Soft fabric folds, made to your window and hung by the people who measured it. Flat, relaxed or hobbled, lined for light control, cordless wherever children or pets can reach. Free in-home estimate anywhere in the Treasure Valley.
Most shades roll. A roman shade does not. It is one flat panel of fabric with horizontal battens sewn or threaded across the back, and when you raise it the fabric gathers into soft folds that stack at the top of the window. Lower it and the panel falls flat again, like a curtain that has been tailored to the opening.
That difference is the whole reason people want them. A roller shade reads as a window covering. A roman shade reads as fabric in the room — closer to a drapery than to a blind — which is why it tends to turn up in dining rooms, primary bedrooms and front-facing windows where the room is supposed to feel finished rather than merely covered.
It is also why a roman shade is unforgiving about measuring. A roller that is a quarter inch narrow still works. A roman that is a quarter inch narrow hangs crooked and you will see it every day, because the eye reads the fold lines against the window frame. See the rest of our shade range.
Get a roman shade quote
The style changes the character of the room more than the fabric color does, and it is the decision people spend the least time on. Worth slowing down for.
The panel hangs smooth and flat when lowered, with crisp horizontal folds stacking as it rises. The cleanest and most architectural of the three. It suits a room with simple lines, and it is the one that shows off a patterned fabric best because the pattern is not broken up when the shade is down.
No battens across the bottom, so the hem falls in a gentle smile between the outer pleats. Softer and less formal. It reads well in a kitchen, a breakfast nook or a casual living room. Because the curve is created by gravity rather than hardware, it is a little less precise by nature — that is the look, not a fault.
Permanent cascading folds stay stacked down the whole length of the shade even when it is fully lowered. The most traditional and the most fabric-heavy of the three. It gives a window real depth and softness, and it is the one to choose if the room leans formal.
People choose a roman shade by the face fabric, which is the part you see. What actually decides how the room feels is the lining behind it.
An unlined roman shade filters light and glows when the sun hits it. Lovely in a dining room, useless in a bedroom. A standard lining adds privacy and some insulation and keeps the face fabric from fading as fast. A blackout lining is a separate layer again, and it is the only one that will genuinely darken a room — though a roman shade with blackout lining still passes light around the edges of the panel unless it is mounted outside the opening with real overlap. If a dark bedroom is the actual goal, say so at the measure and we will tell you honestly whether a roman is the right tool or whether a blackout shade will serve you better.
One Idaho-specific note. South and west windows here take a hard, direct sun for a long stretch of the year, and fabric fades. Lighter colors hide it, lining slows it, and a window that gets afternoon sun every day of the summer will not look the same in five years as one on the north side of the house. That is true of any fabric treatment and we would rather you hear it before you choose than after.
A roman shade is a good answer for a window you look at as much as you look through. Dining rooms, primary bedrooms, a front window that faces the street, a stair landing, a window seat — anywhere the covering is part of the room rather than a piece of equipment in it.
They are a weaker answer on a window you operate constantly. The fabric stacks at the top when raised, so you never get the glass completely clear the way you do with a roller or a blind, and a tall shade raised and lowered several times a day is working its lift mechanism hard. On a slider you walk through, or a kitchen window above a sink that gets splashed, there are better choices and we will say so rather than sell you the prettier one.
Wide windows deserve a word of their own. Fabric gets heavy, and past a certain width a single roman panel becomes a two-handed job to raise. On a very wide opening we will usually suggest two panels side by side, or motorizing it so width stops being your problem. That is a decision worth making at the measure, not after the shade arrives.
All three are shades. They are not interchangeable, and the right one depends on what that particular window is for.
The window is part of how the room looks. You want fabric, texture and a tailored line, and you are willing to give up a completely clear pane of glass to get it.
You want the glass clear when the shade is up and the view uninterrupted. Simpler, lighter, better on windows that get operated all day, and the natural choice for solar fabric on a hot west-facing room.
Comfort is the point. The honeycomb traps air, which slows summer heat coming in and winter heat going out — the best insulating value of the three, and the one we reach for on a window nobody is going to replace.
Yes, and on any window a child or a pet can reach, we recommend it without hesitation. Cordless and motorized lifts remove the hazard entirely rather than managing it. More on window covering safety.
Inside mount sits within the opening and shows off the trim — the cleaner look, and it needs enough depth to take the headrail. Outside mount covers the frame, which hides an out-of-square opening and cuts the light gap at the edges. We decide this at your window, not from a plan.
Regular gentle vacuuming with a brush attachment is the whole routine for most fabrics. Spot-clean carefully and test somewhere hidden first. Fabric shades are not machine washable, and a roman that has been soaked rarely hangs the same way again.
They can, but think about it first. A door you use daily means raising and lowering a wide, heavy panel constantly. A vertical treatment or a roller usually serves that opening better, and we would rather tell you that than take the order.
They do, and most houses end up mixing. Romans in the rooms where the window is part of the architecture, blinds or rollers where it is a tool. That is the normal outcome, not a compromise.
Custom fabric shades are made to your numbers, so there is a lead time rather than a shelf. We give you a firm date at the in-home estimate once the fabric is chosen, because the fabric is what drives it.
Between us, thirty years in the Treasure Valley — in and out of Valley homes. Angela grew up in her family’s shutter plant and opened her own here in Idaho in 2020. She can build a plantation shutter start to finish and paint it herself — which is exactly why she knows what to look for in the ones we install.
We’re not a franchise. The people who measure your windows are the same people who own the company.
If you’re ready, fill out the form below and either one of us will get right back to you. Call, text or email — whichever you prefer.
Tell us which windows you're covering and we'll bring fabric samples, measure, and put a real number in front of you. Free, and no pressure. Prefer to talk? Call 208.755.8583.
Rather not fill in a form? Call or text us — whatever is easiest for you.
That number takes texts as well as calls. On a computer, point your phone camera at the code — a text to us opens already written, so all you do is hit send.
Or send your details below and we will come back to you.
We work directly with Treasure Valley builders and new-construction agents on whole projects — single homes to full developments — on schedule and to spec. Star, Kuna, Meridian, and Eagle are some of the fastest-growing new-construction markets in the Treasure Valley, and it is where a large share of our work happens. Whether it is shades for one spec home or window coverings across an entire subdivision, we build the schedule around your build schedule, not the other way around.
We coordinate around your build timeline, not the other way around.
Every unit gets the same construction-grade fit, home after home.
Direct communication with the owners, start to finish.
