A whole house of roller shades, installed while the rooms were still mostly empty. White fabric where the rooms needed brightness, grey where a calmer look made more sense.
Is it better to install roller shades before you move into an Escondido home?
Yes, if you can. Installing roller shades in an empty Escondido home means clear access to every window, accurate measurements, and privacy from the first night you sleep there.
This house was close to bare when we came through. Fresh paint, crown molding, recessed lights and not much furniture. That made the job faster to measure and cleaner to install. No dressers to slide away from a wall. No beds blocking a window. We could stand square in front of each opening, check the frame depth and decide on the mount without working around anyone's things.
There is a privacy reason too. A new home with bare windows feels exposed at night, and paper shades taped to the glass are nobody's idea of moving in.
The house had a mix of openings: standard bedroom windows, small high windows, a tall narrow one, a patio slider and a window over the kitchen sink. Our roller shades covered all of them with two fabric colors, so the whole house reads as one plan.
How do you choose between white and grey roller shade fabric?
Choose by the room and the view. White fabric glows and keeps a room bright, while grey fabric looks calmer, cuts glare better and lets you see out more clearly when the shade is down.
Most of this house went white. The bedrooms, the patio slider and the kitchen sink window all got a soft textured white that matches the walls and trim. With the shades down, those rooms stay light, and the windows look like part of the wall instead of dark rectangles.
A few windows went grey. One looks over a side patio with a small fountain and a palm, and the grey shade there frames that view and keeps the window from glaring white in the afternoon. Another faces the street. The darker fabric looks tidy from the curb too.
The slider got two shades side by side instead of one very wide one. Each half is lighter to lift, and you can raise the side you walk through while the other stays down. A white fascia across the top hides both rolls behind a single clean line.
What is the best window treatment for a kitchen sink window?
A roller shade, in most kitchens. It sits flat inside the opening, it stays clear of the faucet, and it wipes clean when it gets splashed.
This sink window is wide, with a stone counter and backsplash running right up to it and a tall faucet in front. Anything with folds or slats would collect grease and water spots. A curtain would hang into the sink. The roller shade rolls up out of sight, and when it is down the white fabric turns the window into a soft lit panel above the counter.
Mount depth matters here. A kitchen window often has a shallow return because of the backsplash, so we check that the roll and brackets fit inside before choosing an inside mount. If they do not, an outside mount above the window works, as long as it clears the faucet when lowered.
Inland homes get strong afternoon sun, and a light fabric keeps the sink area from glaring while you work. It is one of the first windows we look at when we plan window treatments in Escondido.
How do roller shades handle tall, narrow and small high windows?
Very well, because each shade is cut to its own window. A tall narrow window gets a tall narrow shade, and a small high window gets one sized to match, with no extra fabric bunched at the sides.
The tall window here looks out on the same patio fountain. An inside mount roller shade fits in the frame and stops wherever you leave it, so you can cover the top half for glare and keep the fountain in view below. The bedroom with three windows has two small high windows on the side walls. Matching white shades on all three make the room look balanced, even though the windows are different sizes.
Store bought shades rarely come in these sizes. You end up with gaps or fabric that hangs past the frame. Our post on custom vs off the shelf blinds goes into why that matters.
Buying a home or getting ready to move? Book a free in-home consultation while the rooms are still empty, and we will measure every window in one visit.