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Shades over Wood Blinds
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Copyright 2011 - Lynne L, Everett, Washington, USA
Lynne made these great shades for her condo. She used an outside mount installation, placing the shades over inside-mount wood blinds.
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Lynne sent this message: "I had never made Roman shades but have always admired them. When I moved into my new condo, I had blinds installed for privacy but I wanted an additional window treatment that would darken the room when needed for sun protection and for sleeping, and would act as a valance since I couldn't have draperies (I have baseboard heaters under each window) so Roman shades made sense. I bought books on how to make Roman shades and began my project which included making 9 shades. I struggled with designing them, not really understanding all the terms and instructions. Then I searched the web and found your site. At first I was skeptical about gluing the battens to my fabric. But your site was so wonderful, I decided to trust you. I was thrilled that I could purchase all the hardware, boards, weight rods, etc. from one place. Your step-by-step instructions and videos were exactly what I needed. I especially appreciated your calculator! It was so easy to use, and it itemized everything I needed for each shade including the measurements. I studied your instructions and must say your tips were invaluable both in the design phase and in the construction phase.
I tested my fabrics as you suggested (I determined I needed to use a paint brush to glue the battens on a couple of my polyester fabrics), I sewed my seams exactly as you instructed, and my shades are perfect. I hired a professional installer to help me put up the mounting boards, and he told me he has installed some "professionally made" shades that weren't as nice! He was very impressed with the velcro design feature which made his job so mVch easier.
Lynne's wood blinds were installed inside the window opening. She "split" the shades on the wide windows.
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| When the cloth Roman shades are lowered, they add warmth to the room that wood blinds cannot. |
This photograph shows the wood blinds raised all of the way up, disappearing into the cloth shades. These windows slide open. You can understand why Lynne made two shades for these windows. She can open one cloth shade and slide the window open for air.
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These photographs show three options for these window treatments: 1. cloth Roman shades closed, 2. shades raised with the wood blinds tilted open, and 3. shades raised with the wood blinds tilted closed. When the Roman shades are raised, they look like a Top Treatment. |
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| The different fabrics really dress up the rooms, compared with only having the same white wood blinds on every window. |
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