John Lewis Blinds / Curtains

[Twins10203]

Has anyone used the John Lewis made to measure blinds / curtains service? They are coming out to measure up next week and I’m worried they are going to quote silly money. I would just like to know if anyone else has used them and if so how much they paid and for what? Would feel better if I had an idea on costs beforehand.

We need:
4 windows - roman blinds
1 window - roller blind
1 set of patio doors - curtains

None of them are bay windows.

Thanks

I'd brace yourself. The quality will be lovely but you'll pay for it (I have JL made to measure curtains but they were originally made for my mum so I'm not sure how much they cost but I can attest to the quality).

It was about 10 years ago - we were about £170 for a roman blind and £400 for curtains - they are fabulous though, striped material perfectly matched up across both curtains, fully lined and the corners weighted so they hang beautifully. An investment, but a good one I think.

I got a pair made for my bedroom. 3 metres tall by about 2 metres wide.

Cost about £300 but I got the fabric in their clearance.

They’re beautiful curtains.

I have some - they are beautiful but they were extortionate. It all comes down to the fabric you use and the repeat of any pattern. The lady who measured up told me it would be eye wateringly expensive and gave me a ball park figure. The quality is amazing though and one year on they still look like new.

Not sure if these are the same, but I've bought three sets of measure - it - yourself wooden blinds from JL over several years and the quality has gone down badly each time. The mechanisms are now really poor and the cords are now the minimum length they can get away with.

I got them out to do a quote and it was expensive. I think about £3k for one long wide set of curtains and 6 roman blinds. I ended up having them made by a specialist company for about half the price - in the exact same material.

Use Blinds2go, you could change the colour every year & sell the old ones.

I wouldnt want to be stuck with really expensive patterned ones, in case my tastes change. Which they do a lot.

I would have to go for a plain colour.
For that reason I would go cheaper & spend the difference on a holiday

I had some made by JL - pinch pleats for a bow window plus a 2nd window, and was very pleased, though obviously they weren't cheap.

A few years ago I made 2 sets of floor length (plain colour) lined curtains for a dd's new house, using all JL materials. The fabric was also available in their 'make in 7 days' service.

Out of interest I worked out relative costs. Home made, inc. fabric, lining, tape, etc. came to about £300. To have them made exactly the same would have been roughly double. Given all the time and faff - though I dare say the professionals would have done it rather faster than I did - I didn't find that entirely unreasonable.

Please be aware that JL have contracted out their customer services to an outside company.
They are pretty awful at the moment, various departments not communicating with each other.
I ordered measure, make and fit a blind, curtains and pole on 18 July.
I had them fitted on 31 October. Here is my comment from Trustpilot.

*“Struggling to get any sense out of JL.
Ordered curtains and a blind on 18 July, to be fitted along with a curtain pole. Who would have thought a curtain pole could cause so much trouble?
The curtains and blind are ready, but the pole cannot be traced. I could go to the shop and buy the very same pole myself.
I have tweeted JL and phoned, but feel I am getting nowhere.
They promise to “look into” it and escalate my concerns. Why can’t they just make a couple of phone calls and sort it?

I had the room decorated a few weeks ago, Said blithely to the decorator that new pole and curtains were arriving soon, so he removed the old pole and made good the holes that were left.
So I now have no bedroom curtains and the weather is getting cold.

I’m not surprised that customers are losing faith.”*

I ended up making a formal complaint

I used them a couple of years ago. It took far longer than stated and like Orchardgreen we had taken the existing poles down when we decorated and I spent several weeks without curtains in the lounge, in winter. I made a formal complaint and after a lot of discussion was eventually given some compensation.

The good news is the curtains, when they eventually arrived, were lovely and they look great.

I had a quote a week ago. A pair of curtains, to just 'dress' the window (I already have my own blind behind). One width of flowery fabric wide each, 2.5m long with a plain blue 3cm vertical border on the leading edge. Single pleat at the top and plain white lining. £750. I can buy the same fabric online for 25£ a metre cheaper, so will be making them myself for £300.

Look elsewhere.

Our roman blind spends more time being repaired. It ALWAYS breaks again within a a month of being ‘mended’.

At £700 3 years ago I would never use JL again.

If you know your measurements, you can get a made to measure quote on the JL website. Perhaps look at Laura Ashley, too, as they are similarly priced I think and often have sales

I got a quote from JL for two windows, one bay and one normal. It was close to £700 (around £680 from what I remember) in total. I ended up going to Dunelm of all places and the curtains I got (made to measure) are really good and cost me £460. Also, the service at Dunelm was great and it turned out (when the curtains arrived 3 or 4 weeks early) that they give you the absolute maximum amount of time it will take to make sure they can meet the deadline.

I didn’t get blinds so I can’t comment on the blinds service.

Thanks everyone for your comments, that’s really helpful. I was hoping it would come in under £2k (closer to £1.5k preferably), don’t think I’m too far off based on your comments, but will prob be slightly higher. Will check out some of your suggestions too, thanks!

I’m using the JL home design service to help me pull together a few things for a house renovation (carpets, window coverings, lighting etc...) however feel slightly tied into them by doing this and makes it awkward to shop around if not happy with price. 🤔

Just get the stuff you are sure about through them and say you are still thinking about the rest, you'll live with the first lot for a while to decide. Or just go for it and be done with it!