“I ended up going with a more classic sheer linen in the shade of bone because I decided ultimately that, while I love gingham, a personality packed pattern might be better suited for a duvet cover or something that could be easily swapped out.” After a (mostly) painless installation process, Fletcher was particularly impressed by the look and high quality of her blinds. “I’ve had them for months now and have seen them perform through several season changes and they continue to look and work beautifully,” she says, adding that her new shades have helped her achieve a sense of privacy and shield the room from bright direct light without totally shutting it out.
What it costs: The cost of two custom-sized Roman Shades with no hardware came to $1,500. That said, the brand has a calculator function built into the order process so you can get a fairly good read on what your costs would be with just a few clicks once you select the desired size, fabric, pleat and lining. According to the brand, pricing breaks down per window like so:
- Drapery: starting from $815
- Shades: starting from $465
- Cafe Curtains: starting from $330
Time frame: For swatches, items will ship within three business days. For drapery, café curtains, shades, or hardware current ship time estimates are within six to eight weeks.
The experience: Commerce editor Audrey Lee knew she wanted some type of blackout curtains for her space to emulate hotel living year-round. Enter: The Hues (formerly known as Nicetown), a retailer that offers an extensive selection of window treatments by style, material, and function. Besides blackout curtains, the brand also offers soundproof, room darkening, light filtering, and thermal options. The brand’s Cronin curtain in particular is a blackout eyelet linen curtain that Lee chose for its additional soundproofing and thermal benefits, which were the perfect solution to her previously sheer curtains.
While the drapes are custom made, everything is done online so you can browse the website and choose a fabric color, grommets, header and lining type, and size. You can also either choose from pre-set standard sizes or enter custom measurements for a bespoke treatment. “These curtains are amazing for keeping the sun out,” says Lee. “The first few weeks I had them, it felt bizarre to be woken up by my alarm in such darkness—however, soundproof they are not.” She notes that while they slightly muffle some of the outside train noise, there isn’t much to be done about traffic and other ambient sounds besides pop in some additional ear plugs.
What it costs: For the pre-sized Cronin Curtains, prices range from $290 (52″ x 84″)—$876 (100″ x 108″). Swatches are available for $6 per kit should you want to preview the materials beforehand.
Time frame: Orders placed before March 1 currently have an ETA of 15 to 22 days.
The experience: Allen was impressed at the quick ship time for her Sara Le–designed cordless Roman shades from Twopages, another self-service platform that requires shoppers to take their own measurements (don’t fret—the site makes helpful recommendations on how to measure windows for a precise fit). “I had planned to hang the shades above my windows to make them feel taller, but those plans were foiled by an impenetrable metal backing in my wall,” Allen says. She ended up just mounting them to her window frame instead, which ended up being a happy compromise.
