Overview

In this blog, DSM Enterprises Inc. explains how a custom awning's proportions, fabric, placement, valances, frames, and fabrication details can work with a building's existing architecture. These choices can help create an awning that looks intentional from across the street and up close.

Highlights

Introduction

No two storefronts have exactly the same proportions, window arrangement, entrance placement, or architectural details. A standard awning can add coverage, but it isn't made around those individual features. A custom awning gives you control over its dimensions, projection, shape, fabric, and finishing details so the covering can respond to the storefront rather than simply occupy the space above it.

That flexibility matters when the goal is to add character. A custom awning can follow the rhythm of your windows, emphasize the entrance, complement brick or trim, and introduce color or pattern without obscuring the features that already distinguish the building. Understanding how proportions, fabric, placement, finishing details, and fabrication affect the finished awning can help you determine how each should be tailored to your storefront.

How Can a Custom Awning Complement Your Storefront's Design?

Custom commercial awnings can complement a storefront by working with its existing architectural features rather than covering or competing with them. For example, separate awnings can align with individual windows or entrances divided by columns, while a single continuous awning can complement a wide, uninterrupted glass storefront.

If your storefront has several windows or entrances, multiple awnings can create a cohesive look even when the openings differ in size. The awnings can be sized to fit each opening while being mounted at the same height across the facade. This consistent alignment visually connects them and gives the storefront an orderly appearance without requiring every awning to have identical dimensions.

The awning's shape should also respond to the architecture around it. A rounded profile can echo an arched opening, and a straight, sloping form can extend the angular lines of a contemporary facade. On an older building, fitting the covering within the surrounding trim leaves the original craftsmanship visible.

How Does Projection Affect an Awning's Proportions?

Awning projection describes how far the covering extends from the wall and influences how substantial its side profile appears. A deeper projection gives a narrow storefront a more prominent covering, while a shallow awning keeps the emphasis on the facade behind it.

Projection can also affect how balanced the awning looks in relation to its width. A wide awning with very little projection can appear relatively flat against the building, while greater projection gives the covering more visual depth. Choosing dimensions that suit the storefront helps the awning look like part of the facade rather than an addition that overwhelms it.

How Should You Choose Fabric for a Storefront Awning?

Compare fabric samples directly with your storefront's permanent finishes. A gray that looks neutral in a sample book, for example, can appear noticeably blue beside warm brick. View samples in both sunlight and shade, and consider whether the awning should create contrast or pick up a color already present in the building. Performance matters, too. Sun and rain exposure, the type of awning, and the desired finish can all influence which material makes sense.

Depending on availability and compatibility with your awning system, fabric options can include:

  • Solution-dyed acrylic: For a storefront exposed to strong afternoon sunlight, awning-grade acrylic suits a design built around a distinctive color that needs to resist fading.
  • Coated acrylic: Where additional water resistance is desirable, an underside coating adds protection while retaining the woven fabric face.
  • Waterproof-backed acrylic: For a fixed canopy designed to provide rain shelter, this construction combines an acrylic exterior with a waterproof backing.
  • Coated polyester: For a contemporary storefront, certain architectural grades offer a smooth or satin finish that complements the building's flat surfaces.
  • Microperforated awning mesh: Where filtered shade and airflow are more important than rain protection, the small openings in this material allow air to pass through while reducing direct sun.

Should You Choose Stripes or Solid Colors?

Stripes can add pattern and movement to storefronts with relatively simple facades. Wider stripes remain more distinct from across the street, while narrower stripes create a finer, busier effect. Stripes can also reinforce repeated architectural elements, such as evenly spaced windows or columns.

Solid colors create a cleaner visual field and place more emphasis on the awning's shape. They can work especially well with patterned brickwork, decorative trim, or other detailed surfaces where stripes might compete for attention. A contrasting solid can make the awning stand out, while a color drawn from the building's existing finishes can create a more integrated appearance.

For striped fabrics, view a full fabric repeat rather than a small swatch so you can see how the pattern will read across the finished awning.

How Should an Awning Frame Your Storefront's Entrance?

An entrance awning should direct attention to the doorway, especially when the door sits at one end of an asymmetrical storefront. Centering the covering over the entire facade could emphasize the middle window instead of the entrance.

The awning can also distinguish the doorway through its proportions or projection. A deeper covering over the entrance, for example, can give the doorway greater visual prominence than neighboring windows. Where several awnings appear across the same storefront, the entrance awning can be sized or shaped differently enough to establish a clear focal point without looking disconnected from the overall design.

What Should Awning Placement Leave Unobstructed?

Awning placement should keep your signage, window displays, and entrance clearly visible and accessible. Your business sign should remain readable from the sidewalk and across the street. A low awning edge can obscure lettering from certain angles, even when there appears to be enough separation from straight ahead.

Window displays also need clear sightlines for customers approaching from either direction. If the awning's side profile blocks part of the display, a shallower or open-sided design can preserve visibility. Lastly, keep in mind that outward-opening doors need enough clearance to open fully without catching on the frame or hanging fabric.

How Do an Awning's Edges and Frame Complete Its Design?

An awning's valance is the strip of fabric that hangs vertically from the front edge of the main covering. Because it faces outward rather than following the canopy's slope, it can be one of the awning's most visible features from the street.

A straight valance continues a horizontal line across the storefront, giving the lower edge a crisp outline. A scalloped valance introduces repeating curves, with larger, widely spaced scallops producing a bolder edge than small, closely spaced curves.

Choose the valence depth based on how much visual weight the front of the awning should carry. A narrow band suits a design that emphasizes the sloping canopy, while a deeper band creates a more prominent fabric face. On a storefront with little space above the windows, keeping the valance shallower can prevent that face from dominating the facade.

How Does the Frame Affect Views From Below?

Customers standing beneath an awning can see its frame and brackets at close range, so these structural components also contribute to the storefront's appearance. This is especially noticeable in front of large windows, where exposed supports can become prominent against the glass.

Frame and bracket finishes can coordinate with nearby window frames, door hardware, or other exterior metalwork. Treating these visible components as part of the overall design helps the awning look cohesive from both across the street and directly below.

How Is a Custom Awning Made To Match Your Storefront?

A custom awning is fabricated from site measurements that establish both the frame's outline and where it can attach to the building. Suitable structural support must be identified before fabrication, as decorative trim or exterior cladding isn't always strong enough to carry the load.

The fabric cover is cut and assembled to fit the frame's full shape, including side sections where the design uses them. During fitting, the fabric is tensioned to follow those contours without loose areas that distort the finished outline.

What Should Be Confirmed Before the Awning Is Made?

Confirm the final dimensions and exact material selections before fabrication begins, so the fabricator and installer are working from the same specification.

The approved details should identify:

  • Overall width and projection
  • Mounting height and attachment locations
  • Frame profile and exposed finish
  • Fabric manufacturer, pattern name, and product number
  • Stripe direction and panel seam layout
  • Valance shape and finished depth
  • The current version of the approved drawing

For patterned covers, the layout should show how stripes continue where fabric panels meet. The product number identifies the fabric pattern, but not exactly where each stripe will fall on the finished covering. Reviewing their placement before cutting lets you request adjustments without replacing fabric panels that have already been cut.

Give Your Storefront Character With a Custom Awning

A custom awning can do more than add coverage to a storefront. By tailoring its proportions, placement, fabric, and finishing details to the building, you can create an awning that complements existing architectural features while adding color, shape, and visual interest of its own.

DSM Enterprises Inc. fabricates and installs custom commercial awnings designed around the dimensions and features of each storefront. Whether you want to emphasize an entrance, complement existing finishes, or give your facade a more distinctive look, call (732) 380-9779 to discuss a custom awning for your business.