Linda’s Draperies not just windows anymore

Wendi Holliday Horrell is living her lifelong dream of running her own interior decorating business. For seven years, Horrell has been at the helm of Linda’s Drapery & Interiors, building the business into a full-service decorating firm. 
Located at 1021 Airline Road, the company now concentrates more on the interiors side of the business, offering a full line of commercial and residential decorating services, including flooring, furniture upholstery, custom furniture, seasonal decorating and home staging. 
“Oh, we are not just windows anymore,” Horrell proudly said with a smile. “While we do love working with people to find the best window treatment solutions, we absolutely mean it when we say that we can help our clients with any of their decorating needs from floor to ceiling.” 
Horrell started with the company in 2003 as an employee. She was head decorator, but at that time, the firm’s primary focus was window coverings. 
“Even when I was an employee, I stressed that I wanted us to be known for our full range of decorating services,” she said.  
In 2008, the opportunity arose for Horrell to take over as owner and put her vision for the firm into place. Design specialist Deborah Strauss came on board almost five years ago. Today, the two decorators, who both earned their bachelor degrees in interior design from Southwest Texas State University (now Texas State University), feel privileged to work in the field they love.
The enjoyment these energetic decorators get from working with their clients is evident when they talk about their design services. 
“Professional decorating is more than picking out colors and patterns,” Horrell shared. “We help people achieve a beautiful home or space that functions well and is right for their lifestyle. The right home design or workspace can really improve a person’s quality of life.”
Before people start spending money on paint, fabric, flooring and the like, Horrell and Strauss walk their clients through a thoughtful process of evaluating their lifestyles, design tastes and spaces. 
“When a person is choosing a fabric for upholstery,” Horrell offered as an example, “we will help choose the right fabric for pet owners or people with children or allergy sufferers.” 
Their showroom easily boasts 10,000 fabric samples as well as flooring samples, home decor items and window treatment examples. The showroom also features pieces from the new custom furniture lines the company offers. The furniture lines are handcrafted in the United States. Clients choose the fabric, wood type and varnish style — even the size of the pieces — which can be adjusted (within reasonable parameters) to accommodate a person’s needs.
The firm’s clientele is as varied as the services it provides. In addition to their residential work, Horrell and Strauss have a large commercial customer base. They provide services for schools, hospitals, theaters, hotels and even tugboats!
Horrell and Strauss grew up in Corpus Christi. Their families were also small business owners in the area. 
“Now, it is great for us to also be plugged into the South Texas community at large as well as the design community,” Horrell said. “The design community here in Corpus is very supportive to one another. We help each other out with resources, and we are all very comfortable with client referrals when a customer is looking for a specific type of niche work.”
Horrell is a proponent of the old adage, “If you have a passion for what you do, you will never work a day in your life.” 
“Both Deborah and I have a real passion for our decorating and design work,” she said. “So to be able to do this for a living, we feel very fortunate to be in this position.”
Contact Linda’s Drapery at 361-991-4008 for more information. 

FAST FACT: WHAT’S IN A NAME?
One question new customers typically ask is, “Who is Linda?” Linda’s Drapery & Interiors was actually founded in the early 1980s by Linda Morris. The company has subsequently had three more owners.
“I joke with my clients that I am the fourth Linda,” Horrell acknowledged. “I’ve had many discussions about whether or not to change the name of the company, but with such a long-established name in the community, changing it would not be good for business.”