Jimmy Sturo
Roman shades are a classic window treatment. They are simple, elegant, and can fit in any style of room. Roman shades are made from a single of fabric panel. A cord is thread through loops running along the length of the fabric at regular intervals. When the cord is pulled, the fabric raises in the groups of evenly spaced panels. Most Roman shades are made of fabric, but bamboo Roman shades fit in rooms with an earthy or Asian décor.
You can buy packaged, basic Roman shades from most home stores, but you can also make or buy customized Roman shades. Roman shades are one of the most simple homemade window treatment projects. It is a great project for beginning home decorators. You can find free instructions to make them on the Internet. When you make your own Roman shades, you select the fabric, the spacing, and the style of Roman shade. The needed supplies, other than the fabric, are very inexpensive. You can make Roman shades without a sewing machine, but it will take much longer. The price of the fabric depends on the quality you select, but fabric stores carry lots of inexpensive fabrics.
A learned parson, rusting in his cell at Oxford or Cambridge, will reason admirably well on the nature of man; will profoundly analyse the head, the heart, the reason, the will, the passions, the sentiments, and all those subdivisions of we know not what; and yet, unfortunately, he knows nothing of man.... He views man as he does colours in Sir Isaac Newton’s prism, where only the capital ones are seen; but an experienced dyer knows all their various shades and gradations, together with the result of their several mixtures.
—Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (1694–1773)
You can also commission a local interior designer to design and make custom shades for you. The designer may suggest fabrics or styles you would have never thought of, and will make the Roman shades quickly. It will cost significantly more than if you made the custom Roman shades yourself.
You can also buy custom Roman shades on the Internet. A simple search on custom Roman shades will produce scores of online retailers. You will not have, however, the freedom you had with an interior designer. The shades will look custom, but you will have to search through the hundreds of available shades to find ones perfect for your windows. Buying shades online is less expensive than hiring an interior designer.
About the author:
Then thus I turn me from my country’s light,
To dwell in solemn shades of endless night.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
Roman Shades Info provides detailed information about bamboo, fabric, discount, and custom Roman shades, as well as advice on how to make Roman shades, and more. Roman Shades Info is the sister site of Shutters Web.