What custom shades actually cost

The four things that set the price

1. Size

Price tracks area, but not in a straight line. Past a certain width a shade needs a larger tube, a heavier hem bar and sometimes a stronger motor, so a very wide window costs more per square foot than a small one, not less.

2. Fabric

The widest range on the quote. A standard solar screen and a designer blackout can differ by several times for the same window. This is also where you have the most control — we will show you where the money makes a visible difference and where it does not.

3. Motor, or no motor

The single largest line item on most quotes. A battery motor costs less to install because there is no wiring; a hardwired motor costs more up front and never needs charging. Seemotorized shades for which one suits your house.

4. Mount and extras

Side channels for genuine blackout, a fabric-wrapped fascia, a recessed pocket, a dual roller with two fabrics on one bracket — each is a real addition rather than an upsell, and each is optional.

Why there is no price list here

We could publish a starting price. Every company does, and it is close to meaningless, because it describes the smallest window in the cheapest fabric with no motor. Almost nobody buys that shade.

What we do instead: measure, show you fabrics in your own light, and give you a written number per window. That number is what you pay. If something changes, we tell you before we build it, not after.

Where people over-spend, and where they under-spend

• Worth paying for: motorization on tall or hard-to-reach windows, proper blackout edges in a bedroom, and hardware sized to the shade.
• Usually not worth it: the most expensive fabric on a window nobody looks at, or motorizing a small window you pass every day.
• Commonly under-spent: the mount. A good shade on bad brackets sags within a year, and the saving was about twenty dollars.

What you get for the two-day turnaround

Nothing extra. It is not a rush fee and there is no expedited pricing, because building quickly is simply what happens when the workshop is in the same city as the job. See how we build shades in Los Angeles.