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ladyboom

Window Treatments - Normal/Expected Costs

4 years ago

I had a consult with a local window treatment company, and I selected roman shades for 15 windows. The quote is almost 13k. Is this to be expected or am I being swindled/naive? There is a 15 year warranty on these shades. I just wasn't expecting the cost to be so much. I am in the process of furnishing/renovating our new home and didn't count on spending so much on window treatments. I have more windows to do, but in smaller rooms in the house and plan to go cheaper there.

This is a house we plan on living in for at least 15 years and we are using an interior designer to help make it beautiful/cool.

Comments (18)

  • PRO
    4 years ago

    Well IMO roman shades everyhwere are not the best choice for window coverings but I need to see the spaces and the reason for roman shades which BTW are expensive . I often can find drapes online thta are perfect for certain spaces and very afforadble. I need more info and some pics please .

    ladyboom thanked Patricia Colwell Consulting
  • 4 years ago

    On an individual window basis it doesn't seem that high for custom sized shades, especially if installation is included.

    ladyboom thanked Fori
  • 4 years ago

    Thank you for your responses! I really appreciate it and feel more confident paying for these shades. The fabric is perfect and beautiful and I do like the idea that they are warranteed.


    Regarding the look, 8 of the windows are in our sunroom and the other windows are for our dining room (front of the house), music room (front of the house), and living room (mid century vibe going on in here.)

  • 4 years ago

    Window coverings are very expensive, but, generally, last a long time!

  • PRO
    4 years ago

    IMO in the sunroom add solar shades or that fabric will not stand up to day to day sun . I do not think roman shades are nice evrywhere I love drapes in DRS and Music rooms and I still would like to see the spaces . I have a MCM house and added drapes for a bit of sound control and for the look my windows are large and no way would roman shades have worked for any of them.


  • 4 years ago

    Less than $1,000 per window divided by 15 years ? The quote includes installation? What does the Interior Designer you are paying for services say?

  • 4 years ago

    Rho Dodendron - what do you think she should have said?


  • 4 years ago

    I forgot to mention, yes, I will be adding drapes to the dining room and in the living room! This quote doesn't include that. In my music room, I cannot do drapes as my built in bookshelves are near the window.


  • 4 years ago

    Our quote for 15 motorized shades was 11-12,000.

  • 4 years ago

    To reduce the cost, consider non-custom rattan blinds in sunroom. They come in all sizes and would be a nice change from the others. I can understand you want the front of house to be the same, but I think it’s nicer/more interesting to mix things up to suit the room. Your decorator could suggest alternatives in this regard, since she is pulling the rooms together with the decor.



  • 4 years ago

    I got a quote for Hunter Douglas shades for my home this week. The windows are large and the quote includes a sliding glass door. Some of the shades are room darkening using the Silhouette Duolite product. A number of shades are from the HD Nantucket line which is a bit less than the Silhouette line. I think we used the ultra glide mechanism on all, again to shave costs a bit. None of my blinds are motorized. I would have liked that feature but it was out of my price range. My quote with tax is in the $21,000 range. It’s a lot of money. I thought about doing some of the rooms now and waiting on others but opted to do them all. Between the time it takes to make custom blinds and a possible price increase with HD as they’ve just introduced some new lines, this seemed the best option for us. The house will be done and I won’t have to revisit this expense in a very long time, if ever.

    ladyboom thanked L P
  • 4 years ago

    It sounds about right but there are a lot of variables as others have said. I've found that roman shades are very expensive due to the labor involved. If it fits your budget, and you love them I'd do it. If you're not sure maybe live in the house with inexpensive treatments and see if you change your mind or end up loving something different.

  • 4 years ago

    ladyboom--I was thinking you hired Designer to help you with your entire project and was wondering why you used a 2nd source for window treatments. Perhaps you only used Designer for ideas.


  • 4 years ago

    Yes, you are correct. Unfortunately, because of my location, my designer's normal source is unable to install. My designer coordinated the meeting with the shade consultant and was present to help me pick out fabric, etc. Maybe that is why I recieved the "20% discount?"

  • 4 years ago

    Yes. Window treatments cost a fortune. We have had to install window treatments on 2 homes (both new - builders do not add those). It's a surprising expense. We were unprepared for it the first time and spent WAY too much, but we managed to keep our current home around $15k. Having been through the rodeo once already, we chose less expensive blinds, preferring to do curtains for style and blinds for utility (although we splurged on motorized roller shades in our living area, which I absolutely LOVE and wish we had done in the basement as well). I would imagine the customization required for roman shades would increase the price tag there.

    FWIW, I asked our designer about layering roman shades and drapes, and she talked us out of it. Maybe other designers have different opinions, but if you want drapes anyway you could consider a less expensive option for blinds, especially if you're just doing a plain color for the blind and bringing in style with the curtains.

    ladyboom thanked anj_p
  • 4 years ago

    Yes sounds reasonable. We just ordered window treatments from Hunter Douglas. In our bedroom we're doing motorized roller shades over a large slider. I plan to layer drapery over that later. We did motorized woven shades for five kitchen windows, including one huge picture window. The total was about $10k. I am doing Blinds.com for the upstairs kids' rooms and the playroom/kid living room. It's a huge expense but our local HD dealer will come out if anything breaks, so I wanted that with the motorized treatments. Also FYI to those shopping, HD just last week rolled out their new motor system; it uses bluetooth vs wifi.

  • 4 years ago

    Yep, the price seems to be the going rate for custom roman shades with quality fabrics, lined, labor/install. i recently had roman shades made & installed for my kitchen window coverings & a guest bathroom.

    ladyboom thanked luvofdesign