Window covering pricing is one of the most confusing parts of any renovation, and the confusion is not accidental. Most of the major brands publish a starting price that means almost nothing. A roller shade advertised from $89 arrives at $400 once the fabric, the motor and the installation are on the order. A plantation shutter from $25 a square foot lands at $1,200 on a moderate window once the configuration is settled. The real numbers are knowable — but only as an installed price, never as a teaser.
The ranges below are the installed ones. They reflect what we see on our quotes and installations across our 17 locations, and they should not surprise anybody who then sits down with a consultant.
Table of Contents
- The Short Answer
- What a Window Actually Costs
- The Six Things That Move a Quote
- Size Does Not Scale the Way People Expect
- Whole-Home Budgets
- Where to Spend, and Where Not To
- How to Compare Quotes Without Being Fooled
- Three Expensive Mistakes
- Budgeting It
- Related Guides
- Want a Realistic Window Covering Quote?
- Frequently Asked Questions
The Short Answer
Budget $150 to $500 per window for most products, and $400 to $900 for plantation shutters. That is installed, on a typical 36-by-60-inch Ontario window. A whole house runs $2,500 to $12,000 for most homes, and past $15,000 once shutters and motorization are in the mix on a larger one.
The single biggest lever is the product category, and the second is the material grade inside it. Everything else — size, motor, install complexity, brand — moves the number by less than choosing shutters over shades does.
What a Window Actually Costs
| Product | Per window installed | What sits at the bottom of the range | What pushes it to the top |
|---|---|---|---|
| Faux-wood blinds | $150 to $400 | Visibly composite; fine where nobody studies it | Grades hard to tell from real wood; 2.5-inch slats add 10 to 20 percent |
| Roller shades | $150 to $350 | Light-filtering and decorative fabrics sit mid-range | Blackout fabric, dual shades on one headrail, motor — each adds 30 to 50 percent |
| Cellular shades | $200 to $450 | Single-cell, standard configuration | Double-cell adds 15 to 30 percent; side tracks $50 to $150; top-down/bottom-up about $50 |
| Real-wood blinds | $250 to $500 | Standard sizes, standard stains | Wider slats and specialty finishes |
| Roman shades | $250 to $600 | Standard fabric, standard lining | Designer fabric and blackout lining can pass $1,000 on one window |
| Plantation shutters | $400 to $900 | Composite, standard rectangular opening | Real wood adds 20 to 40 percent; arches and angles add 30 to 60 percent; a patio door runs $1,500 to $2,500 |
Two things worth reading off that table. Fabric choice moves a Roman shade more than the mechanism does, so a premium fabric on a standard mechanism costs more than the reverse. And a motor is 30 to 60 percent on top of whatever the row says, which makes it the largest single upgrade available in any category — Motorized Blinds: Are They Worth It? covers when that is money well spent.
The Six Things That Move a Quote
- Product category — the big one. Shutters cost more than shades, shades more than basic blinds, and no other factor closes that gap.
- Material grade — real wood against faux, premium cellular against standard. Within a category this is the difference that shows.
- Window size — more material, and past a point heavier mechanisms.
- Motorization — 30 to 60 percent over manual.
- Installation complexity — high windows, unusual shapes, several coverings sharing one opening. This is labour, and it is real.
- Brand premium — the major names often run 20 to 40 percent above equivalent quality from regional manufacturers.
Size Does Not Scale the Way People Expect
Price rises with size, but not in a straight line. A roller shade roughly doubles between a 24-inch and a 48-inch window, then does not double again between 48 and 96 — the hardware, the install and the consultation cost the same whatever the width. The practical consequence is that small windows are expensive per square foot of glass and large ones are comparatively cheap, right up until the span crosses into heavy-duty engineering and the price steps again. Best Window Coverings for Large Windows covers where that step lands for each product.
Whole-Home Budgets
| Home | Windows | Typical mix | Installed total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Condo or starter home | 8 to 10 | Mostly roller or cellular shades | Lower end of $2,500 to $12,000 |
| Typical detached home | 15 to 20 | A mix across categories | $5,000 to $12,000 |
| Larger home | 20+ | Shutters on show windows, cellular in bedrooms, faux wood in bathrooms, motors on the awkward ones | $15,000 to $25,000 |
Where to Spend, and Where Not To
The useful way to think about a window covering budget is that it is not one budget — it is fifteen or twenty small ones, and they should not all be the same size.
- Spend on bedrooms — blackout either works or it does not, and the cheap version is the one that does not.
- Spend on main-floor rooms — seen daily, by you and by everyone else.
- Spend on windows you operate constantly, and on the ones you cannot reach. Both are usability, not luxury.
- Save on the spare room nobody sleeps in, the utility room, the basement window, the high opening over a stair landing. The covering is background there and background is cheap.
Premium product in an invisible room almost never earns it back. The money saved there is what pays for real wood shutters in the room that deserves them.
How to Compare Quotes Without Being Fooled
Quotes vary so widely that comparing them at face value is close to meaningless. The headline number routinely leaves out installation, hardware, blackout lining or tax, and which of those it leaves out changes between providers.
There is one reliable method: ask every provider for the all-in installed price per window, in writing, with the specific product line and fabric named. Then compare like for like. A quote 30 percent below the others usually has 30 percent less in it, and the work of an honest comparison is finding out which 30 percent.
Ranges get you to a budget; they do not get you to a number. Book an appointment and we will measure the actual openings and quote the all-in installed price per window, in writing.
Three Expensive Mistakes
- The wrong category for the room. Premium shutters where cellular shades would have done the job, or bargain blinds on a window the household works four times a day and will resent for a decade.
- Phasing without a plan. Doing half the house now and half later is fine. Doing the second half without reference to the first is how a home ends up with two schemes.
- Skipping a motor the window needed. The saving is one-time; a covering nobody can reach stays in one position for the life of the product.
Budgeting It
Start from the rooms that matter and work down. Weight the budget toward bedrooms, visible main-floor windows, and anything large or out of reach. Use standard product elsewhere. Then add 10 to 15 percent on top of the total you first arrive at, because almost nobody goes down once they are looking at real samples in their own house — the upgrade that gets chosen at that point is usually the blackout liner or the better fabric, and it is usually the right call.
Related Guides
A few other guides connected to this topic:
- How to Choose the Right Window Coverings for Your Home — The complete window coverings decision pillar.
- Shutters Buying Guide — Where the top of the price table comes from.
- Motorized Blinds: Are They Worth It? — The largest single upgrade in any category.
- Best Window Coverings for Large Windows — Why span drives price past a point.
- Energy-Efficient Window Coverings — Where a premium earns itself back on the heating bill.
- Shutters vs Blinds vs Shades — The category decision that sets the budget.
- How to Choose the Right Flooring for Your Home in Ontario — If windows and floors are being budgeted in the same renovation.
- Why Alexanian — How we quote, and why the number in writing is the only one that counts.
Want a Realistic Window Covering Quote?
The best way to choose what's right for your home is to see the options side by side. Book an in-store appointment at one of our 17 Ontario showrooms and one of our consultants will walk you through what fits your space, your needs, and your budget — or request an in-home visit if that's easier.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a reasonable budget for a whole-home window covering project?
For a typical Ontario detached home with 15 to 20 windows, $5,000 to $12,000 buys a quality project with a mix of products. Condos and smaller homes come in below that; larger homes running shutters and motorization go well above it.
Why are some window covering quotes so much cheaper than others?
Usually because something is missing — installation, blackout liners, hardware — or because the quote is a product tier below the one it is being compared against. Ask for the all-in installed price per window with the product line and fabric named and the gap generally closes.
Is it worth paying more for motorized coverings?
On hard-to-reach windows, large windows, and windows worked several times a day, yes — the 30 to 60 percent premium buys a covering that actually gets used instead of one that sits in one position for years. On ordinary windows you can reach, no, and we will tell you so.
Can I install window coverings myself to save money?
On simple openings, yes, though the saving is smaller than people expect because most providers already include installation. The risk is the part that costs: wrong brackets, an uneven hang, a mismeasured opening. Saving $50 to $100 a window rarely justifies that on a custom product that cannot be returned.
