’s vision of making people happy where they live and work. And it’s supported by five core values: education, thoughtfulness, integrity, positivity, and excellence, all standards that Laniado says simply reflect how he already lives, both in business and in his role as a longtime first responder with Jersey Shore.
“Tell the truth and you never have to remember what you said,” he said, a principle he has passed on to his children and grandchildren.
The company has grown to a team of about 10, including employees who have been with Laniado for more than 20 years. He won’t single anyone out — “I’d feel like I’m leaving out the others,” he shares — but he credits the entire team for helping build the business.
And although Window Treats now advertises and maintains a strong presence on social media, Laniado built the foundation the old‑fashioned way: one project at a time.
“I focused on doing a good job for the people I had,” he said. “If you make them happy, they tell other people.”
Three decades later, that philosophy is still working.
Contact Window Treats Inc
80 Broad St. Ste 16, Red Bank
Phone: (732) 219-0303
Website: customdraperyandshades.com