Roman Shade Inspiration (and a look ahead)

I’m VERRRY happy to have my family room Roman Shade project behind me.

(I’ve long since moved on to other projects …I’m just waaaay behind in documenting them because my computer is tormenting me).

Yes! Other things are actually in progress!  Heck, I even painted three rooms in the last week…with very minimal agonizing!

But before I move on blog-wise, I want to share some Roman Shade eye candy.

Some of these I used for inspiration for my banded Roman Shades.  And others are here for reference because I definitely plan to revisit Roman Shades for my back hallway and our upstairs bath.

 

These first two were featured in last April’s House Beautiful article about designer Ashley Whittaker.  I immediately tore the pages out of the magazine and snapped photos of them because these. are. keepers.

Love the narrow red contrast band, and that they pleat so beautifully despite the thickness of the fabric (which makes these effective for light control and was one of our issues for the family room).

 

This second one is light filtering, uses a contrast band, a single condensed pull cord for raising and lowering (like mine), and really lovely placement of the pattern.

(And, oh my goodness, those gorgeous lacquered walls! Even the window latches are painted 😍!!)

 

 

Rather than using banding, this light-filtering shade uses hand-applied ribbon trim in a greek key pattern, and also has a cleat and pull cord.

 

The same Etsy duo also fabricated these beautiful shades using mucho pricey Schumacher Fabric…which is smart.  Why?  Roman Shades are a more economical option than draperies if you’re in love with fabric that’s spendy.

I could really just stare at this photo…. those shades are very cool and the fabric colors…mmmmmm!

 

 

This one, found on Laurel Bern‘s blog, has a nifty detailed top treatment that would be interesting to try (if I wanted to drive myself nuts).  Miter corner, turn…miter corner, turn…miter corner…oh, the mere thought makes me need aspirin.

 

 

I could also love using a bold pattern and color as in this banded shade (couldn’t find the source for the original image)…although THEN I would have to decorate around it, so…nevermind:

This hallway is so eclectic… and interesting.

 

Oh, and this airy, beautiful, Roman Shade from Le Monde De Rose:

Let’s swoon over the detail: Light-filtering linen, shaped toile banding (those shaped AND mitered corners!) with rickrack inset trim. Airy, lovely, and….interestingly…hung inside the window sash.  That gives “inside mount” a whole new meaning.  These are for sale on their website, by the way…(which I think may be why they’re mounted like this: just for display purposes, perhaps?).

 

 

This kitchen by Beach Glass Interior Design features a Jacobean floral print on–is that six?–windows in the dining area…hung with pattern matched perfection!

 

Number nine is this handsome example.  I don’t normally love hobbled roman shades, to be honest.   But the soft linen and stripes of the one in this modern nursery nook had me at “hello.”  I suspect they’re slightly heavy because they appear to be room darkening.  It also looks like this room is a nursery and–I’m certain–what you DON’T SEE are the many child-safety features that are important regarding cords and space between rings, etc.

 

A little more on child safety, if you will.  Corded window coverings (and not just Roman Shades) are said to be one of the top five child safety hazards in the home.  For very helpful information, be sure to visit this link: https://windowcoverings.org

 

In the current (March-April 2018) Veranda magazine an article showcases rooms from designer James Huniford, and features these Relaxed Roman, (i.e., less structured, no dowels) Shades….

I’m a big fan of this style, i.e., Relaxed Roman Shades, but always worry that they might pull in from the sides of the windows without the structural help of rings down the center.

 

And…in my last post I promised to upload pictures without my Christmas decorations, so…once again, here are my DIY Roman Shades. Mine are hand-drawn using a cleat and pull cord, and because the windows are wide, also use clear lucite “ribs” (rather than wooden dowels) for added support and to keep the folds crisp.

 

I have two very specific quirks when it comes to making anything myself:

The first is I sometimes overload the detail or make a project more complex to prove I can do something but to make it look like I didn’t make it…if that makes sense (more on that in an upcoming post) .

The second is that I SUPER-inspect whatever I’ve made with a very harsh eye.  I almost never look at a store bought item the same way I do with something I’ve made.  I never scrutinize a zipper on a dress I buy, for example…but I’ve ripped out plenty in items I’ve made if they weren’t absolutely perfect.  I’ve never examined a line of stitching in any store-bought curtain to ensure it was 110% straight.

SO…before I showed you my new family room window treatments last month, I went on line and really scrutinized photos of the “professional” ones I used for inspiration on Pinterest, or via other bloggers, or Google.  I wanted to make sure mine “measured” up.

Having spent so much time making my shades, there are little things I can nit pick if I’m intent on obsessing….but when I look at them overall and compare them with what I found online:

 

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LOOKING AHEAD

Oh, you have been SOOO patient with me and my sporadic posting!

After the broken knee event of last summer, sitting at the computer was SUPER uncomfortable, (which means I have a lot of catch-up posting about fun upgrades to the yard).

THEN…I grounded myself from blogging until I tackled those windows!

…then put away the Christmas bling…

and…was finally able to sit and type for a spell.

At least I thought I could…but my computer had other maddening plans (my cursor wants to select/open/delete/insert anything and everything it lands on).

I think I have it under control for now…but you’ve been so patient…here’s a sneak peak of what’s on the D&D horizon whether it’s a catch-up post or an upcoming endeavor).

 

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