Fast, super functional custom bamboo and woven Roman shades

Fast, super functional custom bamboo and woven Roman shades

• 4.09.2025

An overall goal I have for my home these days is using timeless, high-quality pieces. Since we’ve been here 6 years now and I’ve been decorating it pretty much the whole time--sometimes that means redoing something I did when I didn’t know any better. When we first moved in, I bought quite a few cheap Amazon Roman shades because they had the top-down option and they sort of looked like linen. For Otto's room I got a different model that was more blackout. Neither of these held up very well or looked very good. 

It was overwhelming to think about replacing them--there are several windows and I knew they were going to be lots of options to choose from now that there are so many affordable custom window treatment options--but I put the time in and I’m so happy with it!

Thank you to Neutral Curtains for sponsoring this post.

Major Upgrades to my Roman Shades!

The cheap fabric shades in the living room were in particularly bad shape because this wall faces south and they had sun damage that caused the rubbery backing to disintegrate. Every time I moved these shades there was dust back there (see them here). I was embarrassed and never wanted to deal with it. Plus the texture was just so flat in a large room that has a lot of flat, light surfaces. 

The solution: natural bamboo woven shades. Now, I had bamboo shades in my last house, very 2016 style, and they also looked cheap and sort of wannabe boho, but also industrial black-and-white modern? It was not good. I definitely wanted a different look this time! Neutral Curtains has a handful of really beautiful woven bamboo fabrics/materials to choose from and I got their sample books and held them up. 

For this room, I decided on the Ramie Woven Bamboo Blind in Coconut which has some nice texture, but is relatively even and not nubby, to give it a little bit more formal look. I also chose the banded edges. I went back-and-forth on that, but I think it makes it feel a little more dressed up, and this is a historic Tudor revival house so I think I should be a little dressier than I would say a Southern California even semi-traditional house.

Neutral Curtains also offers their bamboo Roman shades in top down, which I needed for privacy on these windows, but still wanted the light. The previous owners had planted a bunch of grapevines outside for privacy, but they take over the house and get under the siding and gutters, etc., and completely overwhelming, and then you just have green leaves against your windows in the summer. Top-down blinds are much better!

I’ve made a few other changes in this room recently, like putting that mirror on the back wall, and it’s feeling more elegant and peaceful.

In the guestroom, I had some more of those disintegrating blinds on a couple of other south-facing windows, plus one for the backyard that I always leave. In this room, I chose a similar but a little bit more in texture shade, the Ramie Woven Bamboo Roman Shade in Beige. I also did the banded edge and top-down here. This room has been tricky for me because of the dark trim and preppy blue and white, which I love, but is different than other rooms in my house. The cheap fabric Roman shades were not looking great with the curtains and wallpaper, but the bamboo is extra fun!

Finally, in Otto's room, I didn’t need the top-down feature, but I did need semi-blackout. His trim is also a really dark color and the light polyester fabric shades I’ve had here before a weird contrast. I found this darker woven Roman shade from Neutral Curtains (the Ramie Bamboo Woven in Woven) which I did lined with a room darkening/blackout fabric, and definitely bound the edges on these as well. (I’m not sure what it would look like if I didn’t, but it seems like a good idea to blend the two and hide the edges of the backing fabric.)

These are much easier to open and close than the ones I had in here, and this room gets the absolute best light in the afternoon, so it’s been really nice to open his curtains and shades every morning when I get him up and let that light stream through the upstairs. I never used to do that, but it brings me so much joy!

There are quite a few affordable custom blind, curtain, and Roman shade options out there nowadays, but they all don’t offer the same features. Neutral Curtains was the only one I found that had bamboo/woven Roman shades with top-down features and edge binding. They have great prices and ship super fast, plus they are super responsive on their Instagram chat if you have any questions or issues once things arrive. And, I have a coupon for you! Suzannah26 gets you 25% off.

I am so happy with these new woven Roman shades and excited to share them with you!

Thank you to Neutral Curtains for sponsoring this post.