Scalloped Roman Shades for My Kitchen Window: $250, a 2-Minute Install, and One Thing I’d Change
Part two of our kitchen window makeover is the part that actually fixed something. After the peel and stick window grids gave this plain builder window some character, I went looking for a shade and fell for scalloped Roman shades. Ours are a custom yellow stripe from SelectBlinds, they cost about $250, and the install took two minutes. There’s also one decision I’d make differently, and I’ll be specific about it.
I bought these shades with my own money. Since then I’ve joined SelectBlinds’ affiliate program, and they’re sending me a motorized version for a follow-up. Nobody paid for or approved this post.
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*This post contains affiliate links. I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Custom scalloped Roman shades, yellow stripe, from SelectBlinds: about $250 for a 46″ x 46″ inside mount, including the click2fit add-on
First I Had to Figure Out What I Even Liked
Before I could pick a shade, I had to admit I didn’t know my own style. Japandi, Scandinavian, the whole clean-girl beige world — all pretty, none of them me. What I kept saving on Pinterest was curvy shapes and color that isn’t beige: warm, a little playful, somewhere between soft funhouse and Mediterranean. Some people called it circus-like. I don’t hate that at all.
This kitchen window was the first place I tested it. Our cabinets are builder white, the countertop is white quartz, and the whole kitchen, dining area and living room are one big open space. If I was going to set the tone for the house, this was the spot.
Why Not Curtains, Rollers or Blinds?
The window sits right over the sink, so a curtain was out. It would be short, in the way, and constantly damp. A roller shade felt too plain for what I was going for. And I didn’t want a dangling pull cord anywhere, because we have a cat and I’d rather not invent a new hazard for him.
That left something I could raise and lower with my hands. So I went back to Pinterest, typed in my style words, and kept landing on the same thing: scalloped shades. Some with a contrast trim, some in lace. The lace ones are gorgeous, but I wasn’t sure I wanted the kitchen that feminine. The scalloped edge, though, was exactly the curvy line I’d been collecting all along.
What Are Scalloped Roman Shades?
They’re a Roman shade with a curved, scalloped bottom edge instead of a straight hem. The fabric still folds up in soft horizontal pleats like any Roman shade. The difference is the shaped bottom, which reads a little vintage and a little whimsical, and it softens a square window the way a straight edge never will. On a boxy builder window like mine, that curve is doing a lot of work.
How Do You Choose a Shade Color From a Swatch?
Hold it up against the window with the sun behind it. This is the thing I’d tell everyone. A fabric swatch flat on your counter and the same fabric backlit by afternoon sun are two different colors.
SelectBlinds’ swatches are free, so I ordered 17 of them. They turned up in a paper envelope within a week, back when I was just a regular customer with no relationship with the company at all.
I knew I wanted color. Not blue, because I didn’t want the kitchen to read coastal. I went back and forth between orange and yellow, imagining the light coming through and making the room golden, the way I remember Spain feeling. Holding them up to the window settled it: backlit, the orange went brown. The yellow stripe stayed warm and golden. I’d never have known that from looking at them on the table.
Why I Ordered From SelectBlinds Instead of Etsy
I looked at Etsy first and saw plenty I liked, but for my size the quotes ran $350 to $450, with longer waits. The same look at SelectBlinds came to about $250. Free swatches made it an easy thing to test before committing.
Measuring, and the Click-to-Fit Add-On
My window is 46 inches wide and 46 inches tall, and I went with an inside mount. SelectBlinds walks you through measuring step by step on their site, and I just followed their instructions exactly. For custom shades, this is the part worth slowing down for. Measure twice, write it down, measure again another day if you’re nervous.
The part that confused me was an add-on called click-to-fit, about $25, which promised installation with no tools at all. I couldn’t picture how that worked, so I used the chat on their site and asked. They explained it in a minute. If you’re stuck on something while ordering, just ask the chat. For $25 to skip drilling entirely, I said yes immediately.
From order to doorstep was about two weeks.
How Long Does It Take to Install a No-Tools Roman Shade?
Two minutes. I timed it on my phone because I was filming.
The box had the shade in one piece and a single sheet of instructions, which tells you how simple this is. You lift it into the window opening and click it into place. There’s a strong tension spring holding it there, so the one moment that takes a little muscle is pushing it in against that spring. If I could do it, you can. I didn’t ask my husband for help.
Now the part where you should not copy me. I pulled a dining chair over, climbed onto it, and stood on my kitchen counter, in socks. Plenty of people in my Instagram comments told me exactly how they felt about that, and they were right. Use a ladder and have someone spot you.
Manual or Motorized? The One Thing I’d Change
Go motorized. I went manual, and it’s my only regret.
The shade is above the sink, which means reaching over the sink to move it. I can get it to about halfway, so halfway is where it lives, more or less permanently. Sometimes I grab a pair of tongs to nudge it a bit further. My husband is six feet tall and he can’t get it all the way up either.
That matters more than it sounds. That window controls about half the light in our whole open kitchen, dining and living space. On mornings when I want the room bright, the shade is still half down, and the room stays dimmer than it needs to be. I love that western light. I just want to be able to let it in on demand.
SelectBlinds offered me a motorized version after I said all this out loud, and I’m doing a follow-up on it. If your shade is over a sink, a counter, or anywhere you can’t comfortably reach, pay for the motor.
Did It Fix the Afternoon Sun and the TV Glare?
Yes, both. This window faces west, and for four years the late-afternoon sun went straight into our eyes while we stood at the sink, and straight onto the TV screen we watch from the dining table. Four years of saying we should really do something about it. The shade solved both. That’s the whole reason it exists, and it delivered.
The Golden Glow Was a Bonus
Here’s what I didn’t fully expect. This is Los Angeles, so we get sun most of the year, and every afternoon that light now comes through yellow striped fabric instead of straight through glass. The whole room goes warmer, like someone swapped in a warmer bulb. It feels nostalgic to me, the way childhood memories always seem to be lit, and a bit like being on vacation.
And something funny has happened since. My husband and I have been cooking much more, and having more fun doing it. Maybe that’s coincidence. I don’t think it entirely is.
Cost Breakdown
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Custom scalloped Roman shade, 46″ x 46″, inside mount, yellow stripe, with the click-to-fit no-tools add-on | ~$250 total, including tax |
| 17 fabric swatches | Free |
| Comparable Etsy quotes for the same size | $350 to $450 |
Would I Buy Them Again?
Yes, with the motor. The fabric is what I hoped for, the scalloped edge gives the window the curve I’d been chasing without making the kitchen fussy, the install was genuinely two minutes, and the room is warmer in every sense. The only thing standing between this and perfect is my own arm length.
Part three of this series is the windowsill, where I skipped real tile and found something much easier. That one’s coming next.
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- Custom scalloped Roman shades, yellow stripe, from SelectBlinds: about $250 for a 46″ x 46″ inside mount, including the click-to-fit add-on
- Free fabric swatches: order a pile of them and hold each one against your window with the sun behind it
