DIY Roman Shades From Blinds (video)
September 14, 2019
This post is from our Stagg Design project archives and originally posted in July 2014. We hope it gives you inspiration and some tips for tackling that next project! xx- Team Stagg
First, thank you so much for your sweet responses yesterday here and on social media about the new homepage. I’m so excited for the upgrades to this page as well!
On to today’s project: DIY Roman Shades From Blinds. If your house is anything like mine was when I moved in, it is filled with blinds. I personally don’t really love traditional blinds. To replace them all would have cost a fortune so I set out to recycle what we already had in place by altering some of our existing blinds and making them into functioning roman shades. And here is the best part about this project: it’s easy. And it’s cheap. Ok, that’s two things. But they are both really good things.
So let’s get to it! Here is exactly how I made roman shades from my blinds, in video form, naturally.
Video/Editing: James Young
I also used this technique for my laundry room roman shade. I love how they turned out.
Completely off topic but if you know me, you know I have a great love of a certain sale this time of year. It’s Nordstrom Anniversary Sale time! I’ve been going every year since I was 10 and it was a big deal I missed the first day of presale for Haven. But I have since made up for my absence. Here are a few of the things I picked up this year.
Can we just talk about these boots? They never ever go on sale. I’m obsessed.
These jeans are perfect. I hate low rise jeans, and these fit amazingly well.
I love a modest dress. I picked up this one in the blue color and it’s such a great fit.
This sweater may be the most comfortable thing I picked up.
It’s not often you find wedge boots that are both comfortable and cute. These boots fit the bill.
Happy Wednesday! Half way to the weekend, babes.
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I love this tutorial… so smart and so easy.
Could you please tell me the name and manufacturer of the fabric you used in your laundry room? I love it… it’s just what I’m looking for!
Thank you Karen! I’m not sure, but I’ll see if I can find out!
That was a fantastic video! I feel like i could do this project and will at my next house.
Genius idea! Found your blog recently and love it! Question for you…we are looking for a gray sectional for our family room and noticed you have one.. Would you mind sharing where you got it and if you’d recommend it for a large family? Thanks!!
Hi Natalie, thank you so much! It’s from Z Gallerie and we love it. I would totally recommend it! Thanks for reading!
This is wonderful! Do you have any advice for doing this with mini-blinds (the 1 inch slat type)?
Hi Ruth! Thank you so much! I think it would work exactly the same way. I think maybe even better because the slats will be smaller. When you’re done post a photo on Instagram and tag me!
Love the coral fretwork fabric used in your kitchen! Where is it from?
Thanks Rachel! It’s called Cross Section and I bought it at JoAnn.
Hi – I love this video. Just wondering how long you allowed for the fabric glue to dry before handling the blinds. THanks!
Thank you Kaari! I let the glue dry for about 20 minutes and it was good to go!
[…] (so they look sprayed!), I replaced the stained glass, showed you how to replace the faucet, and how to transform your ugly blinds into roman shades. We also showed you how to install a subway tile backsplash and added this island light Kenroy […]
This is just what I need! I’ve had a bolt of fabric for this purpose for over a year but have never gotten around to making my shades! Your video is so good and the instructions are so clear. Thank you!!
Megan, you’re so sweet– thank you! Send me a photo when you’re done!
I love this tutorial! I really want to try this, but I have those ugly, faux-wood blinds. They look like the same size as yours, but they are thicker. Do you think I could still make a roman shade out of my blinds? Thanks!
Hi Sara, I think it would work just fine, you may just want to double line the fabric then use a bit more fabric glue, since wood slats will be heavier. Good luck!
Wow! I would never have thot of using blinds to make roman shades. I have made many roman shades and they are so time consuming, but doing it this way would be a lot faster. Now I wish I had old blinds! 🙂
Thank you so much, Carol! If you wanted to do the project, you could also use what are called Mini Blinds. They are really inexpensive and available at Home Depot or Lowe’s. Thank you for reading!
Thank you so much for this idea – I am currently waiting for the glue to dry on my attempt. I can see doing this all over my house.
Can’t wait to hear how it turned out! If you post it on Instagram, tag me!
I was thinking about this project for my living room, but since I would be raising and lowering them at least once a day, I’m wondering how practical it would be. Do you normally just keep yours up? I was worried that I might have to be constantly readjusting the folds when I raise them to get the blinds to look right. I have a total of 6 long and narrow windows. Any advice would be really appreciated.
Hi Nicole, they are functioning so you can raise them up and down, but I don’t know if it would be convenient to do it every day, more than once a day. I’ve also done a faux roman shade tutorial that works great for windows you need blinds with. You can find it HERE. Hope that is helpful!
Hi, I am so happy I stumbled upon this tutorial on youtube. I am going to to try this in our kitchen. Just one question, when you reattached the blinds into the clips in the windows how did you hide the metal which holds the binds into place?
Thanks Ally! I sort of covered the metal clips with the fabric, but didn’t glue down the fabric in that spot so that they were functional. Does that make sense? Let me know if you have other questions!
[…] starting really soon on withheart.com! Check out some of Jennifer’s most popular posts: DIY Roman Shades Blinds DIY Marble Top Coffee Table DIY Spray Paint Vinyl Chairs Make sure to follow Jennifer on […]
[…] site is full of great DIY tutorials too, most including the how-to in videos. This DIY roman shade using old blinds project is […]
hi i was just wondering if you think i could get these roman shade results by using my old faux wood slat blinds.? they are 2inch slats.
Hello there! I don’t see why not. I would just use a little extra fabric glue because wood would be a bit heavier. Good luck!
Kelly, how’d yours turn out with the 2 inch slats? I’m about to try with mine.
I stumbled upon this tutorial when my first attempt at Roman shades didn’t work out so well. I was able to reuse the same fabric, followed the video step by step and now they are drying! They look like yours did in the video! I used 1” vinyl mini blinds that I got at Walmart for $4. I can’t wait to hang them!!
I’m so happy to hear that! Go you!!
[…] stagg-design.com/… […]
This video for DIY roman shades from blinds is fantastic, and I will try to create these blinds myself. I know this is not an easy task, but I’ll try to accomplish it.
Thank you so much!
Jen , love your idea , but my blind blade are 1inch your seem to be about 3 inches.will this effect my blind ?