Laundry & Utility Room Roman Blinds: Top Ideas & Tips

Pink roman blinds in a pink laundry room with tropical wallpaper

 

Laundry rooms and utility rooms are usually treated as purely practical spaces, and the window is often the last thing anyone thinks to dress. But a room you use every day deserves a little joy. A fabric roman blind can do much of what a piece of art does, bringing colour, pattern and softness, while still giving you privacy and light control, which is why laundry room roman blinds are such an easy upgrade. Jazz the room up a little and you might even start to enjoy folding the washing.

The trick is choosing a blind that suits a warm, busy, hard-working room. Here are our stylists’ tips on the fabric, colour and pattern, the fold style and the mounting position, so you can choose the perfect blind for your laundry or utility room.

The Fabric Factor: Go Airy and Light

Striped roman blind above a sink in a grey laundry room

 

The goal with the choice of fabric for a laundry room is to keep the room airy, even when the blinds are down. The roman blinds must be able to breathe, dry in a flash and keep the laundry room fresh even when the laundry pile isn’t. So, look for lightweight fabrics with natural fibres like cotton and linen or their blends. Avoid pure poly blinds as they tend to trap odours. Since privacy is usually not a stringent aspect for a laundry room, you can opt for semi-sheer or sheer roman blinds to let in light and air throughout the day. Besides, they vent out the moisture arising from the wash-and-dry cycle, helping the blinds to resist mildew and extending the lifespan of your machines. 

The Power of Visual Stunts: Have Fun with Colour and Pattern

Small window with a roman blind in a yellow patterned laundry room

 

Roman blinds come as a godsend in utilitarian spaces like laundry and utility rooms, as unlike industrial blinds that only offer plain neutrals and hardly any patterns, the design potential of fabric roman blinds knows no bounds. From textured neutrals and tangy hues to multi-coloured candy stripes and dainty florals, roman blinds can bring a dash (or lot!) of vibrance with colour and pattern. A space otherwise invaded by cold materials like tile and metal, receives a glow-up with fabrics that bring softness, texture, and personality into the picture. So, don’t ever miss out on the creative potential of custom roman blinds in a laundry room.

Further, use colour and pattern to forward your home’s aesthetic. If your style is rustic country, for example, think of a slubbed beige linen roman blinds. For a vintage effect, consider a red gingham roman blind. Or, if you lean towards a modern, minimalistic approach, think of an uber chic plain white roman blind.

Secondly, if your laundry room window is small (which is not a surprise!) and you wish to mask its petite frame, you can do so with a well-considered palette and/or pattern. Choosing roman blinds that closely match the colour of the wall creates a sense of continuity, masking the smallness of the window. Similarly, patterned roman blinds can be used with an illusionary effect. Vertical stripes or patterns draw the eye upward, making a small window seem taller. Horizontal patterns, likewise, optically widen the frame and visually stretch a narrow window.

The Art of Folding: Pick a Suitable Fold Style

Blue floral roman blind in a white panelled laundry room

 

The structure and folding technique of the roman blinds is another key detail to attend to. Since the fold style affects both the visual appeal and the ease of operation, it is important to choose one that best relates to your aesthetic and functional requirements. At The White Window, we offer roman blinds in three popular fold styles - the front-slatted plain fold style, the back-slatted flat fold style and the European relaxed style – each offering a unique combination of form and function.

The front-slatted plain fold style features visibly raised silhouettes of the slats, lending a horizontal striped pattern that can save a monochrome, plain roman blind from feeling too unadorned. The back-slatted flat fold style, on the other hand, offers a clean, slat-free frontage - just the kind of empty canvas where a pattern can shine. Both these styles feature straight hemmed bottoms and crisp folds - a neat finish that can blend with almost any decor style.

The European relaxed style, on the other hand, features a scalloped bottom and gently curved folds that, when combined with the soft appeal of homely fabrics, make a pronounced statement of casual, easygoing aesthetic. While relaxed blinds can go with many decor styles, they are particularly at ease with spaces that read more informal, timeworn, or feminine. And since these blinds are often used almost like stationary valances, they are the perfect candidates for a laundry room where they can be left semi-open, never requiring to be folded down for privacy.

You can get a detailed description of each fold style in our Roman Blinds Style Guide. Depending on your design intent and desired operational ease, pick a fold style that ticks all the boxes for your laundry room roman blinds.

The ‘Mounting’ Question: Discern the Best Mounting Position

Relaxed roman blind with a red wavy stripe above a laundry sink

 

Roman blinds can be mounted in two ways - inside the window’s frame or outside it on the wall. Both positions have their own allures and trade-offs to offer. So, consider which position suits your space and window before taking the measurements. We have covered this topic in detail in our blog on Inside Mount Roman Blinds Vs Outside Mount Roman Blinds, which you can visit at your discretion for an in-depth probe later. 

For now, we may point to one aspect that can impact your choice significantly: the size of the laundry room window. Inside-mounting the blind will shrink the capacity of a window to draw in light and air. So, if your window is too small, it is better to mount the blind above the frame, high enough to accommodate its stacked folds on the wall, just so you can have the entire window for your cause when you fold up the blinds. Where the window is generously sized, other factors can take precedence in the choice of the mounting position.

Laundry Room Roman Blinds: FAQs

Do roman blinds cope with the steam in a laundry room?

Yes, with a sensible choice of fabric. Lightweight cottons, linens and sheers breathe and dry quickly, especially in a well-ventilated laundry or utility room. Heavy velvets and pure polyester are better kept for other rooms.

Which fabric suits a utility room blind?

A light, breathable cotton, linen or cotton-linen blend, or a semi-sheer if you’d like daylight even with the blind down. They keep a small, busy utility room feeling fresh and airy.

Should laundry room roman blinds be lined?

Often they don’t need to be: an unlined or sheer blind keeps the room bright. If the window faces a street or a neighbour, choose a privacy lining. Back-slatted flat fold blinds are always made lined, so pick front-slatted or relaxed for an unlined blind.

Which fold style suits a laundry or utility room?

Relaxed blinds are often left half-raised like a valance, which suits a room where privacy matters less. If you’ll raise and lower the blind every day, back-slatted and front-slatted blinds fold neatly every time.

Can a roman blind go above a sink or washing machine?

Yes. Choose a blind that stops at the sill so the fabric stays clear of taps and splashes, and mount it high enough that the raised blind sits above the window rather than over it.

What colour blind suits a small laundry room?

In a small laundry or utility room, a colour close to the wall makes the window blend in and the room feel larger. Light tones keep it bright, and vertical stripes make a short window look taller.

Is a patterned blind too much for a laundry room?

Not at all. A small, practical laundry or utility room is a great place for a bold print, from candy stripes and gingham to florals, as long as the rest of the room stays fairly simple.

Shop Laundry Room Roman Blinds at The White Window

Roman blind against banana leaf wallpaper in a laundry room

 

It may be a space of chores and suds, but your laundry room deserves more than a purely practical treatment. With the right custom roman blinds - entailing a thoughtfully chosen fabric, colour and fold style -  you can strike the perfect balance between function and flair. Whether you opt for a lively geometric pattern in a crisp back-slatted flat fold or a calming neutral in a relaxed scallop, this seemingly small addition can elevate your everyday and lend a touch of joy to the most mundane of tasks. So, go on, give your laundry room a little love – and in giving care to your surroundings, you might just feel more cared for yourself. So, ready to find the perfect-fit roman blinds for your laundry room? Explore our collection of light-filtering sheers and breezy cottons and tactile linens – spanning every colour, pattern and texture you can imagine – and give every spin cycle a splash of style! Every roman blind is made to measure in any of our 2,500+ fabrics, handcrafted by artisans in India and delivered with all its hardware, ready to mount. If you need help, email us at info@thewhitewindowblinds.co.uk. And if you’d like curtains too, our sister store, The White Window Curtains, has ideas for laundry room curtains.

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