Doors and windows
Cost of blinds
Made-to-measure 2 in faux wood blinds are about $140 a window installed — $1,400 for ten 36 × 60 in windows — and the same blinds from stock, cut to width in the store, $90 a window, or $550 for all ten hung yourself. The kind moves it from $57 a window for vinyl mini blinds to $305 for roman shades; the window's depth decides whether the blind sits inside the opening or outside on a bigger, dearer blind; and motors add about $200 each. This prices seven kinds, stock and made to measure, with the installing and the patio door.
Written and edited by Pablo Ruiz Quintero
Last reviewed 2026-09-24 · Nothing you type leaves your browser
Blinds cost calculator
The windows, the kind of blind, and stock or made to measure
Stock and cut to width where the kind and the size allow it; made to measure by the square foot where they do not. The window’s depth decides the mount.
Of about this size.
Inside the opening, smallest of three.
Inside the opening.
PVC or composite slats that look like painted wood and do not warp. Heavy on wide windows; the most common blind in houses.
Made to the eighth; any colour.
Inside mount: needs 2 in.
Cordless lift, wand tilt.
Not on this kind.
Not on this kind.
Vertical blinds, 72 × 84 in.
An installer, with a visit minimum.
Used only to pick a regional labour rate. It stays in your browser.
10 windows of faux wood blinds + 1 patio door, installed
$1,670
$142 a window · made to measure · inside mount
Made to measure, and a stock version exists
Made to measure at $7 a square foot of window: $1,670. The stock version, cut to width in the store, would be $1,020 — the difference buys exact fit, the colour you want and a better headrail.
No loose cords
Cordless is the standard, not the upgrade.
Stock blinds in the US have been cordless or short-corded for years under the industry’s safety standard, and most custom ones follow. The looped pull cord on old blinds is a strangulation hazard for small children; replacing corded blinds in a child’s room is reason enough on its own.
These windows, each kind
Installed, with the patio door; stock below where it exists.
What the quote covers
- 10 × faux wood blinds, 2 in, made to measure
36 × 60 in, inside mount. PVC or composite slats that look like painted wood and do not warp. Heavy on wide windows; the most common blind in houses.$1,050 - 1 patio door vertical blind
Vertical vanes on a track across the door, drawn to one side to walk through. The patio door's usual blind.$210 - Installing
Brackets screwed into the window's header, the blind hung, levelled and the valance clipped on.$410
What it costs
National average. 10 windows of 36 × 60 in with faux wood blinds, 2 in, made to measure, inside mount, and 1 patio door with vertical blinds. Not included: curtains or rods, wiring for hard-wired motors, or repairs to window trim.
Made-to-measure plantation shutters for the same windows are on the shutters page; the windows themselves on the window replacement page.
Worth knowing
- Made to measure, a 36 × 60 in blind is 15 sq ft at $7 a foot: $105 a window. Stock and cut to width, it would be about $55.
- Faux wood blinds, 2 in need about 2 in of window depth to mount inside the opening; this window has 3 in, so they sit inside and the casing stays in view.
- Cordless is the standard now, and priced in: stock blinds have had to be cordless or short-corded for years, and most custom ones too. Lift by hand, tilt with a wand.
- 1 patio door with vertical blinds: Vertical vanes on a track across the door, drawn to one side to walk through. The patio door's usual blind.
On this page — 5 sections
Stock or made to measure
The short version
- Ten windows of custom faux wood, installed: $1,400, $140 a window.
- Stock and cut to width: $900 installed, $550 hung yourself.
- A shallow window takes an outside mount and a bigger blind: $1,636.
- Cordless is standard; motorised is $200 a blind and a hub.
The first decision is not the kind of blind but where it comes from. A stock blind is made in set widths and heights, sold off the shelf and cut to your window’s width in the store while you wait; a made-to-measure blind is built to the eighth of an inch and priced by the square foot of window with a minimum per blind. For ten 36 by 60 inch windows in faux wood that is $550 stock against $1,050 made to measure. Stock exists for vinyl, faux wood, cellular and roller up to about 72 inches; wood, aluminium and roman shades are made to measure only.
$55
Stock faux wood
Cut to width
$105
Made to measure
Same window
$35
Installing, a blind
$150 minimum
$55
Stock, hung yourself
A drill and a level
MaterialsEstimator, Blind and shade price survey · checked 2026-09-24
Seven kinds, one set of windows
Slats or fabric, and then what each one is good at. Vinyl mini blinds are the cheapest thing on a window; faux wood is the default in houses and the one for kitchens and bathrooms; real wood is lighter and warps where it steams. Cellular shades insulate better than anything else; roller shades are the cleanest line and the easiest blackout; roman shades are soft furnishing, priced by the fabric.
| Ten 36 × 60 in windows, installed | Made to measure | Stock | Per window | Lasts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vinyl mini blinds, 1 in | $800 | $570 | $80 | 7 yr |
| Aluminium mini blinds, 1 in | $1,100 | — | $110 | 12 yr |
| Faux wood blinds, 2 in | $1,400 | $900 | $140 | 15 yr |
| Real wood blinds, 2 in | $2,150 | — | $215 | 20 yr |
| Cellular (honeycomb) shades | $1,850 | $800 | $185 | 12 yr |
| Roller shades | $1,550 | $750 | $155 | 10 yr |
| Roman shades | $3,050 | — | $305 | 12 yr |
Inside mount, cordless, installed with the visit minimum.
The window decides the mount
An inside-mounted blind sits in the window opening and leaves the casing in view, and it needs enough depth for its headrail and, on slatted blinds, for the slats to tilt: about an inch for mini blinds and cellular shades, about two inches for 2 inch faux wood or wood. A shallower window takes an outside mount on the wall or casing, and an outside-mounted blind is ordered bigger — 3 inches past each side and above — so it covers the opening and cuts the light gaps. Bigger means dearer, and it is also the better mount for a bedroom that has to be dark.
| Inside mount | Outside mount | |
|---|---|---|
| Ten faux wood blinds | $1,400 | $1,636 |
| Blind size, 36 × 60 in window | 36 × 60 in | 42 × 63 in |
| Depth needed | About 2 in for 2 in slats | Any |
| Light gaps | A slit each side | Covered |
| Trim | Stays in view | Hidden |
Levolor / Bali, Blind and shade measuring, mounting and installation instructions · checked 2026-09-24
Cordless, and hung properly
The looped pull cords of old blinds are a strangulation hazard for small children, and the industry standard has pushed them off the shelves: stock blinds have been cordless or short-corded for years, and most custom products followed. Cordless lift, a wand for the tilt, or a motor is what is priced here. Whatever the blind, it hangs on two or more brackets screwed into the wood header above the window, not into drywall anchors — a blind is pulled every day.
Before ordering
- Each opening measured three times each way, smallest kept, to the eighth.
- The depth measured to the nearest crank, lock or handle.
- Inside or outside mount decided per window.
- Stock checked for each window under 72 in.
- Blackout and outside mount in bedrooms; faux wood where it steams.
- Cordless everywhere; motors only where they are needed.
Window Covering Manufacturers Association (ANSI/WCMA A100.1), American National Standard for Safety of Corded Window Covering Products · checked 2026-09-24
What goes wrong
01Measuring once
Openings are rarely square; a blind built to the widest point does not go in.
Instead — Three measurements each way, the smallest kept.
02Inside mount in a shallow window
The slats hit the glass or the crank and will not tilt, or the headrail sticks out.
Instead — Outside mount, ordered bigger.
03Paying custom for a standard window
Stock faux wood cut to width is $55 against $105.
Instead — Stock where the window and the kind allow it.
04Real wood in a bathroom
Wood slats warp in steam.
Instead — Faux wood.
05Brackets into drywall
A blind pulled every day works the anchors out.
Instead — Screws into the wood header above the window.
06Two blinds on their own visit
The visit minimum makes them $150 to hang.
Instead — Every window on one visit, or hang them yourself.
- 01Measure inside each openingWidth at top, middle and bottom, height at left, middle and right; the smallest of each, to the eighth.
- 02Measure the depthFrom the front of the casing to the glass or the nearest obstruction. It decides inside or outside mount.
- 03Choose the kind by roomFaux wood where it steams, cellular where it is cold or bright, blackout in bedrooms, vertical on the patio door.
- 04Check stockIf the kind comes stock and the window is under about 72 in, stock cut to width is half the price.
- 05Decide the controlCordless is standard; motorised for tall, wide or unreachable windows.
- 06Hang or hireTwo brackets into the wood above the window per blind; an installer charges per blind with a visit minimum.
Plantation shutters are made to the opening, last decades and stay with the house. The shutters page prices them on the same windows.
The permanent version- Blind vs shade
- A blind has slats that tilt; a shade is a piece of fabric that raises and lowers. Priced the same way.
- Stock blind
- A blind made in set sizes and sold off the shelf, cut to width in the store. Cheapest; fewer colours and sizes.
- Made to measure
- A blind built to the window's measurement, to the eighth of an inch, and priced by its square feet with a minimum per blind.
- Inside mount
- The blind hung inside the window opening. Needs enough depth for the headrail and for the slats to tilt.
- Outside mount
- The blind hung on the wall or casing above the opening, ordered wider and taller to cover it. For shallow windows, or to hide ugly trim.
- Faux wood
- PVC or composite slats that look like painted wood and do not warp. Heavy on very wide windows.
- Cellular (honeycomb) shade
- Pleated fabric bonded into air cells. The most insulating window covering, and quiet.
- Top-down/bottom-up
- A shade that lowers from the top as well as rising from the bottom: privacy below, daylight above.
- Blackout
- Fabric or a liner that stops light passing through. The edges still leak unless the mount and the size stop them.
- Cordless
- Raised and lowered by hand on the bottom rail, with no pull cord. The standard now, for children's safety.
- Headrail
- The box at the top of a blind holding the lift and tilt mechanism, hung on two or more brackets.
- Valance
- The trim strip clipped over the headrail to hide it.
Common questions
- How much do blinds cost?
- About $140 a window installed for made-to-measure 2 in faux wood blinds on a 36 × 60 in window — $1,400 for ten — and $90 a window for stock faux wood cut to width, installed. Vinyl mini blinds from stock are $57 a window; cellular shades $185; real wood $215; roman shades $305.
- How much do blinds cost per window?
- $140 for custom faux wood installed on an average window, including its share of the installing. The blind alone is $105 made to measure or about $55 stock; installing is about $35 a blind with a $150 visit minimum.
- How much does blind installation cost?
- About $35 a blind — brackets into the header, the blind hung and levelled, the valance on — with a visit minimum of about $150, which is why two blinds cost $150 to hang. Motorised blinds add about $40 each for setting the limits and pairing the remote.
- Stock or made-to-measure blinds?
- Stock and cut to width in the store: $550 for ten faux wood blinds; made to measure: $1,050. Stock exists for vinyl, faux wood, cellular and roller up to about 72 in, in set heights and a few colours; made to measure fits the opening exactly, comes in any colour, and is the only way to get wood, aluminium or roman shades.
- Inside or outside mount?
- Inside when the window is deep enough: about 1 in for mini blinds and cellular shades, 2 in for 2 in faux wood or wood so the slats can tilt. Shallower, the blind goes outside — ordered 3 in past each side and above — which makes it bigger: ten faux wood blinds on 1½ in deep windows are $1,636 instead of $1,400.
- How much are cellular shades?
- About $185 a window installed, made to measure; $220 with top-down/bottom-up. They are the most insulating window covering there is, quiet, and soft in the light. Stock cellular shades in cordless light-filtering are much cheaper and fit standard windows.
- How much do motorised blinds cost?
- About $200 a blind on top of the blind, plus $110 once for a hub that puts them on a phone and a schedule: $4,360 for ten cellular shades against $1,850 cordless. Worth it on tall and wide windows, windows behind furniture, and any you want to close at sunset automatically.
- What are the cheapest blinds?
- Stock vinyl mini blinds, about $22 each — $570 for ten installed. They last about 7 years before they yellow and bend; stock faux wood costs about twice as much and lasts twice as long.
- Which blinds are best for bedrooms?
- Blackout roller or cellular shades — $173 a window for blackout rollers here. Mounted outside and oversized, they also stop the light that leaks round the edges of an inside-mounted shade.
- Are corded blinds still sold?
- Stock blinds in the US have had to be cordless or short-corded for years, and the standard's later revisions pulled most custom products the same way. Old looped pull cords are a strangulation hazard for small children; cordless or motorised is the standard now and is priced in here.
- How much do blinds for a patio door cost?
- About $360 installed for a made-to-measure vertical blind on a 72 × 84 in patio door, including the visit minimum; less from stock. A cellular vertical shade or sliding panel track is the upgrade, at two to three times the price.
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About the author
Pablo Ruiz Quintero — Editor
Editor of MaterialsEstimator. Decides which documents count as a source, what every default value is, and where the line sits between what the reader parses and what the engines compute.
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