The Blind Girls Bringing a decade-and-a-half of window cover

The Blind Girls
Bringing a decade-and-a-half of window covering expertise to Middle Tennessee

 

For the past 15-plus years, Carla Novaresi operated a thriving shades and blinds business in Roseville, California, a prominent part of the Sacramento metropolitan area. Last year her daughter—and then one of her sales girls—decided to move to Burns and Spring Hill, respectively, which inspired her to pick up and move to Middle Tennessee to “get the band back together,” if you will. 

“My daughter does the books and helps me with installations,” offers Novaresi, elaborating on the division of labor between the Blind Girls. 

To date, she says operating a window coverings business in Middle Tennessee is not unlike what she experienced in northern California, except that “people here are a lot friendlier,” she quips.

“But for the most part, people know what they are looking for, whether they want shutters, blinds, or roller shades,” adds Novaresi. 

So when the company gets a call from a potential customer, the Blind Girls gather basic information, then visit the client’s home or business with a variety of samples, so the customer can consider their options and see how they look and function. 

“After the client picks out what they want, we measure the windows and order the product. Then we come back and install it,” explains Novaresi. 

Typically the whole process takes just two or three weeks if the job involves shades or blinds, perhaps a month or longer if the client orders shutters, which require a bigger budget. These days, it can take longer for orders to be delivered, owing to the impact of the pandemic on the supply chain. 

“Our challenge right now is shipping and getting product. A lot of the manufacturers are running out of materials. But for the most part, it’s a timing thing. Sometimes we just have to wait a little longer,” explains Novaresi, who says most of the Blind Girls’ early clients have come from Spring Hill or elsewhere in Williamson County, though they do business throughout the Nashville metropolitan area.

And while they most commonly work on behalf of homeowners—either in new or existing homes—the Blind Girls also do jobs for small businesses, contractors, and schools, among other establishments.

According to Novaresi, it’s gratifying work, because the end result is always a difference-maker, both from a visual and functional perspective. 

“You walk into a house where they have plain, open windows, and the sun is beating in. Then when you leave, it looks nice, and it’s cooler because the blinds are blocking the sun,” she explains. “Once you hang the blinds or shades and close or lower them, it’s like instant gratification right there.”

As for the company’s quirky, memorable moniker, Novaresi says it’s not uncommon for clients to comment on it. 

“I have had several customers say they like it—that it’s a cute name,” she says. “I like it because I think it stands out.” 

To contact the Blind Girls, call 615-887-1823 or visit theblindgirls.com.