Where did you buy Roman shades for your old house?

17 years ago

I really like the way inside-mount Roman shades showcase the wood moulding in old houses...but I can't find any that are 29" wide!! 26" or 27" then skips to 31" or 32"!! Why don't they offer anything in between! It's driving me crazy! JCPenny has such cute choices for $20-$40--and I definitely can't afford some of the custom brands I've seen thrown around on the decorating board.

Any thoughts? (and, no...I can't sew a button on...so I think making them myself is out!)

:)

Sarah

Comments (12)

arlosmom
17 years ago
I agree that inside mount is the way to go in old houses with nice woodowork. Unfortunately, that almost always means custom.

I ordered custom shades from Smith and Noble (they have a website and a catalog). They definitely aren't cheap, but if you watch they'll have buy-three-get-one-free sales, and that helps.

Do you have friends who sew? I've not made roman shades myself, but I've looked at directions and they seem pretty straight-forward. Maybe you could find someone on Craig's list who could make them for you inexpensively.

Good luck. I've been watching for more pictures of your kitchen on the kitchen forum. I'm getting ready to start my farmhouse kitchen this summer!
Fori
17 years ago
I can't sew and I've made Roman blinds. I wonder if you could do all the measuring and templating and take them to a tailor for the sewing part. It would take an experienced sewer about 10 minutes or less for a blind if you had it ready to go.
Related Discussions
What was it about YOUR old house that made you buy?
Q
Comments (69)
Although our house will end up costing several times what we paid for it when we're through restoring and renovating, it is a dream come true. I always wanted an historical home but never thought I would own one. The house is in my hometown, and it is a beautiful, fantastic old house. PO was a DIY fool and did a fair amount of damage to the house. We are undoing what he did. Probably won't be able to afford to undo what he did to the outside: replaced the original tile roof with metal, covered the house in aluminum siding, and replaced the 1889 windows with putrid vinyl windows. The house would probably have been eligible for National Register status without the "improvements" of siding and elcheapo windows---according to the SC Dept. of Archives and History. There's a good chance we'll have to replace the cruddy windows one day and probably do something with the siding---just to protect the house---but that is in the future. For now, replacing the porch floor, having new stucco applied to the brick columns, and restoring the interior are the priorities. We have already had the house completely rewired. All new ductwork has been added along with two HVAC systems (one for upstairs and one for downstairs). New plumbing is in the works. It will take years to get all the floors refinished (most were painted and some had carpet over that), but the ones we have had refinished are just absolutely gorgeous. We are repairing as much plaster as possible. So far, I've had only one plaster wall knocked out and replaced with sheetrock. Hopefully, that will be the only one that is too far gone to repair. Most of the woodwork is intact. I'm about to have a few pieces copied. My grandmother is 96, and we're having her bedroom and bath finished now. About 2/3 of the upstairs is on the verge of being finished. It's expensive. We're selling some property to get the funds to do a lot of the work, but living there is just living in history. We believe that we have saved the house for many more years. The house seems like a living entity. It's a beautiful neo-classical Victorian with four huge columns on the front, a wraparound porch, a gorgeous front staircase, a back staircase, six fireplaces, original parlor light (gas/electric design), and original front door with leaded glass sidelights. Even though I'm pouring my time and money into the house, it is all worth it to me. I just hope I can get everything done that the house needs. Please, please, research before you destroy great things about your old house. And if you know how---really know how---to DIY, that's great. But don't ruin the house like the PO tried to do to our house. Of course, he thinks we're "messing up" all the great things he did---like adding trailer wallboard over the plaster and ripping out claw foot tubs to add fiberglas. I'm going to stop now; I'm returning to a place I don't want to revisit! On with the restoration!
...See More
What did you find in your old house?
Q
Comments (55)
Well, this has gone on a while, but I just got here so I'll post. First off, I grew up in a very large Empire period stone house in the midwest. As kids we found a few things, but the most interesting feature of that house is that it was supposedly a part of the underground railroad (the house is next to the mississippi on the Illinois side). In the full basement is a passage that has been bricked up. No one knows what is behind there and now that I'm a contractor I often think of going back there before my parents sell the house to see what is behind. I've found in my work: - An old town welfare receipt from the thirties in the upstairs of an old rural cape. - Old bottles and a can of 'new colored' blue paint, opened by a can opener, probably from the early century. - a baseball card (not rare) from the fifties under a tub we removed. - a 60's era soft porn slide under a built cabinet - various old coins I now live in an 1890 gothic owned by three generations of the same family. In it my kids have found: two old umbrellas, one with a sterling handle, a local stable advertising calendar from 1896, tons of old newspapers dating from the 1890's, a toy gun from the fifties, a victorian era small Swedish bible tucked in the floor boards upstairs, a geography book printed in 1820 (talks of the south as a place of slave plantations). The receipt for siding the house in the thirties, a forties ear coca-cola cooler, Probably the coolest find was when my son was fourteen years old on his birthday, which lands on Memorial Day, found a noisemaker, an old flag and a newspaper tucked in the wall studs in the loft of the adjoining barn. The newspaper was dated exactly one hundred years to the day he found them --- with talk of the Memorial Day parade, etc, which we assume the noisemaker and the flag came from. He brought them to me and didn't even notice that detail until I looked at the date. I was pretty blown away. A friend at the time who liked to think she had 'special' clairvoyance, said that it was a 'sign' that the spirits in the house liked us.
...See More
Where did you buy your sink?
Q
Comments (21)
Hmm; I didn't see the Blanco message about authorized online retailers before I ordered. I bought our Silgranit super single (and a new faucet) from FaucetDirect.com, which is not an authorized Blanco retailer. Not sure I would have if I'd known -- the sink and faucet were the entirety of my 'reno'. But there were no problems. A good piece of advice from this forum: No matter who you buy from, or where, as soon as you're in possession of the sink inspect it thoroughly for cracks or damage (and document with photos if you find any). This is particularly important for those who, like me, buy the sink and faucet months before they're installed.
...See More
Did you splurge on buying your lot/raw land for your house?
Q
Comments (68)
The land was originally 500+ acres on a land grant from the Governor of NC before the Revolutionary War. So, it's been in my family for 200+ years. We're exactly the same, even the same state. Also have friends that live 30min away from our city because they "wanted to be by their parents, wanted to be out of the city, wanted cheap land with woods..." but nobody goes to their houses for entertainment and they're always the ones driving everywhere. Ick. I grew up in that type of area, and we moved to a more populated area with better schools while the kids were growing up ... but now we're looking to go back. However, I can't relate to the "nobody goes to their houses" part; our family tends to gather out in the country. It's easy to host gatherings: No parking problems, space for cookouts and picnics, kids love playing in the woods and have a barn instead of a playhouse, people feel free to bring their dogs, and we have a go-cart track, an archery range, and a rifle range shared by the family. You can't have a bonfire in the city. When we build, we're going to add a pool to the mix. Also, most kids don't like growing up in BFE, parents end up having to drive them everywhere.. Having grown up in the aforementioned "BFE", I understand you: We couldn't walk to friends' houses, going anywhere required a car, part-time jobs as teens weren't plentiful. However, growing up out in the country comes with some benefits that kids tend to overlook: ample space, learning old-fashioned skills, and programs like 4H. I think it's unfair to say that MOST kids don't like growing up in a rural area. We have no way to verify that.
...See More
yoyodyne
15 years ago
Stay away from Smith and Noble. Stay far, far away.

I ordered 6 shades. I paid Smith and Noble to come measure. When the shades arrived, 5 of the 6 were about 1/4 to 1/2 inch too wide for the windows. I asked to return the shades to get my money back. Turns out their "satisfaction guarantee pledge" means that they won't give you your money back, no matter what.

They insist on coming back to re-measure, but a) I can't take time off from work again for this, and b) why would I want to run the risk of further screw ups and hassle?

Their customer service staff come across as Soviet-style bureaucrats. Evidently, Smith and Noble could care less about disappointing their customers and engendering ill will.

I guess my next steps are to file complaints with the BBB and my state's attorney general, as well as dispute the original charge with my credit card company. I'll probably send the shades back to the company's president for good measure.

Keep in mind that Smith and Noble's "partner sites" (i.e. sister companies) include Ballard Designs, Grandin Road, Garnet Hill, TravelSmith, Frontgate, and others. You can rest assured that I won't be giving any of them my business in the future either.
Jason Young
14 years ago
Stay away. Stay far, far away from believing anything posted by user "yoyodyne". This person registered on October 20, 2008 and proceeded to post the exact same copy-and-paste response about Smith and Noble on no fewer than six different discussion threads. Something's fishy. Sounds like a Smith and Noble competitor to me...
lizbeth-gardener
14 years ago
It does sound fishy. Why would you go to the trouble and expense to have them measured and made and not let them correct?? or did you change your mind about what you wanted? Seems like all the time spent filing complaints with the BBB, the attny. general & your credit card could be better used in letting them remeasure.
slateberry
14 years ago
I wish I could recommend an inexpensive source. I was at a fabric store the other day, and I heard another shopper talking to a friend about how in Mexico, when you go to a fabric store, you buy the fabric, and the cost includes the labor to turn them into curtains. Maybe something was lost in translation, but maybe they really do stuff like that there. Mexican seamstresses are legendary for their speed, skill, and low prices, where I grew up in Texas. So, if you could figure out how to get them made in Mexico, you might save a bit.

I made a roman shade once. It was cool to do, and I'd do it again. I followed the excellent instructions from this website.

Here is a link that might be useful: Roman shade instructions
User
14 years ago
Slateberry, the instructions you gave are for the website run by Terrelldesigns.com which also sells all the materials for making roman shades. I have those instructions printed out.

The materials they sell are first rate. The lady knows her stuff. I even bought a "sample" roman shade for $30 to test myself for constructing my own shades. I bought the thermalsuede lining from her, so the shades would also insulate w/o being strictly blackout.

If you can get someone with a sewing machine to seam the side panels of top/decorative fabric to the lining, you could do the rest of it for yourself. You would have to put channels for the stiffeners so the curtains would fold in the places you like. You can choose to make top down shades, which is my choice, so I could maintain some privacy by lowering the shades only a bit to see OVER them.

I have not installed my shades yet, waiting on my DH to put crown molding in the bedroom so I can mount the curtain brackets/rods at ceiling height, and then do the inside mount on the top-down roman shades. I will need FOUR of those.

But you would be pleasantly surprised that the job is not that difficult to master. And inside mount shades just about HAVE to be custom made.
amck2
14 years ago
I am checking out this forum because my DD just bought an older Cape that needs some sprucing up. But I thought I'd suggest a source for custom Roman shades that we recently discovered.

If you go to the Etsy site and type in Roman shades you will see listings from Quality Custom Designs. You provide them w/ whatever fabric you choose, decide if you want blackout lining or not (which they offer for a very reasonable price) and choose the pull (DD chose the shorter child-safe version).

They provided a list of online sources for discount drapery fabrics they've worked with and you can choose online and have the fabric mailed directly to them. Their approval rating is 100%, there are a ton of testimonials and pictures of the shades people have sent in showing them in their homes.

I am having 3 inside mount shades made for DD's home. The cost for labor for each shade is $59.99 with free shipping. I've added the blackout liner, which shows white on the street side, for $12.50 per shade.

The contact person I've emailed and spoken with by phone is named Mandy. If you look at the profile given on the site, it states that this is a small family run endeavor. Mandy has taken time to respond to my many inquiries in a timely and very courteous manner. I was initially very skeptical, as I had never contracted anything like this online, but I feel very good about it now. Last night I placed my fabric order and the process is underway.

I've been searching local and online sources and this seems to be the best price for the quality. Worth taking a look.
camlan
14 years ago
J. C. Penny's makes a 29" roman shade. They have some other options in non-standard sizes as well--pleated shades, roller blinds.
User
14 years ago
Amck, the information you give is very interesting, and I do hope you return with the final results.

It is always good to know of a good online or mail order source of window coverings custom made.
amck2
14 years ago
moccasinlanding, I will post my impressions of the shades here when they arrive. Maybe, with DD's help, I can even learn how to post a picture of them (that's been on my to-do list for a couple years now...)

Mandy wrote me an email when she saw the fabric selected - a Colburn check - and said that the fabric is particularly well-suited to Roman shades and that they've had beautiful results using it. Can't wait to see!
sdhouse
13 years ago
I bought roman shades from JC Penney for our old house, and loved them! They aren't the best quality, but if you have to replace them, you're not out too much money. Also, even though the measurements are not quite spot on, older houses tend to have nice big window frames (on the actual sashes). So I just got ones that were an inch or so too narrow and it didn't look funny at all having a 1/2 inch reveal on either side. Since there was wood still overlapping it didn't let in light either...

Where did you buy Roman shades for your old house?

Comments (12)

arlosmom

Fori

Related Discussions

yoyodyne

Jason Young

lizbeth-gardener

slateberry

User

amck2

camlan

User

amck2

sdhouse

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US