As the much-anticipated KRATE container park at The Grove in Wesley Chapel is finally opening, people are flocking there to try all kinds of food and check out little shops. As they wander through the rows of converted containers, they also can pop into Budget Blinds for inspiration on how they might transform their home with blinds, shades, shutters and drapes.
Wesley Chapel residents Adriane and Mike Wonderlin own one of the top Budget Blinds franchises in the country, serving a territory that stretches all the way north to San Antonio and south to Palmetto and includes showrooms on W. Fletcher Ave. (near I-275, two exits south of Wesley Chapel’s S.R. 56 exit) and in Riverview, covering nearly 90 zip codes.
The Wonderlins employ a team of nearly 40 people, including design associates who come to your home with what Adriane describes as “a ton of samples” to help determine the best look and functionality for window coverings in your home.
But, for anyone who isn’t quite ready to have a design consultant come to their homes, a quick visit to Budget Blinds at KRATE will allow you to see the many possibilities.
Adriane describes it as almost like a kiosk, where visitors can see videos of the products in motion on the TVs, ask questions about how something functions or how it would look, and learn about the different types of window treatments.
There is a variety of styles from which to choose. Blinds come in vinyl, wood, fabric, faux wood and aluminum. Shutters are made from real wood or composite material that will not fade or warp.
In June, Budget Blinds is offering a special that gives anyone purchasing plantation shutters a free upgrade to an “invisible tilt” option, which eliminates the rod that typically runs down the middle of the shutters. The invisible tilt allows for an unobstructed view and is typically an expensive upgrade, but is being offered completely free for the month of June.
If you prefer shades, you can choose from roller, pleated, Roman, cellular, woven wood, bamboo, sheer, solar or graphic, plus a variety of panels, valances and drapes.
All of these options can be explored at the Wesley Chapel KRATE location, where Adriane says she and Mike are excited to support the growing Wesley Chapel community.
“It’s almost like its own downtown area for Wesley Chapel,” she says. “You can bring your kids and your dog and come to a friendly area where people are gathered together. A couple of years ago there was nothing like that here.”
Adriane says Budget Blinds signed its lease for a spot in the KRATE container park in December 2019, hoping to open by the summer of 2020. After a number of delays – including, of course, the Covid pandemic – the park is finally coming to life and with more than 70 percent of the converted shipping containers ready to go, the Grove has scheduled an official Grand Opening for June 4 (see pg. 12).
“A lot of these local small businesses have been around for a long time, but you only see them in passing as a food truck, for example,” Adriane says. “They haven’t had the opportunity to be open year ‘round, until now.”
She hopes that as others gather and enjoy the area – even if they’re not shopping for window treatments – they may stop in and be inspired.
“There’s always a new trend,” she says. “You can always come in and see it because we’ll be switching up the displays.”
The trends right now, Adriane says, are motorization and draperies.
“The functionality of the shutter is great and the look is classic,” she says, “but now we’re adding a soft piece of fabric, too. In the 80s and 90s, draperies were everywhere, but in the 2000s, no one did drapes because it looked like your mother’s house. But now, it’s back.”
She says that motorization continues to improve, with motors that are nearly completely silent and a trend that continues to make these “smart home” features more affordable.
For high places you can’t reach, motorization is ideal. It’s also great for businesses to set times to automatically open as the business opens, or to automate window shades to help kids or teenagers wake up in the morning.
With these options, you can use the traditional wand in the window, or you can use a smartphone, remote, wall switch or even voice command to open or close your window coverings.
While Adriane says you can get ideas from the showrooms or the container at KRATE, the best way to determine the ideal products for your unique home is for the design consultant to spend time there with you.
Kristine Dugas, who lives in Land O’Lakes, says she has used Budget Blinds twice and they have now covered almost every window in her house. She says she highly recommends the company.
“Budget Blinds was by far the best value and had the best selection,” says Kristine. “They have tons of selections to choose from, and the design process was fun and easy.”
She says the designer who came to her home was on time, professional and helpful, and so were the installers, who left everything clean and tidy when they finished the job.
“My experience with the office, customer service and communication with Budget Blinds was top notch,” Dugas says. “If I had any questions, they got back to me right away, the ease of scheduling my appointments to work around my busy schedule was wonderful.”
Budget Blinds was founded in 1992 in Orange County, CA, and has more than 1,000 franchises in the U.S. and Canada. The Wonderlins’ franchise, which they purchased in 2018, was awarded Budget Blinds’ national Franchise of the Year for 2020, the franchise’s third such honor since 2016.
To schedule a complimentary in-home consultation or learn more about the June promotion of a free upgrade to invisible tilt on plantation shutters, call (813) 968-5050. For now, the KRATE location is only open on the weekends. Call (813) 340-3360 to check when it’s open. For more information, follow @BudgetBlindsofGreaterTampa on Facebook or Instagram or visit BudgetBlinds.com/NorthTampa.
