Just wanted to try to add some privacy on our front window next to our entry doorway and we saw this product being offered on Amazon. CHICOLOGY Roman Shades 27″ W X 64″ H Del Mar Moon Shell.
From the picture, it looked nice, reasonably priced and what’s important for us is it’s easy to install, so we decided to get it.
It arrived, so let’s see what it looks like.
It confirmed my expectations, the installation is easy enough, you just need a level tool such this one and probably a drill (definitely a time saver). You don’t even need to be that precise on the distance between the two brackets, as long as they’re quite close to the edge of the shade. The shade will just snap to the bracket, and this is the upside and downside of the setup.
With this installation, when the shade was collapsed, it still covers the top part of the window, which is the effect I wanted. If you wanted the whole window to still uncovered, it would probably be good to install the bracket about 12-inch above the window (make sure to measure twice and drill once).
Again, once the brackets are installed, you just need to push the plastic part on the top and it will snap. Here are the before and after photos.
The good is just by adding the roman shades, it adds more to the privacy inside the house and it’s amazing how a minimal change could add much to the coziness of the house.
Now, the bad. Part of the bad things I see here was partly my fault by buying without much thought of the color. As you can see in the picture, the color is very similar to the window and the wall. I wished I picked something a bit darker now. But this is easily fixed.
The second bad thing I noticed is how the back part of the shade can easily snapped in to the brackets making it very easy to put in place. The issue I noticed right away is every time you snap the shade to the brackets, if you have the need to take it off, there are some scratch marks on the plastic parts. The next time you put it back on, it became a bit more loose. It was progressively worse to a point when you pull the curtain down, the whole thing can fall off.
So now if I have to pull down the curtain, I have to hold the top part of it to make sure I don’t pull the the whole thing down and get detached from the brackets.
Alignment is another thing and there are quite a few complaints from Amazon about it. In my case, it doesn’t bother me that much, but yes if you’re nitpicky, it is very easy to be crooked, but you can still try to straighten it especially if it’s not fully down.
When it’s pulled down fully though, it’s a little bit harder to make it nicer. The top part is not straight, but it’s expected as it’s just attached with a velcro, but this can be easily covered with another layering.
Pointing back to the first point I mentioned, with the color very similar to the wall and window frame, there’s almost no distinction between the foreground and the background and I failed to make any visual attraction from this window treatment. It is for sure a learning experience for now. But at the time when I need to replace it, if I still want to try this brand, I might want to select the Belgian Flax or Del Mar Sandcastle.
But I might change my mind and pick a different brand altogether.
Conclusion
Overall, I think the product is good for what it’s intended to be. Not too great, but not too bad either. I would rate it as a 6.5 out of 10 because I wished the way the shade attached to the brackets are a bit more robust. Some people were complaining about the material looked too cheap. This roman shade is only about $50, with that, I think we need to be realistic in your expectations.
But if I would recommend it to anyone? If you live in apartment, absolutely as you don’t want to invest too much in a rental. However if you do a window treatment for your house, I would probably increase the budget a bit more and research on a different product with higher quality to make it last longer and you’ll have a greater satisfaction in the long run.
This post contains affiliate links. Whenever you decided to use the links to shop, this website will receive a small commission without increasing any costs to you. Thank you for your support.
