Roman Shades in Bluffton SC for Old Town Cottages

A Roman shade is fabric that gathers into soft, stacked folds when you pull it up. In an Old Town cottage with a deep front porch, it's one of the nicest things you can put on a window. When I plan Roman shades for one of the older houses in Bluffton, I settle the lining first and the fold second. The porch already softens the light, so the shade's real job is privacy and a finished look.

Why do porches change what goes on the window?

Old Town's early houses were built for this climate, with deep porches meant to shade the rooms and catch the breeze. Many sit up on brick piers with clapboard siding. Most of the district went up between 1880 and 1930, per its National Register nomination. Most of the houses are small. The same filing notes dense trees and a large number of towering live oaks.

That porch is great outside. Inside, it changes the light more than people notice until they're choosing fabric. A front room behind a deep porch gets soft, indirect light most of the day and rarely sees hard glare. Put a big live oak over the yard and that room gets dimmer still. I lean toward light fabrics there. So the shade has a different job than it would in a sunny new build. You want to keep every bit of daylight and add some privacy from the street while the room still looks finished.

A Roman shade does that well. Raised all the way, it clears most of the glass. Lowered, it hangs flat or with a soft curve and looks like part of the room.

Flat fold or relaxed fold for an older Bluffton room?

A flat fold has clean, crisp layers and a straight bottom edge. It suits a small room where you want things to look neat and simple. It also shows off a pattern well, because the fabric lies smooth when it's down. In a cottage with plain painted trim, a flat fold in a light linen look is a safe bet.

A relaxed fold is softer, with a gentle curve along the bottom that feels more casual and a little more lived-in. I like it in a bedroom or a reading corner, or anywhere the room already leans soft.

There's also a soft fold (some call it hobbled) with loops of fabric down the whole face. It's fuller and more formal. In a small old house, I'd use it in one room at most. Use the same fold and fabric on every window of a wall so it looks like one design.

Lined or unlined in damp Lowcountry air?

Start with the porch rooms. They're the easy ones. An unlined shade in a light fabric lets the most daylight through, and it feels airy. Night is the catch. Thin fabric shows a lot of a lit room. A light-filtering lining evens out the daytime glow and hides more. For a street-facing window at night, I'd pick a room-darkening lining and simply raise the shade all day. That same lining is the one for bedrooms, and for a guest room where someone wants to sleep past sunrise.

Then there's the damp air. A steamy bath is no place for fabric, and our plantation shutters post covers what holds up in humid rooms. In the rest of the house the air conditioning keeps the air dry, so a Roman shade is right at home.

A lined shade also helps a little on a chilly morning. Lowered overnight, it puts a layer of fabric between you and the cold glass.

What if the window frame is too shallow?

We check the depth of every frame at the visit. If it's too shallow for a lined Roman shade to sit inside and fold up cleanly, we mount the shade outside the frame on the wall above the opening. A house built before 1930 may have shallow frames, and you won't always know until someone puts a tape in them.

An outside mount has other perks in an old house. When the shade is up the folds sit on the wall over the opening, so you get the whole window back. In a small house, that counts. A shade mounted above the frame also covers the edges of the glass. If the frame is deep enough, an inside mount shows off nice trim and gives a tailored look.

Picking fabric for Roman shades in a cottage

A Roman shade is mostly fabric, so the fabric sets the mood of the room. In a cottage I like a plain linen look on most windows. Save a bold print for one room like a bedroom or a reading corner, where it can be the thing you notice.

They come cordless or motorized, which makes them easy to use every day. If reaching or pulling is hard for anyone in the house, this guide to easy window coverings talks through lift options. Folds, linings and mounts are on our Roman shades page.

If you only do one window this winter, make it the street-facing front room behind the porch. Fabric reads differently in that soft, shaded light than it does anywhere else. Have us out to plan Roman shades in Bluffton for that room, and we'll hold the samples up right there.

Kevin Sill is CFO and co-owner of the family-owned Budget Blinds franchises serving Hilton Head Island and Bluffton.