DIY Flat Roman Shades
Although we slept under many full moons shining on us (super romantic), we felt like we were under a constant spotlight that flooded our bedroom. So when I started planning our Bedroom Redo project last year, I had to make the windows a priority. The plan was to close all the light sources at night.
Looking at all the window treatment options out there, I knew I wanted to go with blackout roman shades. Any type of drape would block our heat source, and I couldn’t convince myself to live with just-above-the-radiator drapes. Roman shades are neat and definitely would help with the light.
The inspiration for all the fabric, colors, and textures came from the wallpaper we chose. We loved the deep blue with glowy warm metallic for our bedroom. To base off those tones and match that deep blue, I went on a hunt and found some beautiful fabric from trusted fabric companies I’ve worked with before. Eventually, I chose faux silk with beaded gold trim. We’re going for darker and warmer tones here.
With that in mind, I installed boxed-casing around our windows. If you’ve missed the post, check out my DIY Boxed-Casing for Bedroom Window. Painting the boxes was also an essential part of the process, and we chose Indian River from Benjamin Moore. The color has a warm glowing feel to it to compliment the trim I selected.
Though I’ve worked closely with many window treatment shops for my clients’ various projects, I’ve never made roman shades myself (full disclosure), let alone blackout Flat Roman shades.
So, the next step was to “educate” myself with a few Youtube videos (listed below) and get the basics of how the shades were made. I altered a few steps that made the process more straightforward, and some not, like hand-stitching (which was by choice).
As for the hardware, I went with a simple cord pull mechanism to make my life easy. I replaced the white cord (which came with the kit I purchased) with a gold cord.
Roman Shade How-To Videos
How-To Make a Basic Roman Shade
Intro To Cord Locks and Pulleys
Roman Shade Materials
Faux Silk in Jade Color from @trendfabric
Hanes OutBlack Drapery Lining from @fabricdotcom
Scatterfield Trim in Gold from @stroheimfabrics
Roman Shade DIY Supply Kit from @etsy
Roman Shade Cord Pull from @etsy
Roman Shade Hardware
1x2 pine board as top bars
3/4' Sew On Hook and Loop for top bar and the shade
Aluminum flat bar as weights
It’s been a few days since we put these up, and we’ve been sleeping better than ever in a pitch dark room with some new flavor around us when the lights are on.
If you have any questions, please hit me up on Instagram.
