Custom European Relaxed Roman Shades & Window Blinds

Roman shades have found more visual footage in our clients’ lovely homes ever since the interior designing world started chanting the ‘minimalism’ mantra. Since, however, it is hard to renounce the long-celebrated love for drapery, shades that imbibe their soulful charm without sacrificing the svelteness are popular.

Offering the best of both worlds, relaxed roman shades, therefore, have a dedicated fanbase of their own. This ornamental window treatment finds suitability in traditional decor due to its decorative folds, and in modern decor due to its sleekness as compared to curtains.

Keep reading to know whether relaxed roman shades can meet your taste and the needs of your home.

The ‘Not So Minimalistic’ European Relaxed Roman Shades

In an interesting turn of events, the designing world is pivoting towards softened edges and rounded silhouettes. As crescent sofas, wavy tabletops, and Westman curvy mirrors sweep Instagram and Pinterest, relaxed roman shades join the bandwagon.

Featuring the least constructed look of the three roman shade styles on offer, relaxed roman shades are made of a flowing piece of fabric without any in-built slats. Hence, the frontage is clean without any visual breaks. When lifted, the bottoms get stylishly scalloped, rendering an ornamental feature to the structure. The shade forms the folds as it rises upward and piles into a gently curved stack.

Since slats have not been stitched into the shade, the folds may need some manual help to fall into a neat stack when the shade is operated. Hence, relaxed roman shades are more suited as decorative – primarily stationary – shades that are not operated frequently.

Despite this limitation, those who don’t feel quite friendly with the straight finishes of the flat fold roman shades gladly fall for this style because it imbibes the spirit of ruched drapes. Besides the nonchalance and laid-back feel they proffer, here’s why this style will earn your appreciation too:

• Casual appeal: While a tailored look serves to make a space look more orderly and structured, softly folding relaxed shades with their unstructured form imbue light-heartedness. Hence, casual spaces of the house should ideally go with this style to ensure that coziness rules the roost.
• For the love of drapes: There could be many reasons why you love the time-honored drapery and still settle for roman shades instead. Relaxed shades with their swagging pleats at the bottom almost take you there – to the world of softly and richly pleated drapes.
• Gracefully ornate: Where squarish shapes imbibe a masculine style, curvaceous lines lean towards a gentler, slightly softer style. Scalloped shades easily rank as topline choices for feminine and traditional decor schemes like shabby chic, farmhouse, and Scandinavian that appreciate sumptuousness, rounded contours, and delicate details.
• Decor piece: If the aesthetic appeal is more on count than the practical use, relaxed shades are our primary recommendation. They look great when folded up to the desired level of coverage and framed with drapes that take on more of the functional aspect. This layering combination confers a high-end look and also meets your window treatment requirements with double efficiency. But even without drapes, relaxed roman shades are great to function as stationary shades for windows that don’t need a frequent operation.
• Patterned fabrics: With a clean frontage, relaxed roman shades become our top recommendation for patterned fabrics besides back-slatted shades. This is because the shapes and motifs can be presented without even the slightest distortion which can be caused by front slats.

How to Make the Most of European Relaxed Roman Shades

While relaxed roman shades might have impressed your designing instincts, there are a few considerations to be made before you shop them. These are the top recommendations of our stylists so that you can achieve the most charming look as well as maximum efficiency with this style.

• Consider the frequency of use: For windows where the shades have to be drawn open and closed often during the day, this style might not be the best choice. Although it takes only a few seconds to arrange and neaten the pleats, it may cause inconvenience on busy days.
• Account window width: If your window width measures less than 30 inches, this style of shade may not achieve its highest aesthetic potential since the resulting swag may not be very deep. Therefore, we recommend this style for windows wider than 30 inches.
• Consider choice of fabric: The depth of swag in relaxed roman shades is partly dictated by the weight of the fabric. therefore, a heavier fabric, lined shade will from into a deeper swag than one constructed from a lightweight sheer.

We hope that you have now found the confidence to explore the possibility of dressing your windows with relaxed roman shades. Living rooms, dining areas, and foyers are the most suitable spaces for this ornate style of shade to shed its mojo. You can go for the opulent velvets and silks or the homely cottons and linens – our collections are awaiting your visitation. We look forward with excitement to assisting you in your journey toward decorating the home of your dreams.