Roman blinds combine the soft beauty of fabric with the clean, space-saving function of a blind. Raised, they stack neatly at the top of the window; lowered, they give excellent light control and privacy while adding texture, colour and warmth. They suit contemporary and traditional interiors alike, and are especially popular where you want a tailored look without the fullness of curtains.
At Hay Interiors we make proper custom made Roman blinds — quality curtain fabrics cut, sewn and finished in our Nedlands workroom, to the exact measurements of your windows. This is quite different from the simplified versions many shops sell, often made from roller-blind fabric on basic battens. Proper construction means superior drape, a more refined appearance, greater durability and access to a far more beautiful range of fabrics. Custom made Roman blinds — Roman shades, as they are sometimes called — are among the few window treatments still genuinely made by hand in Perth, and we have been making them in WA since 1969.
Book a free in-home consultation — call (08) 9386 1986 or enquire online. Annie will visit your home, assess your windows and recommend the right Roman blind style for each room.
Traditional Roman blinds are built with rings, cords or motorised systems, and proper linings or interlinings. That construction is what allows pattern matching, beautiful headings and a soft, tailored finish. Because we make genuine sewn Romans in-house rather than ordering them in, we deliver the elegant result designers and discerning homeowners expect.
The difference shows most clearly in how the blind hangs. A properly made Roman blind falls in even, controlled folds with a soft, refined surface. A roller-fabric version tends to look flatter, stiffer and less resolved — particularly when lowered. For rooms where the blind is the focal point of the window, the difference is significant.
The consequence is simple. A roller-fabric blind is limited to whatever roller material comes in. A properly sewn Roman is made from curtain fabric, which opens the entire fabric library to you — and it means the blind can be made in a sheer for diffused light, or lined with blockout for a dark bedroom. A roller-fabric version can do neither.
Folded construction, lifted on cords, with the fabric stacking neatly at the top of the window.
Gathered rather than folded, and made by very few people in Perth. These are the treatments Annie trained on in England.
Not every style suits every window. Annie considers your windows’ proportions, the look you want (tailored, soft or dramatic), how much light control you need, and how the blind works with the room. Her guidance is invaluable with the decorative styles — Austrian, Festoon and London — which demand both technical skill and an eye for proportion.
She also advises on linings (sheer, light-filtering or blockout), whether motorisation adds value, and pairing with sheer curtains or pelmets. For traditional drapery alongside these, see Swags & Tails and Heritage Curtains.
Because Romans are made on site, we keep complete control over quality and detail — you can often watch the sewing and finishing while you visit the showroom. In addition, because the making happens here, we can also work with fabric you supply or source.
This in-house capability is one reason interior designers regularly recommend us for Roman blind projects, and we make and install curtains and blinds across Perth — the western suburbs, the river suburbs and beyond.
Living rooms. Roman blinds suit living areas particularly well, because they stack tidily above the glass and leave the view uninterrupted when raised — useful where a window looks onto a garden or where the room is already busy with furniture. A Roman is flat when lowered, which means a patterned or textured fabric reads properly rather than disappearing into folds, and it is often the one place in the house where a fabric worth looking at can be seen in full. On a west-facing living room, a lining takes the afternoon glare off a television screen — and in Perth, if we line a Roman we line it with blockout, because the lining is working against UV and heat as much as against light.
Because we join fabric, a Roman can be made wider than many blinds will go, and a wide living-room window is usually best dressed as one blind rather than a run of several across the same opening. Sliding doors are the exception. A Roman stacks above the opening, and above a door people walk through that stack is in the way — so on a slider, or on a really wide opening, another treatment will usually suit better. A common and elegant arrangement is a full-width treatment across the door, with Romans on the smaller windows either side of it. Annie works that balance out at the consultation.
Bedrooms. In a bedroom the question is usually darkness. A Roman blind lined with blockout gives a clean, tailored look with far better light control than an unlined blind, though no blind covers the gap at the sides of a reveal entirely — which is why bedrooms are often best served by a Roman paired with curtains, or by a blind fitted outside the reveal where the architecture allows. Annie will tell you honestly which approach the window needs.
Kitchens, studies and stairwells. Romans work well anywhere the tailored look of fabric is wanted without the fullness of a curtain. In smaller windows they are frequently the neatest solution available, and the fabric range means the blind can pick up something already in the room rather than fighting it.
The best way to begin is to visit our showroom in Nedlands. You can explore hundreds of fabric samples, see finished examples, and often watch work happening in the attached workroom. Annie or a member of the team is always happy to talk through possibilities and answer questions.
Alternatively, we can arrange an in-home consultation at a time that suits you. This has the advantage of enabling us to consider your actual windows and provide advice on the best window dressings for your space.
Either way, you will receive honest, expert guidance focused entirely on what is right for your windows and your home.
We look forward to helping you create window furnishings you will love for many years to come.
Yes. We sew our Romans from quality curtain fabrics with proper linings, which gives the soft, even folds and refined drape a true Roman blind should have — quite different from the roller-fabric versions many shops sell.
Yes — a blockout lining gives darkness for bedrooms and media rooms while still showing the fabric you love on the face of the blind. Sheer and light-filtering linings are also available.
Most styles can. Motorisation suits high, wide or hard-to-reach windows and integrates with smart-home systems. See our Motorised Roman Blinds page for more.
