1

We have a 1924 craftsman home with 8 original double hung windows still intact:

enter image description here

We want to preserve them, but they're crap when it comes to insulation so we're going to purchase double cell cellular blackout shades, which are pretty thick.

My question is, can they be fully inside mounted (flush with the exterior) over our decorative interior trim. We don't want to pay installers to come measure and everything, only to find that they can't or won't install this way over our windows, but that perhaps other installers can or will install this way.

I've only been able to communicate with sales people, and their answers so far have been that we should mount them on the exterior or that they won't be flush. But there must be a work around that installers have? or at least something we can do to prepare the windows for the install so that it will work.

Improve this question
3
  • 2
    "We don't want to pay installers to come measure and everything". An hour's worth of time from a reputable draper will be well worth it. You'll get insight on insulation, fit, and finish.
    – bishop
    Nov 26, 2019 at 9:35
  • 1
    Hello, and welcome to Home Improvement. A reputable installer won't bill you if they can't do the work for you. And, you should probably take our tour so you'll know how best to participate here.
    – Daniel Griscom
    Nov 26, 2019 at 12:54
  • Thanks for the advice, we are going to meet with an expert tomorrow to see what they think our best options are.
    – timz08
    Nov 27, 2019 at 3:53

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
2

As the windows are right now an inside mount would have the shades hitting the top of the lower sash.

I also like the look of a inside mount much better so I recommend a small modification of the window trim to accomplish this.

enter image description here

Remove the trim indicated by red arrow. This will leave a flat plane indicated by yellow. To this flat plane add a 3/4 board about 2.5-3” wide around the window.

enter image description here

Then it’s just a matter of measuring the width inside your new boards to get shades cut right.

Improve this answer
5
  • 1
    Actually... the area pointed at by the yellow arrow is where the trim piece pointed at by the red one is missing. Since the OP is going to a lot of effort to preserve the existing windows, removing trim probably isn't the goal. Adding the boards as shown in your 2nd pic will work, but probably doesn't meet the desired aesthetic, either - it would totally remove/obscure all the wonderful steps in that trim.
    – FreeMan
    Nov 26, 2019 at 18:42
  • 1
    Most importantly, removing that piece of trim will leave nothing holding the lower sash in place.
    – FreeMan
    Nov 26, 2019 at 18:43
  • 2
    @FreeMan the new board takes the place of the removed trim and holds the sash in place. Also I am aware that a piece of trim is missing in the photo and that is why I point to it as the flat plane that is available for the new board to attach to.
    – Kris
    Nov 26, 2019 at 18:51
  • FreeMan hit on my thoughts exactly. I ran this by my wife and we both felt pretty irked by the idea. No offense, It's a great idea, probably the most practical in fact, but we want to work on restoring the windows as much as possible to their original state, considering they are one of the few intact original features of the house. We are considering smaller cellular shades, or perhaps a small modification to the upper trim piece and meeting with a couple experts tomorrow.
    – timz08
    Nov 27, 2019 at 3:52
  • 1
    I agree with the OP, I'd hate to lose the stairstrip trim. A previous owner of my home mounted heavy shades on the flat face of the window trim, then cut them to just land on top of the bottom sill. It left a couple small screw holes in the trim, but they were easy to fill and paint over when the shades were removed.
    – Eric Simpson
    Nov 27, 2019 at 14:09
1

https://i.imgur.com/WbJuzDg.jpg

For those of you who are curious. See the photo for the end results.

I got a couple of quotes from local specialists and their work around would have been to install the blinds over the top trim piece.. somehow. I messed around with the top trim piece on one of the windows and found that I could remove it without removing any of the other trim or damaging the window otherwise. So I removed the top trim piece from all of the windows, measured myself and ordered the blinds.

They turned out pretty good. My only regret is that I should have added at least a quarter inch to the width of the blinds as the company reduces the width by 3/4" to reduce the chances of them being produced slightly too wide or in case my measurements were wrong. The end result is that they let in a little bit more light around the edges than I like.

My next step is to find some neat ornamental hooky thingy's for wrapping the cords around.

Thank you all for your help and advice!

Improve this answer

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.