Why Custom Drapery Can Make or Break a Room | Leslie Excell Reveals the Secrets of Luxury Window Treatments

The iDesign Lab Podcast | Where Design, Business, and Culture Shape How We Live and Build

In this episode of The iDesign Lab Podcast, host Tiffany Woolley sits down with Leslie Excell, founder of Excel and Design Group, to explore

Key takeaways

• Custom drapery is more than aesthetics—it impacts acoustics, light control, privacy, and overall room cohesion.
• Success in custom drapery requires deep collaboration between designers and fabricators as true design partners.

Main topics

• The role of custom drapery in luxury interior design
• Behind-the-scenes craftsmanship and fabrication techniques

Notable quotes

"Drapery isn't just fabric on a rod. It's acoustics, light control, privacy, proportion, and that instant shift from 'nice room' to 'finished home.'"

Conclusion

Leslie Excell's story illustrates how passion, mentorship, and craftsmanship can

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:00) This is iDesign Lab, a podcast where creativity and curiosity meet style and design. Curator of interiors, furnishings, and lifestyles. Hosted by Tiffany Woolley, an interior designer and a style enthusiast, along with her serial entrepreneur husband, Scott. iDesign Lab is your ultimate design podcast, where we explore the rich and vibrant world of design and its constant evolution in style and trends. Speaker 1 (0:31) Welcome to the iDesignLab podcast. Today we are joined in studio by Leslie Excel. Leslie is someone who proves that great design is about so much more than what you see. It's about craftsmanship, relationships, and passion. Leslie Excel started her career in a drapery workroom and built that experience into Excel and Design Group, a nationally recognized custom workroom celebrating a big year, 20 years of excellence. She's a designer, an entrepreneur, a mentor, a leader. And today we're going to go behind the scenes to hear the story of how she built it all. Welcome, Leslie. Hi, Tiffany. Thank you so much. That was beautiful. Thank you. Such a long overdue to have you on the podcast today. It sure is. And I'm so happy to be here. I know. So we go back. Speaker 1 (1:25) At least 20 years. More than 20 years. So more than 20 years. So let's start at the beginning, how you jumped into the design business. So again, thank you, Tiffany and Scott, for having me here today. So the start of my career was me literally working next door to a drapery workroom. I used to work next door to Valerie, who owned a drapery workroom. And I used to think to myself, oh, she's so cute. I wonder what she does. And I found out that she owned the business. And that was like my aha moment of, wow, women can own businesses, right? What were you doing next door? I was working at a company doing servicing of copy machines, typewriters, if I'm not dating myself back here. But yeah, and I ended up leaving. Speaker 1 (2:15) Because I wanted to pursue my degree at that time was veterinarian school. Oh, my gosh. Total 360. Total 360. And so I left. And Valerie asked the guy and said, what happened to the girl that used to work for you? And he said, oh, she doesn't work here. And she asked for my number, called me up and said, I need an assistant. Are you interested? And at that time, I had my son at 19 years old. Well, I was 19 when she called me. I was 18 when I had him. So I was super young. And she offered me more money. And I thought it. was such a great opportunity. So I went and I, you know, literally helped her grow that business for 10 years. I was working alongside her. Speaker 1 (2:55) Valerie Ross. Yes, it is. Valerie Ross. Dave Ross, my husband. He was a good friend. Yes, yes. I did a lot of work with him. They did the window treatments in our home. Yes, we did. I was working with her at that time when we did your window treatments, 100%. And so Valerie taught me everything. And I still am very dear friends with her today. I love her so much. We actually are overdue for meeting as well, getting together. But yeah, so I was her right hand. I would go to all the projects with her. completely shifted my major and changed it to interior design. I went to the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale. I did the residential design program. And then I switched it to my bachelor's program. And I did the bachelor's from there too. At what point did you realize that? Speaker 1 (3:39) That's the career you wanted to take on. You know, growing up, I was always, as a young girl, I always was very feminine and I always loved getting dressed up and, you know, playing. Putting things together. Yeah, putting things together, costumes, all kinds of things. But, you know, back then our parents would say, you need to be a doctor or a lawyer, you know, whatever. And I just didn't think I could pursue a career in fashion. And I didn't really know design when I was younger. Like we had verticals and cafe curtains in our home, you know. And so it was. Speaker 1 (4:08) It was not a world that I was exposed to. And so when I walked into Valerie's workroom and saw what draperies can do and what it could be, it just was a light bulb for me where it still fit because obviously fashion and design work well together hand in hand. So I thought, this is it. And so I completely changed my major and pursued that. And I worked with Valerie for almost 10 years before I left to pursue design. Like that was really my sole purpose. was SuperSue Design. I went to work, if you remember, the interiors group in Boca. And they would do a lot of model merchandising at that time. And so I went and worked there. And then my father. Speaker 1 (4:49) got sick and he was in the hospital and we would have to go and see him every day. And so, and I was in my thesis at the Art Institute. So I had to give up something. And at that time, their work room was not doing well where the guy was sick or something. So she said, why don't you help me with my window treatments? And so I said, I would love that. So I quit the interiors group, but yet we still formed a partnership. And that's kind of how Excel in Design was pretty much born because I saw the need and that I had the experience. Speaker 1 (5:18) And then I never went after Valerie's clients. I started really with Roz Schuster here in Boca. She was like my first big designer that put me on the map. And from there, it just spearheaded. And here we are 20 years later celebrating. How did it feel becoming your own boss and starting your own? Were you nervous? It's interesting because I never really saw it that way at first. And I remember. going through my old office when I was moving and looking like cleaning out papers and things like that. And I found an old college essay. And on the college essay, I had wrote that I wanted to be have my own business before I was 30. And I was 29 when I started my business. Unbelievable. So I am. I just got chills. I know I'm a huge believer of the mindset and journaling and really believing in yourself and not even knowing that you're. Speaker 1 (6:11) you know, carving that path for yourself. So, and I think it was when I met Valerie and had that aha moment that women can own businesses. My mother has been an entrepreneur my whole life too. She's an accountant. And she's always been independent, an immigrant from Ecuador. And she was the first woman in our family to go to college. So there was a lot of that background. You had women trailblazers in your life. I had women trailblazers, yes. So what was that first step in creating Excel in Design? I mean, I love that your last name was able to like kind of. Yes, for sure. No, my mom actually formed the corporation for me because she's an accountant. I didn't have anything to do with that. Don't ask me about finances. No, but I am getting better at that. A lot better. It kind of comes with it, right? Yes. Speaker 1 (7:00) But, you know, I just really just saw a need that people would ask me questions about window treatments. And I had been doing it for so long already. And I, you know, went to school for the interior design. So I started understanding the floor plans and, you know, and it just was natural for me, honestly. And I just loved it so much. And so then I just started. pursuing designers that I didn't know. And I would network. I'm a networking queen. I love to go and, you know, meet new people and collaborate and see what needs you may have and how we can, you know, work together. And so I worked from home for the first five years of my business. Speaker 1 (7:38) My son helped me a little bit at that time while he was in school. And then after that, I got my first bae and my seamstress came with me. And so we were now a real workroom because before, you know, she was literally working out of her garage, you know. And so then it just spearheaded from there. Before you know it, I needed to hire another, you know, seamstress. And now I have four. Dana was my first employee, who is my office manager, and she's been with me for 11 years. And we have a team of 12 now with some of our contractor installers and my employees, full staff. So it's been really a great, great run. I love it a lot. Speaker 1 (8:17) See, I've always known you, always thought of you as like a fantastic salesperson. I am. No, but I've always, I always think like, well, she's a really good salesperson. But on the other side, you're running a business and running a workroom. I mean, how involved are you in the workroom? Because for me, I think of you as just a person who's out there pounding the pavement and talking and making everyone happy and excited. Yeah. I mean, I think that. Because of, like I mentioned with the feminine side of me loving design and just growing to love it so much and just getting, it gives me a design creative outlet. And so I. Speaker 1 (8:56) I consider myself as a design partner where I understand what you're looking for in a job. And I think that's the difference. It's like really trying to hone in on what your aesthetic is for that particular project. And then what, you know, fabrics you're selecting to where I'm not afraid to say, hey, Tiffany, do you think maybe it might look better doing this, you know, or maybe we should add interlining so that it gives it a fuller look or, you know, things like that. And so that allows me the creative side. Speaker 1 (9:26) the workroom too. For example, yesterday we were doing a cornice for a nursery and it was like a scallop design on the bottom. And I'm working with the seamstress and I'm like, well, they gave us an inspiration photo, which probably was a four foot window when this is more like an eight foot window. So I said, no, let's adjust this measurement. So it allows me to be creative there, knowing what the designer's looking for before I even send that template off, like a photo of that template for her approval. Speaker 1 (9:55) ultimately they trust me. And I'd say majority of my clients come to me, they're loyal with me only because they know that I understand what they're looking for and how to execute it. Whether, and I don't need to bother them all the time about it. You know, it's like, I know what they're looking for. There's a trust. There is a trust. And I feel like so much about design, we talk about it often, is a collaborative experience between obviously the designer and the client. but also the designer and all of our vendors and our design partners, as you said. And I do believe that you bring such a collaborative experience. Thank you. There is a trust and a level of detail that you bring to the table. I think the level of detail is probably the number one thing. And I always try to instill that to my team. Speaker 1 (10:47) When it's like we have to think about your needs before you even know, you know, that you are going to want that type of thing and try to stay on top of the communication. And that's what an amazing design partner brings to the table. Because I always say often, all the time, clients are hiring a professional and then we're sourcing a group of professionals. Because collaboratively, you know, a great group of professionals brings a great end result. So I definitely know for sure. that you bring that. So you're designing, fabricating, making custom, beautiful window treatments, drapery for huge, wonderful, magnificent homes to average homes. Is there one thing that most people don't think about or understand in what you do that's... Speaker 1 (11:36) Probably the behind the scenes on what it takes to manufacture. You have the industrial sewing machines, needle breaks. You have to get the mechanic to come in. Or the fabrics. That's probably a big, huge thing is fabrics. It's nice to see a beautiful fabric, but if you're not really honing in on the content and the use that you're going to use it for, we can get a sheer... drapery and then the designer decides, oh, I think I need to black outline that. Well, maybe we should pick a contrast liner that's going to go in between that, but then it's changing the look, right? So it's really understanding and really calling me in also on the beginning of a project too, because you have paint, flooring, lighting, window treatments. You have the whole aspect of the project, right? You can't really physically remember every single thing. And that's the reason why you hire. Speaker 1 (12:33) a trade like myself to help you give you the best results for your client, right? And so that's the time and the opportunity that, um, You can discuss all of those things. And fabric is really probably one of them. Even the railroading, right? Like there's so many double width fabrics. So what do you mean railroading? So railroading. So you get double width fabrics. Like fabrics usually are 54, 60 wide, right? Then they have double widths because they want 102, 108, 118, 126 because they want seamless draperies, right? So what nobody here, not nobody, but a lot of people forget is that we have massive. Tall ceilings, right? Florida is exceptional in that. It sure is. So a 22-foot tall ceiling. Right. And the windows are 20 feet wide. Exactly. And so what you do is you take that wide good of 126 and instead of it running... Speaker 1 (13:26) Up and down, you turn it sideways and it runs horizontally across the whole width. So you don't have any seams across the whole glass area. However, my 126 is my max without having a horizontal seam on it. Right. And nobody, I mean, sometimes people are accepting where you might add a banding, you know, to the drapery or something for that. height difference. But those are the things that sometimes we forget about. And that's important because if you see something in a book, which by the way, any fabric mill companies that are listening to this, you guys should not show the fabrics in your books that show because they'll show a stripe and it looks like a vertical stripe, but it's a 126 wide. So most designers think, oh, like they're not thinking about the height of the ceiling, but it's shown railroaded and it shows it on the back of the ceiling. Speaker 1 (14:16) example, right? So that's something that the designer should take notice too. But it's get confusing for them, right? So if you see a stripe there and you're thinking, and that's how you're selling it to your customer, and then we get it. And then I'm reaching out to you and say, Hey, Tiffany, it's going to be a horizontal stripe. Are you okay with that? No, I don't want it like that. You know, so those are some of the things. So do you have a project that you would say is the craziest, most unusual design that Well, I just finished one, actually. I would think you probably haven't had a few. Yes, we have some really interesting ones. So one of them we just finished was a... Speaker 1 (14:55) bedroom in Miami for a home and the designer wanted the room to feel like a tented room. I love that. And, but there was these fun soffits around the perimeter of the room. So there's always something right. And so she wanted it. So instead of upholstering it, she wanted to have more of a gathered flowy look. So we made, um, rod pocket valances. So I, I took the height and the depth of the soffit. Speaker 1 (15:21) I