Roller Blinds Versus Roman Blinds

Every window is different and every home is different, what type of blind or curtain your friend has may not suit the home you live in. The style of window treatment you choose should complement your home, and you may find that due to space restrictions, the style or period of your home, or the design of the window itself, that a roman or roller blind is the most practical solution, but how do you decide between the two.

Roman blinds and roller blinds are very different and each has their own qualities, advantages and disadvantages, these factors are further discussed to help you choose what may be the better choice for your home.

Roman Blinds

Roman blinds are an elegant and stylish blind and while very traditional in recent years the roman blind has evolved to become more contemporary, allowing them to be used in either a period home or a newer more modern home.

The standard roman blind has battens and a pulley system attached to the rear of the blind, this allows the user to pull a cord at the top of the blind, which lifts it up to the top into structured folds and it sits similar to a pelmet, at a depth of about 300mm depending on the style chosen.

Traditionally roman blinds were made out of unlined fabric and then attached to a blockout lining, allowing them to match with almost any homes interior, however now you have the options of screen, translucent and self-coated fabrics that do not need a separate lining. These options allow endless possibilities when it comes to fabric selection and there are many styles such as traditional, gathered base, front batten, looped, sewless, timber battens, timber headboards, tracks, cord locks, chain drive and even motorisation.

The main points to consider when purchasing roman blinds are they will be more expensive than the roller blind, they can be more difficult to clean, however you can have a scotchguard treatment applied and they may be quite heavy to lift depending on the size, style and fabric chosen. The chain drive or motorisation can help with the weight however it is an additional cost on top of the blind and the roman blind is up or down with no daytime privacy option.

Roller Blinds

Roller blinds also once know as Holland Blinds are seen as more contemporary blind however can also be a very traditional blind depending on the style and fabric chosen. Roller blinds have also evolved in recent years, gone are the days when you had to slightly pull the roller blind down in order for the spring to roll it up. The more common operation method today is with a chain drive or motorisation.

Roller blinds are made out of a large piece of fabric of your choice with options such as screen, translucent or blockout, and this is then attached to a heavy duty tube which rolls it up and down the window.

Roller Binds are an extremely compact design and when rolled up usually sit at a depth of less than 100mm, depending on the tube and style chosen, this allows it to be used in a wide variety of applications where other blinds may not be suitable.

You have endless options with the more contemporary bottom rail styles and colours, or you can choose a more traditional bottom such as a scallop with fringing. There is also the large bracket selection, one of which allows two blinds to be attached to the one bracket, this gives you the added option of a day screen and also a blockout screen for the nights in the one application.

The main points to consider when purchasing roller blinds are they will not insulate as much as a roman blind and they allow more light to penetrate around the sides of the blind especially in a recess fit or when the fabric is front rolled in an outside mount application.

Smaller width roller blinds are more susceptible to rolling off to one side and may result in the fabric rolling unevenly and overlapping the end of the tube, this is caused by the lack of weight in the small blind, guiding the base rail whilst drawing the blind up may help.

Larger width roller blinds may have fabric ripples occur, usually more noticeable from the side of the blind, heavy duty tubes can help but will never totally eliminate this problem.

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