The Cath Kidston Designer roman collection at Unbeatable Blinds is a made-to-measure range offered in 17 prints, starting from £16.14. It is the retailer's presentation of Cath Kidston's licensed fabrics on a roman blind, which gathers the cloth into soft horizontal pleats as it draws up and hangs as a flat panel when lowered. That folded, upholstered finish shows off a print well, so this collection is chosen as much for the brand's recognisable designs as for the blind itself.
Who it suits
Roman blinds suit living rooms, bedrooms and dining rooms, where their soft pleated fall reads as a decorative, fabric-led finish rather than a purely functional one. This collection plays to that: the Cath Kidston prints give a window a distinctive look, so it works best in rooms where the blind is meant to be seen. It is less suited to steamy kitchens and bathrooms, where the folded fabric holds moisture and is harder to keep fresh than a wipe-clean roller or a venetian.
The cloth here is light-filtering rather than blackout, so it softens daylight and gives daytime privacy without blocking light entirely. For a bedroom that needs full darkness you would want a blackout-lined option, but for a living space where you want a printed, softly diffused finish this collection fits the brief. The playful scenic and character prints also lend themselves to a child's room, where a soft, pleated blind reads more gently than a hard panel and the pattern carries the scheme.
The colours
17 colours available
This is a print collection, so the colour families describe the leading tone of each design rather than a plain shade. Blues are the largest group, taking in Millfield Blossom Navy, Planes Mid Blue, Spitalfields Border Navy and Wiggle Rose Blue. Creams cover Fast Cars Cream, Magical Kingdom Cream and Summer Sharks Cream, while pinks run through Canopy Stripe Pink, Magical Scenic Pink and Tea Rose Pink, and greens appear in Canopy Stripe Sage and Summer Birds Green. There are playful multi-colour prints too, such as Cowboy Multi, Paisley Multi, Sports Multi and Wild Ones Multi, sitting alongside the more floral and scenic designs. Printed fabric can look different in a window than on a screen, so order a sample before committing, especially for the busier multi-colour patterns.
Price by your dimensions
Enter your window size. We round up to the next standard size, which matches how the retailer actually quotes you.
Price around its usual level (checked since 23 Jun).
For a licensed designer fabric the collection starts at an accessible price, though a roman generally costs a little more than the equivalent roller because of the extra cloth and the folding mechanism. Price tracks the size you order rather than which print you pick, so the choice comes down to the design.
How it compares
Against the Cath Kidston roller in the same brand of cloth, this roman gives a softer, more decorative finish - the fabric gathers into pleats and reads as an upholstered treatment rather than a flat panel. The trade-off is that a roman is a little dearer and less suited to damp rooms, where the roller wipes clean and copes better. If you want the designer print with a clean, simple panel and the lowest price, the roller is the alternative; if you want the softer, room-led look, the roman is the one.
A note on care
Roman blinds need a gentler touch than a flat roller. Keep the fabric fresh by dusting along the pleats regularly, ideally with a soft brush or the upholstery head of a vacuum on a low setting, so dust does not settle into the folds. Spot-clean any marks with a barely damp cloth rather than soaking the cloth, and avoid hanging the blind in a consistently steamy room, since trapped moisture is the main thing that ages a printed roman.
The same Cath Kidston designs, at several retailers
Cath Kidston roman blinds are sold by more than one UK retailer, so the same designs turn up under each shop's own range. They differ in construction, colourway and fitting, so it pays to compare on more than price:
- Unbeatable Blinds this page from £16.14
- Terrys Fabrics from £21.59
- Wilsons Blinds from £22.07
- Blinds Direct from £27.03
Designs carried by more than one of these retailers include Millfield Blossom, Paisley, Spitalfields Border, Summer Birds, Tea Rose, Wiggle Rose and Wild Ones.
Our full Cath Kidston blinds guide - every pattern and price →
These are the same designs rather than guaranteed identical blinds - one retailer may weave a jacquard where another prints the pattern, and colourways and fittings vary. Check the specific design, colour and fitting at each retailer before buying.