Roman blinds are stylish window furnishing that can be placed inside or outside of the recess. They can look good with or without a pelmet, with or without trims or borders.
Roman blinds can be used for warmth or just to shade a room from the sun. They can be fitted in conjunction with curtains as secondary furnishing. They can be fitted with dress curtains as the primary furnishing, or purely as the only window dressing. Roman blinds are versatile and simple in style.
Roman Blind fitted inside a recess. Fabric is Tivoli by Pavilion Textiles
Roman Blind fitted outside the recess. The fabric used is Kruger by Clarke and Clarke.
How and where you fit your Roman blind will depend on the effect you are trying to create. The space that you have will be relevant. You can’t fit a roman blind outside of a recess if there isn’t enough space to accommodate it. Conversely, it would not be a good idea to fit a blind inside a window that is too short.
Health and safety rules for Roman blinds.
There is no right or wrong way for you to fit your Roman blind visually, but from the health and safety point of view, there are quite a few rules and regulations that you need to adhere to. Your Roman blind supplier should ask for the fitting height before your blind can be manufactured and fitted.
The main points to remember are:
Any continuous loop of chain or cord hanging below a 1.5m height must come apart or adrift when a 6kg jolt pressure is applied. A continuous chain that won’t come adrift and reaches no lower than 1.5m off the floor needs to be clipped to the wall using a P clip or similar.
Any cords on the back of the blind, lower than 1.5m off the floor, must be easily released should a child or animal get their head stuck between the cord and the blind. This is done with the use of safety clips that come apart under pressure and easily clip back together. Of course, battery-operated, or electric-powered Roman blinds aren’t affected by the chain laws, however, they still need to have the safety clips on the back cords.
See our previous post and the following link will take you to information that will help you to understand them.
Should I use Roman blinds?
Yes, Roman blinds are a practical, functional, and very versatile window dressing. Roman blinds in certain situations can provide a brilliant solution to dressing a window especially if the surrounding space is limited.
Are Roman blinds suitable for my hotel?
Roman blinds can look fantastic and stylish, but the performance may be limited. The Child safety measures have rendered manual Roman blinds less practical in certain settings. They would not be recommended in high-use areas such as Hotel rooms with multiple users. Careless heavy handed pulling on the chains can cause the safety clips and chains to do their job. You would need to be prepared to regularly maintain them. Hoteliers could be better off using motorised Roman blinds or curtains.
Roman blind made using Barbados, a super soft velvet from Prestigious Textiles
Bay window blinds made using Parade by Beaumont Textiles – we fitted these into The Whitehouse boutique hotel in Devon
Can I put a Roman Blind at my big window?
It is not recommended to go too large with the Roman blinds. Each safety component is designed to separate at 6kg and therefore would not cope with an extra heavy blind. Wide and short would be okay, so would long and slim. Medium width and medium or long drop would also be fine. An experienced maker would be able to advise you on your particular window, technical judgment is called for when considering the sizes of Roman blinds. If your window is too big for one blind you could consider splitting it.
Can I put Roman blinds into a bay window?
Bay windows can look lovely with Roman blinds in them. If you are limited on wall space, but want to use colour, texture or pattern then Roman blinds are great. They can frame a window in the same way as a pelmet does. Bay window blinds can be enhanced by adding dress curtains. On a large bay dressings, blinds with static curtains can reduce costs without compromising on style.
Roman Blinds made from Ada and Ina linen fabric fitted into a bay window with a linen bench seat and bolster cushion
Should I put Roman blinds in a child’s room?
I would not recommend putting a roman blind into a young child’s room unless I was totally sure that every single cord or chain will separate and come away from the blind system. Curtains on a manual track are a much safer and reliable alternative. If you want that extra layer of dim out there are alternative options. If the child is older and more responsible you could put a roman blind in without worrying. Common sense is required for anything using cords and loops to operate.
Who do I contact to check if Roman blinds are right for my interiors?
You can contact your interior designer or your local bespoke Roman blind specialists. If you send us a photo of your room and window, we will be happy to discuss it with you, too. Visit our Contact Us page and upload photos there and we will come back to you with estimated cost for your project.
