In my latest post, I shared my dreams of beautiful roman shades, and the crushing reality of the high price of replacing even the plainest custom roller shades.
I felt like I was at an impasse. It didn’t make financial sense to pay such a ridiculous price to replace shades, but we needed SOMETHING to help our baby sleep and protect that room from the sunlight that floods in daily.
So, I decided to get creative.
After all, my options weren’t only:
- Spend tons of money on new shades
- Live with broken shades
Were my broken shades truly beyond repair? Was there some way to improve them? Who said that my baby NEEDED a blackout shade? Maybe he would be just fine sleeping in a dimly lit nursery. We don’t know until we try! (Oh the optimism of a first time parent…)
In my desperate hopeful attempts to avoid spending thousands of dollars on shades, I found some pretty incredible ideas on how to improve roller shades. (As always, a special thanks to Pinterest and Google Image Search).
PAINT YOUR ROLLER SHADE
Source: Apartment Therapy
Source: Better Homes and Gardens
Source: American Blinds
(not actually painted in this photo, but wouldn’t black shades look chic?)
COVER YOUR ROLLER SHADE IN FABRIC
Source: Cottage and Vine
STENCIL YOUR ROLLER SHADE
Source: Decorated Life
Source: Decorated Life
MONOGRAM YOUR ROLLER SHADE
(because everything is better with a monogram)
Source: Design Chic
(and most practically)
FIX YOUR ROLLER SHADE
FixMyBlinds.com is an incredibly helpful resource for understanding the inner workings of your blinds (of every type!). They help you identify the part or parts you need to replace and then provide detailed videos and diagrams on how to fix your blinds all by yourself. Parts generally range from 4.95 to 19.95. (Which is a LOT less than 2 grand!).
Source: Fixmyblinds.com
Now it’s time to decide exactly how bold and energetic I’m feeling about this potentially major DIY project.
To Fix, Improve, or Pay?
