flat roman shades

Inside Mount Window Treatments

November 7, 2017 By Lauren Murphy

Relaxed Roman Shades in Linen Blend White. Design by Urbanology.

While shopping for custom window treatments, there are many questions to consider. In addition to selecting your style, material, and color, you’ll need to decide whether your shades will mount inside or outside your window frame. Sometimes, this choice is just a personal design preference, but there are practical benefits to both styles as well.

Outside mount window treatments are great if you want to make your windows look bigger, or to bring a more dramatic feel into your space. Inside mount shades provide a cleaner, more built-in look. Keep reading for more reasons to choose an inside mount!

Window Treatments for Small Spaces

Inside Mount Relaxed Roman Shades Allison Jennison

Relaxed Roman Shade in Linen Natural. Design by Allison Jennison.

Inside mount window treatments are the perfect solution for smaller spaces, as they don’t have to take up any additional room beyond your window. The necessary depth measurement for an inside mounted shade is 3/4” of space. As long as your window meets this requirement, your shade can be installed securely, and will take up minimal space beyond your window.

Aesthetic Choices

If your design style leans toward minimalism, inside mount window treatments are a great choice for you. They look very clean and modern.

Additionally, if you have beautiful woodwork and detailing in your home that you don’t want to cover, inside mount shades are the best choice. Whether your shades are raised or lowered, the frame of your window will never be covered, allowing the architectural elements of your home to take center stage.

Layered Window Treatments

Inside Mount Solar Shades in 7% Metallic Ink

Another great thing about inside mount shades is the opportunity that they present for layering! Layering your window treatments not only looks great, but it allows for flexibility in the amount of light you let in. Try an inside mount Roller Shade with an outside mount Roman Shade, or an inside mount Woven Wood Shade paired with Pinch Pleat Drapery. No matter what combination you choose, your windows are bound to look beautiful!

Our Design Consultants are happy to help if you have any questions about which mount type is the best fit for your windows. Visit one of our showrooms or give us a call at (800) 754-1455.

Trendsetting Dining Room Shades

October 23, 2017 By Lauren Murphy

Flat Roman Shades in Raw Silk Grey. Design by Breeze Giannasio.

If your dining room décor is feeling a big neglected, an easy way to incorporate some of the latest interior design trends is by updating your window treatments. We love using Roman Shades as an update to old curtains and valances, and you can choose contemporary colors and prints on your shades for an instant room refresh. Whether you have an open concept space where the dining room opens to the kitchen or a more traditional formal dining room, you can make your space extra stylish with fashionable Roman Shades.

Gray Dining Room Shades

Gray is a popular neutral in homes everywhere, providing a more interesting alternative to taupes and beiges. Spice up gray Roman Shades by trying a material with a unique finish, like iridescent Silk Taffeta or Sateen. Pairing a classic fabric like silk with a more modern Flat Roman Shade style brings a fresh twist to this look.

You can also branch out from light grays and go bold with a charcoal hue for your shades. Paired with lighter walls, bold dark shades make a statement and coordinate beautifully with dark wood floors.

Textured Shades

Another hot trend is layers of texture on varying surfaces from wallpaper to throw pillows to window treatments. Roman Shades can contribute texture in two ways: through the shade style and the shade material. Cascade and Aventura Roman Shades both feature horizontal lines created by hand-stitching and dowels. In Cascade Romans, the dowels are sewn into the back of the shade, creating a flat front, while Aventura Romans have the dowels sewn into the front for a raised pleat.

Cascade Roman Shades in Linen Ash. Design by Jessica Gersten Interiors.

There are also many textured materials available, such as our linens and blends, raw silk, and woven woods. Your shades can pick up on other textures in your dining room like the weave of the rug or the chair upholstery.

If you’re ready to rejuvenate your dining room, our expert Design Consultants are up on all of the latest design trends. Browse our 550+ materials for Roman Shades and order your free swatches to get started today.

Sleek Window Valance Ideas

October 16, 2017 By Lauren Murphy

Flat Roman Shade with Valance in Herringbone Mist. Design by Nicolette Brand.

Window valances are a great way to add structure and polish to the top of your windows. At The Shade Store, we offer several varieties of clean and simple valances to complement our Roman, Roller, Solar, and Woven Wood Shades. Here are our favorite window valance ideas and where to use them.

Upholstered Valances

Upholstered valances are 4” tall and handmade to coordinate with the material of your shade, giving the treatment a clean and finished look. The valance adds 1” of width to an outside mount shade.If your windows do not have any trim, an outside mount valance can provide visual weight and interest to an otherwise simple window casing. For squat windows or low ceilings, you can let the valance sit above the top of the window frame to create the illusion of a bigger window.

Valances are also ideal for hiding window treatment mechanisms. If you have wide or multiple windows and have chosen to mount multiple shades on one headrail, a valance covers the locations where the multiple shades meet the rail and makes the multiple shades look cohesive.

Flat Roman Shade with Valance in Linen Ivory. Design by The Emerald Studio.

Metal Valances

For Roller and Solar Shades, metal valances are available in white, silver, and espresso finishes, as well as a fabric insert option. Exposed metal valances look right at home in modern and industrial designs, and can mirror an optional exposed bottom bar.

Standalone Valances

Perhaps you have a small window or a glass door that doesn’t need a full window treatment, but you want its design to tie into the rest of the room’s window shades. Maybe you have a window that does not require any added privacy or light blockage, but it looks bare without any dressing. A standalone valance is the perfect solution for these types of situations. A valance will add a touch of color and softness to your window without a full shade.

Visit one of our nationwide showrooms to see our shades and valances in person, request a free catalog, or give our expert Design Consultants a call at (800) 754-1455.

Stylish Striped Roman Shades

August 29, 2017 By Tayler Vranicar

Flat Roman Shade. Photo by Kris Jarret of Driven By Décor.

Stripes are a wonderful way to introduce a pattern to your décor that can still coordinate with a variety of other colors and prints. Classic stripes on a sharp Flat Roman Shade are timeless, and you can update other aspects of your interior design around your shades as time passes. Keep reading to learn how to choose the right stripe for your space.

Vertical or Horizontal Striped Shades?

When considering striped Roman Shades, you should first decide which direction you want the stripes to go. Vertical stripes are ideal for elongating windows. They draw the eye up towards the ceiling, giving the illusion of height and making the window appear taller. You can take advantage of this optical trick even more by outside mounting your shades above the window frame, so the stack sits on the wall above the window when the shade is raised.

Horizontal stripes have a great impact in small spaces, as they make rooms look bigger. They have the power to make walls and windows look wider. Try them on a powder room window, or in a bedroom with two windows flanking the headboard of the bed.

Flat Roman Shade. Design by Nicole Lanteri.

Neutral Stripes for a Casual Feel

In addition to the direction of your stripes, the colors of the stripes and weight of the material can set the tone for your entire space. Broad stripes in neutral colors are friendly and inviting without overwhelming the rest of the art and furniture in your room. In the photo at the top of the post, Driven by Decor chose gray and white striped Roman Shades for her family room and paired them with a solid sectional and patterned throw pillows for a put-together yet comfortable family gathering space.

Relaxed fabrics like linen and cotton lend a breezy lightness to your windows. Stripes can feel reminiscent of pool cabanas and summer beach towels, and therefore work beautifully in beach houses and coastal décor themes.

black and white striped roman shade bathroom

Flat Roman Shade. Design by TRG Home Concepts. Instagram: @trghomeconcepts

High Contrast Stripes for Modern Designs

Stripes can also work in modern or formal spaces as well, however, and are certainly not limited to casual styles. High contrast combinations like black and white create an instant graphic effect on your windows. TRG Home Concepts kept the rest of this bathroom crisp and clean with white paint and subway tile, and the black and white striped Roman Shade adds a shot of interest and dimension while maintaining the modern vibe of the room.
The Shade Store carries more than 70 materials for Roman Shades featuring a striped motif, from the menswear-inspired Suit Stripe to cotton Cottage Stripe to DwellStudio’s interesting Gita Stripe. Order free swatches of the prints that fit your design to test them out in your home.

Pull Down Shades: Easy Cordless Window Treatments

August 15, 2017 By Tayler Vranicar

Light Filtering Roller Shades. Shown in The Novogratz Frequency.

Pull down shades have come a long way over the years. To operate your shades with a simple push or pull, you are no longer limited to unsightly vinyl rollers that refuse to stay put and roll all the way up with a snap. At The Shade Store, we have three generations of window treatment expertise, and have used our knowledge to bring you the highest quality and most stylish coverings for your windows. In the realm of pull down shades, we have created an entire collection of cordless shades and blinds that are beautiful, easy to handle, and safe for children.

Classic Cordless Roller and Solar Shades

Roller Shades and Solar Shades are the updated version of the vinyl blinds you may have dealt with in the past. Available in hundreds of colors, Roller Shades can vary in appearance and function from light filtering to blackout and designer prints to neutrals. When raised, this type of shade tucks into a small and sleek roll at the top of window, perfect for clean design and minimalist spaces. We craft our Roller Shades with a sewn-in bottom bar that ensures a smooth hang free of creases and wrinkles. With cordless control, raise and lower the shade with gentle pushes and pulls. Our rigorous construction and testing guidelines ensures that your shades are durable and will stand the test of time and frequent use.

Flat Roman Shades shown in Sanganer.

Cordless Fabric Roman Shades

Roman Shades allow you to add the softness of drapery to your windows with the simplicity and operation of a shade. Two of our most popular styles, Flat Roman Shades and Cascade Roman Shades, can be made cordless. Choose from 95 materials in more than 500 colors when designing your Roman Shades. Customize them with additional touches like contrasting borders and privacy or blackout linings to meet the needs of different rooms. Roman Shades will have a thicker stack at the top of window depending on the length of the shade, but can be mounted outside and above the window frame if you’d like to keep your glass clear. As with our cordless Rollers, a pull or push on the bottom of the shade is all that is needed to raise and lower it.

Waterfall Woven Wood Shades shown in Seaview.

Eco-friendly Cordless Wood Blinds and Woven Wood Shades

If you love the natural texture and richness of wood, opt for cordless Wood Blinds or Woven Wood Shades. Woven Wood Shades are constructed similarly to Roman Shades, and will rise to a neat stack at the top of your window. For a custom tailored look, consider the Standard Woven Wood Shade that includes a matching valance. Waterfall Woven Wood Shades are our most popular woven shade, with the material falling forward from the front of the head rail.

Our Cordless Wood Blinds eliminate the dangling cords used for the lift system of the blinds. You will still need to select a tilt type, which controls the angle of the slats. We offer cord tilt, wand tilt (controlled by twisting the wand), and motorized tilt options.

Read more about our Cordless Window Treatment Collection here, and how these shades and blinds have been third-party certified Best For Kids. Pull down cordless shades can be a great addition to your home, removing the sight of cords or chain loops and keeping children and pets safe. We are happy to answer questions and help you build your shades by phone, email, or in one of our nationwide showrooms.

Skip links

Main navigation