Roman Shades

Roman Shades

Roman shades are the latest trend in window fashions right now. Depending on the fabric and style selected, roman shades will work with any style of homes. They can fit beautifully in living rooms, family rooms, children's rooms, kitchens, and bathrooms. Professionally made roman shades are generally made to ensure long life and durability and may last for over ten years.

Roman shades are a type of window covering designed to help block out the sun for your room darkening needs. They stack up in evenly sized panels when the shade is lifted, and when the shade is lowered, they create a relatively smooth appearance. Typically, roman shades are raised and lowered with a cord system. But there are also cordless roman shades. In addition to that, roman shades can be made with a picture or photograph that is revealed once the shade is lowered.

Roman shades can be created from a wide variety of materials, including different types of fabrics and even wood. The type of wood used to create roman shades is also varied, but reed and bamboo are the most common. A set of roman shades may also be made by weaving several different materials together.


Types of Roman Shades
There are basically two main types of roman shades: flat (or classic), and hobbled (or traditional).

Flat Roman Shades – Flat roman shades, when unfolded, lie flat against the window and offer clean, uncluttered lines. The flat roman shade lays smooth when fully lowered.

Traditional (Hobbled) Roman Shades – Hobbled roman shades does not lay smooth when lowered. They have additional fabric which overlaps the previous fold, creating a flowing, or "cascade," look. The horizontal pleating offers visual interest when the shade is up and a textural look when the shade is lowered to cover the window.


Tips on Choosing Roman Shades
If you choose to purchase your roman shades, you may find many roman shades available on stores that are pre-made, cut, and ready to hang. Of these stores, you may also find ones where you can design your own shade, from start to finish. And there are also combinations of these options, where you choose the fabrics for a pre-set size of shade. But be wary of the quality of cheap or discount roman shades.

But if you choose to make customized roman shades for your window treatments, you will need to have some basic sewing skills (for fabric shades) and some additional hardware such as tools for making the lifting mechanism. Because the shades lift in sections, you will need to sew in some type of rod in various placements where the shades will fold as they are lifted. There are books on how to make your own roman shades. Patterns and templates can also be found in sewing books or through your local fabric, craft or hardware store. When making your own roman shades, be sure not to use a fabric that is so heavy it doesn't gather into the trademark folds. Your best option is to use a light or medium weight fabric, preferably one that is lined to help the shade keep its shape.

Before you choose your roman shade style, be wary of the different style of cords. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, some roman shades may be strangulation hazards for young children. Because roman shades may have exposed pull chords or loose inner chords on the backside (the portion facing the window glass) of the shade, the chords present a strangulation risk.