Roman blinds are the soft-furnishing option: flat fabric panels that pull up into neat horizontal folds. They’re chosen on looks — fabric, texture, colour — and they carry the highest price per square metre of the common blind types, because there’s real sewing in them.

What to know before choosing romans

  • The stack. Raised, a roman folds into a stack 200–350 mm deep hanging at the top. On a short window this shades a lot of glass; fitting outside and above the recess keeps the glass clearer.
  • Linings matter more than fabric. Standard lining gives a soft glow; blackout lining makes bedrooms dark and protects the face fabric from sun fade; thermal linings add warmth — a lined roman is one of the cosier window coverings for draughty single-glazed sashes.
  • They’re textiles. Steamy rooms and condensation-prone windows will eventually mark them. For bathrooms, see blinds for bathrooms.

Measuring

Start with the standard three-measurements-each-way routine from the measuring guide.

  • Inside the recess: give exact recess width and drop; the maker deducts a small clearance. Because romans are visually “fitted”, an out-of-square recess shows — if your widths differ by more than about 10 mm top to bottom, an outside fit will look better.
  • Outside the recess: a common approach is 50–100 mm of overlap each side and the headrail mounted far enough above the recess that the raised stack hangs mostly over wall, not glass. State the total finished width and drop.

Fitting

Modern made-to-measure romans come on a cassette headrail with click-in brackets — mechanically the same job as a roller: two or three brackets, level line, solid fixings. Weight sits between a roller and a faux wood venetian; interlined or very wide romans deserve an extra bracket and a helper.

The usual failure points are the same as for any blind — crumbly plaster at the top of the recess, hidden steel lintels, and brackets fixed slightly off-level so the folds hang skewed. The fitting walkthrough covers all three, and the chain tensioner must be fixed to the wall as with every corded blind (child safety).

Cost expectations

Fabric and sewing make romans the premium mainstream blind: expect to pay several times the price of a plain roller for the same window, before any fitting charge. That changes the DIY equation — when the blind itself is expensive, a measuring mistake costs real money, which is exactly the scenario where a measure-and-fit service earns its fee: the fitter owns the measurement risk, not you.

If you’re confident in your measurements, ordering made-to-measure online still saves a healthy margin — just triple-check the retailer’s own measuring instructions for romans, because deduction rules vary more between makers than for hard blinds. Realistic fitting prices are in the cost of fitting blinds guide.

Frequently asked questions

Are roman blinds good for bedrooms?

Yes, with the right lining. A blackout-lined roman fitted outside the recess with good overlap darkens a room well, and the fabric layer adds a little insulation. Light will still leak at the edges more than a side-channel blackout roller.

Can roman blinds go in a bathroom?

Generally avoid it. Roman blinds are unlined or fabric-lined textiles that hold moisture, so steam encourages mould and drooping. A faux wood venetian or moisture-resistant roller suits bathrooms better.

Do roman blinds need more depth than rollers?

The headrail itself is compact, but the folded stack is deep from front to back and hangs down 200–350 mm when raised. In shallow recesses the stack can foul window handles, and on short windows it can cover a third of the glass.