How Roman Shades Work

 
Click on image to enlarge.

The standard woven wood shade is supplied with a 6" valance that conceals the components that operate the shade and with lift cords to raise and lower the shade. The lift cords run through a cord lock and under the head rail through pulleys and then down the back of the shade, where they are tied off on the bottom ring of the shade.

The standard shade head rail is 1½" wide and is made of wood.

The pulleys and cord lock required to operate the shade are screwed into the underside of the wood head rail.

Woven wood shades are installed using an L bracket with a screw post and a wing nut.

The bracket can be installed using the holes in the face of the bracket or the top.

The number of lift cords depends upon the width of the shade and the pattern (softer patterns have more cords). Each cord has a tassel and a clear plastic cord stop.

The cord stop is a safety feature to stop the cord being pulled from the back to form a large, hazardous loop. The cord stop will not go through the cord lock, so it stops a loop being formed.

The cords run down the back of the shade and down the back of the shade they are threaded through a cord shroud. The cord shroud is a safety feature and does not help the shade operate. The purpose of the cord shroud is to make the cord inaccessible by making sure that young children cannot pull the lift cord away from the shade and form a hazardous loop.

Woven Wood shades are supplied with cord cleats, which should be secured to the wall at the desired height, so that the cords can be wound up and kept out of the reach of small children.

Cord Locks have a plastic housing and brass gears, which grip the cords when engaged and hold the shade at the desired height.

To engage the cord lock (and lock the cords) the cords should be pulled away from the center of the shade.

To release the cord lock and allow the cords to move freely and lower or raise the shade, the cords should be pulled towards the center of the shade.

If a standard shade is ordered with a liner, the liner will come attached to the shade. The liner is attached with stitches down each side and where the rings are located on the back.

Liners are either Privacy or Black Out. Privacy Liners are the same color on each side. Black Out Liners are coated on the back and are either white or beige in color on the back.

If the liner has a different color on each side, the darker side will normally face the shade (to coordinate with the bamboo material), unless ordered reversed.

Standard shades can be ordered with movable liners.

Edge bindings are 3" wide in total, or 1½" on the front and back of the shade.

The edge binding is attached by sewing it to the shade.