When you want to draw on the blissful elegance of Spring’s abundance or just add a touch of organic beauty to your decor, think floral and botanical roman shades. From the bold Grand Millenial prints to the petite countrified ditsies, floral and botanical prints come in various avatars, depict varied personalities and relate to different decor styles. And, you’ll find all of them - the spirited, the demure, the earthy and the royal - right here at The White Window. But, before you start exploring, take a moment to go through some practical recommendations from our roman shade styling experts. The biggest advantage of opting for custom roman shades is that you can claim more leverage on the design decisions and customize them at several levels to suit your needs and aesthetic preferences. So, make the most of these tips and chase your vision -
Choose a Scale Appropriate to Your Vision
When using patterned roman shades, scaling correctly is an important step to conveying the exact vibe in the space that you envision. So, start by investigating your intentions by asking yourself a few questions - Do I want the floral roman shades to be the highlight of the room? Or, do I want them to look attractive but not in a compelling way because there are other patterns present in the room? Or, do I want a very hushed floral because there is another showstopper centerpiece that deserves to be the focal point? Based on your answers, you can decide what scale your floral should embrace.
The larger you go on the scale, the higher the chance of commanding attention and creating a focal point with your floral roman shades. Similarly, if you under-scale the print, you stand a bleak chance of making your roman shade a compelling attraction in the room. However, scale is not the only component that decides how eye-catching a floral/botanical can get; there are other players in the field which we will get to in a while.
As a thumb rule to make things easy, follow a simple equation - larger scale for a focal point and smaller scale for blending with the interiors. If your roman shade has to play the lead, go grander, like in Bliss Heart; and if your floral roman shades have to sing along with a choir, go for small and medium-scale prints like those in Hydra Wreath and Picker Grass.
Forage for the Floral/ Botanical that Suits the Overall Palette
Roman shades often occupy the prime spot in the room - vertical placement at eye level. So, it is only wise to emphatically convey the room’s color story from this vantage position. There are umpteen ways of doing it. You can let the accent hues of the print match the colors of the wall. Or, you can pick a floral that binds all the accent hues of the decor. Or, you can use your floral roman shade as the accent piece of your decor and echo the same print/color in another accessory such as upholstery or pillow.
The White Window provides floral roman shades of different colors and personalities. But, you can also find the same floral print in different colorways ensuring that there is no dearth of choice when it comes to finding a specific color. So, make maximum use of the opportunity and comb the site for that perfect floral that pitches with the specific palette of your room.
If you want your roman shade to be the star of the show, go bold - not just with the scale, but also with the palette. Like, our Cherry Blossom shades that feature large-scale toile print in crimson accents on a deep blue, bringing two bold colors together in an eye-catching way. In case you have to downplay the scale, a bold color can still convey a powerful feat as Tawny Lion does with its minuscule orange floral prints. However, if you want your floral treat to be demure, go for quieter colors and subtler contrasts as in case of the beige-on-white lissome floral vine prints in Cloud Dover roman shades.
Pay Attention to the Pattern Layout
A third factor to be considered is the layout of the pattern. It refers to the density of the arrangement or the intervals between the motifs. Accordingly, we classify florals into two main categories - florals that are laid out ‘all over’ and florals that are ‘scattered’.
Our Antheia floral roman shades are a perfect example of an all over layout. Its motifs are laid out end to end, so the eye does not focus on the details of the motif but rather on its colors. When you want a heavy dose of pattern to enliven a quiet room, this seamless flow of motifs is ideal. If your walls are plain, this roman shade will stand out and make a big impact.
On the contrary, the ‘scattered’ layout provides scope for the motif to stand out on its own against a contrasting backdrop, calling more attention to its outlines and details. Like, in case of Kudret sheer roman shades featuring exquisite floral paisleys embroidered on a white background making the motif the superstar. When you want to avoid the bustle of patterns or wish to make the motif itself the elevated statement of the decor, this layout is ideal.
Voice Your Decor Style
Besides scale, palette and layout, one thing else that becomes a parameter for the fabric choice is your decor style. Every floral roman shade is beautiful in its own way. But, does it work as the signature feature of your overall aesthetic? That is the question to be answered.
For example, minuscule scaled ditsies and calicos belong to the yesteryears and are perfect to forward the bucolic charm of rustic cottages and farmhouses in the countryside. When you want to incorporate vintage florals into a bohemian, traditional, eclectic or maximalist space, this is the type of floral to be looked out for. Like in our Taj Mahal floral roman shades that offers an updated version with its petite button-like needlepoint florals. In these kaleidoscopic schemes, there is also scope for large prints and dramatic colors as in the orange-gray tropical leaf motifs of Cameron Court floral roman shades.
In a modern setting, floral prints may not be that common, but when they do show up, they are oversized, and streamlined and often trade their kaleidoscopic features and soft hues for high-contrast black-and-white renditions. Crepe Wagon’s monochrome doodle roses are an example.
In a Grand Millennial home, the modernity is maintained by going high on scale but the vintage charm of the 80s is sought through an unapologetically vibrant palette, with the motifs often plopped on dark, moody backdrops. Seafoam Bus carries this modernized version of a seasoned floral aesthetic at its core.
In a dreamy French boudoir, though, the story of florals is entirely different. They are soft, idyllic, ‘otherworldly’ as some would say although they are the most naturalistic renditions of ubiquitous wild flowers like roses, lilies and lilacs. Often depicted as posies of flowers captured on canvas with oil paint brush strokes, these French florals usually feature pops of reds, yellows and blues on a spotless white as in our Full Flush or other soft neutrals as in our Firdaus.
Each floral speaks to a certain era of decor and looks fit in a setting that flaunts features of those times. So, when you choose a floral roman shade, make sure that you pick one that rhymes with your overall decor language. Otherwise, it will look out of place and more like a sorry afterthought rather than a well-considered, curated, custom floral roman shade.
Pick the Right Fold Style
Once you pick the floral fabric that’s most apt for your decor in terms of its personality, scale, colosr and layout, the next step is to select a fold style that will make it a wholesome visual treat. The White Window offers roman shades in three fold styles, each with a unique visual appeal that is more suitable to certain fabrics and decor styles.
To judge which fold style is ideal for your floral roman shades, pay attention to how each is constructed. The silhouettes of the slats in a front-slatted plain fold shade ‘interrupt’ the flow of patterns. While petite motifs are least affected, large-sized and scattered prints tend to get distorted. Whereas the flat back-slatted flat fold style and the European relaxed style offer a continuous front surface that helps to show off the patterns as they are, without any interruption.
The back-slatted flat fold shades also cascade into neat folds with minimal ‘fold training’ that makes them apt for windows where frequent operation is anticipated. The European relaxed style, on the other hand, has gorgeous scalloped folds, but needs assistance to form neat silhouettes, making them more suitable for traditional/feminine decor styles, stationary decorative roman shades or for less-used windows.
That's well-rounded advice on every essential consideration to be made when selecting a fold style for a floral roman shade. But, if you want to delve into each style in detail, please refer our Roman Shades Style Guide.
In Conclusion
From providing a window view to a thriving garden to offering just a hint of nature’s organic elegance, floral roman shades can be as bold or as quiet as you want. Whatever your décor style or the requirements of your room, there’s a floral print that can meet the mandate perfectly. So, explore The White Window collection of botanical and floral roman shades today and find that winsome one that’s right for your window in our statement velvets and silks, light-blocking blackouts or casual cotton, linen, and sheers. Make your home burst with the positive vibes of a floral fest.
STRIPED ROMAN SHADES | CHECKERED ROMAN SHADES | OMBRE ROMAN SHADES
