Custom Blinds and Shades in Cicero, Indiana
Blinds, shades, shutters and drapery measured in your Cicero home. Morse Reservoir throws reflected afternoon light at the west elevations, and that changes the fabric we recommend, not just the color.
If we're busy with another customer and miss your call, leave a message and we'll call you back.
Here's what Cicero homeowners ask most, along with the answers we'd give standing in your living room. Nothing here is a sales pitch, and several of the answers point at the cheaper option.
- Services: faux wood blinds, wood blinds, vertical blinds, aluminum mini blinds
- Service area: Cicero, Hamilton County, IN and surrounding areas Two different timelines apply. New custom product takes weeks because it has to be made. Repairs to what's already hanging, a cord lock, a ladder string, a chain that jumped the clutch, are usually far quicker.
- Insured and bonded
- Serving Cicero, IN since 2008
Schedule Your Free In-Home Measure
The in home measure is where the job actually gets decided. We take three widths and three heights at every opening, at the top, the middle and the bottom, and we check the diagonals, because 35.2 percent of Cicero's houses predate 1980 and settling shows up as a quarter inch of difference between the top of an opening and its bottom. Then we measure the depth at the stop rather than at the casing face and write it down. Storm build ups on the Jackson Street houses remove that depth invisibly from inside the room.
I agree to be contacted by Cicero Window Treatments regarding my inquiry.
Cicero is 2.041 square miles of town wrapped around the top of a 1,500 acre reservoir, and that geography decides most of a window covering order. Hamilton County records 1,951 single family houses inside the corporate limits with a construction year on file. 212 of them predate 1940. Another 222 date from 2020 or later. Both conditions turn up inside the same house here, because lake cottages have been added to and re fitted in stages since Morse Reservoir filled in 1956, so one room carries a shallow 1970s jamb with a storm build up on the outside and the room added in 2004 has a clean square opening. Only 40.5 percent of the town's 1,954 single family parcels are recorded at two stories or more, which makes this mostly step stool work rather than ladder work. We measure every opening in front of us.
On motorized jobs the batteries deserve their own paragraph. Hunter Douglas states PowerView battery life at about one year, and that figure is roughly what we see in practice across Hamilton County, varying with how often the shade moves and how heavy the fabric is. Wands, hardwiring and small trickle-charging panels all reduce the chore. What you shouldn't do is buy motorized shades without knowing about that annual cost.
Here's the part most sites leave out. Custom product takes roughly two to five weeks to fabricate after you order, longer on painted shutter finishes and specialty shapes. There's no rushing that without risking a mistake. If somebody promises you next week on custom shutters, ask what they're actually ordering. We'd rather give you an honest window at the Cicero measure and hit it than give you a date you want to hear.
Built in the Last Few Years?
Many of our Cicero customers moved into a house built by one of these companies. Builder blinds are usually stock sizes trimmed to fit, so if yours came with the house and never ran right, that is why. We measure the openings as built rather than off the plan.
Named for identification only. Cicero Window Treatments is an independent company and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting as a representative of any homebuilder listed.
What Matters at the Window in Cicero
What our crew has learned working in Cicero homes.
About Cicero Homes
Cicero's median house dates to 1988. Build era shares on the parcel record run pre-1940 10.9%, 1940-1979 24.3%, 1980-1999 29.3%, 2000-2019 24.1%, 2020+ 11.4%. Median home value is $282,100. The widest spread of any town in this set. 35.2% of Cicero's houses predate 1980 - period casing, shallow and irregular jambs, storm window build ups - while 11.4% is 2020 or newer with deep square openings. Worse, the two frequently occur in the same house: lake cottages have been added to and re windowed in stages, so one room's jamb depth tells you nothing about the next. 1940s-70s lake cottage and ranch, much of it winterised over time; 1980s-90s two story and split level lake houses with water facing decks and door walls; Late-19th and early-20th century village housing on and around Jackson Street; 2000s-2020s lakefront rebuilds on original lots; A small amount. Typical opening count: 10-20 openings for the typical Cicero house, but with two important qualifications.
Where We Work in Cicero
We cover homeowners across Cicero near Morse Reservoir, Jackson Street and the historic village center, Bear Slide Golf Club, Hamilton Heights schools campus, Morse Waterways Association.
Surrounding Areas We Serve
Our crew also covers Cicero Original, Cicero Shores, Sunset Bay, Morse Landing and Morse Landing West, Stillwater Cove, Port Harbour, Hidden Bay, Graystone Village, Morse Overlook, Baycrest Addition, Conaway Estates, Auburn Estates and Tamarack.
Recent Weather Patterns
Central Indiana sits in IECC climate zone 5A, which means a real cooling load and a real heating load on the same window. NOAA's 1991-2020 normals for Indianapolis put the July average high at 85.2F, the January average high at 36.1F and the January average low at 20.9F, with the muggy season running May 25 to September 22. Cicero has the oldest housing of the five towns - 35.2% predates 1980 and 10.9% predates 1940 - so the village core around Jackson Street has genuinely mature street trees, and the 1960s-70s lake lots carry established shoreline growth.
What Our Crew Sees in Cicero
The specialty problem here is not the builder arch. It is the lake elevation: sliding and French door walls onto decks, banks of ganged casements or fixed units, three season and sunroom additions with glass on three sides, gable end triangular and trapezoidal glass on A-frame and chalet style cottages, and prow fronts. Active new construction includes Sunset Bay, Cicero Shores, Morse Landing, Stillwater Cove, Hidden Bay.
Who Actually Turns Up in Cicero
The same people measure, order and install. Customers name them in reviews, which is the point: you are not getting a subcontractor you have never heard of.
What We Are Running in Cicero Right Now
Both offers apply to work quoted and ordered while they are posted here. Ask about them at the in-home measure and we will put the discount on the written quote before you decide anything.
$500 Off Your First Exterior Screen, Plus a Free Motorization Upgrade
Take $500 off your first exterior screen and we will add the motorization upgrade at no charge. Exterior screens stop solar heat outside the glass, which is the only place you can stop it before it is already in the room, and a motor is the difference between using one and forgetting it.
Applies to a first exterior screen. Ask at the measure so the discount is on the written quote before you order. Motorized product runs on batteries that need replacing, about a year on Hunter Douglas PowerView.
Ask about this offerFree Motorization Upgrade on Select Interior Shades
Pick from the qualifying interior shade lines and the motorization upgrade is free. It is worth most on the openings you would otherwise leave alone: tall great room glass, anything above a stair, and the west windows nobody remembers to close by four.
Select interior shade lines only. We will tell you at the measure which of your openings qualify. Batteries are a real running cost and are not included.
Ask about this offerPayment Options That Work for You
A window covering project is worth doing right the first time. Financing options through Cicero Window Treatments lender partners help you pay over time instead of cutting scope or delaying the work.
Start the work now and begin paying later. On a whole-house order this is how people phase a large job without phasing the install.
- Payments deferred for a promotional period
- Rate and period set by the lender
- Quoted price held for the order
Divide the project cost into equal monthly payments across a fixed promotional period, so the budget is predictable from day one.
- Equal monthly payments
- Fixed promotional period
- Simple, predictable budgeting
Spread a larger window treatment project across a longer term with fixed equal payments, for homeowners who want the lowest monthly amount.
- Extended terms available
- Fixed equal payments
- Suited to larger window treatment projects
Financing is arranged through third party lenders and is subject to credit approval. Rates, terms, and promotional periods are set by the lender and disclosed to you in writing before you sign. Ask your project lead which programs are open right now.
From Inspection to Final Walkthrough
From one room to a whole house, Cicero Window Treatments measures every opening, orders it custom, and installs it with the same crew that took the measurements.
Faux Wood Blinds in Cicero
Central Indiana averages a January high near 36 degrees under NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normals, and PVC stiffens as the temperature drops. It won't crack in normal use, but a slat slammed against a cold frame is where a chip starts. In Cicero, lower it gently through winter.
Learn moreWood Blinds in Cicero
Cicero Window Treatments is insured and bonded, and every residential job over $150 in Indiana falls under the Home Improvement Contract Act at IC 24-5-11, which requires a written contract with a real scope and a total price. Your Cicero order gets one before anything's fabricated.
Learn moreVertical Blinds in Cicero
A west-facing Cicero door puts a vane in direct sun for hours a day, and color doesn't hold forever. A vertical slows fading on the floor and furniture behind it without stopping it, since NFRC attributes 40 to 60 percent of fade damage to UV.
Learn moreAluminum Mini Blinds in Cicero
Faux wood gives you a wider slat and a look people associate with a finished room. Aluminum gives you a fraction of the weight at a fraction of the cost, and it doesn't care about moisture. For a Cicero basement window, the cheap one is the right one.
Learn moreRoller Shades in Cicero
A year from now the fabric may still be in the line, and the dye lot definitely won't be the same. For a Cicero room where shades sit side by side, that difference shows in daylight. Order every opening in the room at once and skip the problem.
Learn moreSolar Shades in Cicero
If the window belongs to a bedroom, this isn't your product. A solar shade is designed to pass light, and it'll pass it at six in the morning in June. For sleep in a Cicero bedroom, ask about blackout and let the solar shade cover the living space.
Learn moreCellular Shades in Cicero
Through the muggy stretch from late May to late September, a cellular shade on a west Cicero window cuts solar gain before it's turned into a cooling load. DOE and ORNL measured up to 15 percent savings on total heating and cooling against a bare window.
Learn moreZebra Shades in Cicero
The sheer bands catch dust and show it. A vacuum brush on the lowest setting is the safe routine, and a wet cloth on a sheer section leaves a mark you can't undo. Kitchens in Cicero houses are hard on this product for exactly that reason.
Learn moreRoman Shades in Cicero
Bolts run out. A fabric you love today may be gone in a year, and even if it isn't, the new cut comes from a different dye lot. For a Cicero house doing rooms in phases, buy the yardage for the later rooms now and store it.
Learn moreWoven Wood Shades in Cicero
A natural shade plus a valance needs mounting depth. Older Cicero trim often won't take both inside the opening, and a valance hung proud of shallow trim looks like an afterthought. Outside mount solves it, and on this product it usually looks better anyway.
Learn moreBlackout Shades in Cicero
Tall blackout shades leak more, not less. Lutron notes larger light gaps past 120 inches or a four-to-one height-to-width ratio. A two-story Cicero stairwell or a tall bedroom window is where channels aren't an upgrade any more, they're the requirement.
Learn morePlantation Shutters in Cicero
Shutters are the least forgiving product we'll install, because the frame is rigid. We check the diagonals of the Cicero opening as well as the widths, and where a settled house is meaningfully out of square, a Z-frame hides what a plain L-frame would put on display.
Learn moreCafe Shutters in Cicero
Cafe shutters cover the bottom half of the window and leave the top open. The room keeps its daylight and its ceiling height, and the sidewalk loses its view in. On the right Cicero window that's the least intrusive privacy fix there is.
Learn moreMotorized Shades in Cicero
RF, Zigbee, Z-Wave, Thread and Matter each move a signal differently through masonry and a finished lower level. Range gets planned before hardware ships, because a repeater added after the fact in a Cicero house is a return trip you shouldn't have to pay for.
Learn moreCustom Drapery in Cicero
Pleat style changes the whole character of a panel. Pinch pleats read traditional, euro pleats sit cleaner at the top, ripplefold gives a continuous wave with no pleat at all, and goblet suits tall formal Cicero rooms. We'll show the heading before the fabric.
Learn moreValances & Top Treatments in Cicero
Where you mount the treatment decides how tall the room feels. Setting the board near the ceiling instead of on the trim carries the eye up and makes a Cicero window read taller than it is, and that trick doesn't cost anything except a little extra fabric.
Learn moreExterior Solar Shades in Cicero
Loose-hanging exterior fabric flaps and eventually frays. Side channels or a cable guide hold the edges under tension so a Cicero shade stays flat in a breeze, and that hardware's usually the difference between a product that lasts and one you replace.
Learn moreRetractable Awnings in Cicero
Awnings work best on high sun. At midday in July an awning over a Cicero south wall throws real shade, and by five in the afternoon the sun's low enough to come in under the front bar, which is where a drop valance or a side screen earns its keep.
Learn moreCommercial Window Treatments in Cicero
Closeout should leave a real document behind. A Cicero project ends with an opening-by-opening schedule, the fabric and hardware specified for each, control locations and the approved submittal package, because the value of that file shows up in year six, and it isn't visible at substantial completion.
Learn moreSkylight Shades in Cicero
NFRC puts UV at 40 to 60 percent of fading damage, and the floor directly under a Cicero skylight takes a concentrated dose of it every clear day. A shade slows what happens to the wood and the upholstery below. It doesn't halt it, and no fabric does.
Learn moreSliding Glass Door Blinds in Cicero
Drapery on a patio door looks better than almost anything else and it's the least practical thing you can hang there. If a Cicero slider gets daily traffic, panels work as stationary decoration with a functional shade behind them rather than as the working treatment.
Learn morePanel Track Blinds in Cicero
Panel track is custom-fabricated, so two to five weeks is the normal window and a specific woven fabric can run longer. A Cicero order also needs the stack decisions settled before release, because the track is cut to length and can't be adjusted afterward.
Learn moreSheer Shades in Cicero
When these need real cleaning, it's a professional job with the shade taken down, not a bucket and a cloth. Plan on that being occasional rather than routine, and keep the Cicero shade out of the kitchen where cooking film will build up in the vanes.
Learn morePleated Shades in Cicero
Standard pleated shades are lifted by cords passing through the fabric, and those holes let pinpoints of light through when the shade is down. In a bright Cicero bedroom you'll see them at sunrise, which is why a cordless design or a cellular alternative gets recommended there.
Learn moreBamboo Shades in Cicero
Muggy season here runs from late May to late September, and natural fiber responds to every bit of it. Reeds take on moisture and give it back, so a Cicero shade in a bath or a sunroom will move slightly through the year and shouldn't be hung tight to the sill.
Learn moreDual Shades in Cicero
Sunlight works on the sheer bands hardest, since they're the thinnest part of the fabric. NFRC puts UV at 40 to 60 percent of fading damage, so a Cicero south window will show wear in the sheer sections before the opaque bands change at all.
Learn moreTop-Down Bottom-Up Shades in Cicero
Motorizing both rails gives you repeatable positions and reaches a top rail you couldn't otherwise touch. On a tall Cicero stairwell window that's the only practical version of this product, and the battery service interval is part of the quote rather than a footnote.
Learn moreCordless Blinds in Cicero
Between late May and the third week of September central Indiana stays muggy, and a real wood slat in a Cicero bath or laundry will drink that up and cup. Cordless faux wood keeps the same clean lift line right through the season because a PVC core doesn't care about humidity.
Learn moreHardwood Shutters in Cicero
Painted hardwood can be matched to your existing trim, though a factory white and a builder white in a Cicero hallway are rarely the same white. Stain is harder still, because wood takes color unevenly from board to board. We'll put a finished sample against your trim before anything gets ordered.
Learn moreComposite Shutters in Cicero
No cords, no loops, nothing hanging anywhere. That takes the inner-cord hazard rule at 16 CFR 1120.3 off the table entirely, and that's why so many Cicero parents end up specifying shutters in a nursery or a bunk room where a shade would otherwise have gone.
Learn moreSmart Home Shade Integration in Cicero
Zoning is a naming problem more than a wiring problem. Shades grouped by exposure behave better than shades grouped by room, because the west side of a Cicero house wants the same thing at the same hour while the north side doesn't. We lay the groups out before programming.
Learn moreBlind Repair & Restring in Cicero
Ladder strings break where they've been in the sun. The strand nearest a south-facing Cicero window goes brittle first, so a blind that seems to fail all at once has usually been failing for two years. We restring the whole run, since replacing one strand just moves the next break down the line.
Learn moreShutter Repair in Cicero
Repair pricing is per panel or per project, and there's no honest published range for it. What a Cicero job costs depends on whether the part exists, whether the panel has to come down, and how many openings are involved. We look at the actual shutters and quote from what we see.
Learn moreMotorization Retrofit in Cicero
Longevity favors the motor. Tube motors routinely outlast the apps and hubs that control them, so keeping a simple paired remote alongside any smart system means a Cicero shade still works when a bridge goes end of life and the manufacturer's app stops updating.
Learn moreOutdoor Patio Shades in Cicero
Residential exterior work over $150 gets a written contract in Indiana under IC 24-5-11, naming the scope, the schedule, the total and the products. Indiana licenses nobody in this trade, so on a Cicero job the meaningful assurances are that agreement and the fact that we're insured and bonded.
Learn moreOffice Window Treatments in Cicero
Here's the honest limit: a shade manages light, it doesn't manage temperature by itself. A Cicero perimeter that runs hot on a July afternoon with an 85F outdoor average is partly a mechanical problem, and a solar shade reduces the load without being the whole answer to it.
Learn moreHealthcare Window Treatments in Cicero
Patient rooms want daylight and control, and they don't want them at the same hour. A dual system with a light-filtering layer and a darkening layer lets a Cicero room have an outward view during the day and a genuinely dark space at night, without asking staff to compromise on either one.
Learn moreMultifamily Window Treatments in Cicero
Blackout in bedrooms is a leasing amenity people actually notice. It's also an assembly rather than a fabric: without side channels or a genuine outside mount overlap, a Cicero apartment gets a room that's dimmer rather than dark, and residents will tell you the difference.
Learn more
Local Expertise, Real Results
A three point measure isn't a precaution in a town where 35.2 percent of the houses predate 1980 and the newest 11.4 percent went up after 2020. It's the only way to get a finished width right on a Cicero opening.
Cicero Window Treatments measures and installs custom window coverings for Cicero houses of every vintage, from mid-century ranches with shallow trim to newer builds with deep casing and generous mounting depth. Depth is the first thing checked on every Hamilton County opening, because it decides whether an inside mount is even possible before anything else gets discussed.
We're a custom window treatment shop covering Cicero and the rest of the 46034 ZIP, which is a wider job than the town limits suggest. The county parcel record counts 799 houses carrying a Cicero mailing address that sit outside the corporate limit, in plats like Forest Bay Estates, Bear Slide, Heron Hills, Calumet Farms and Vintage Woods. We're insured and insured. Indiana issues no state license for this trade, so anyone telling you they hold one for window coverings is describing something that doesn't exist. What does exist is the Indiana Home Improvement Contract Act, IC 24-5-11, which requires a written contract with a real scope, dates and a total price on any residential job over $150. You'll have that before a single unit goes to the factory, with the finished width and finished height of every Cicero opening on it.
The thing that separates Cicero from the subdivisions south of it is that a plat name predicts nothing. Cicero Shores records forty distinct construction years from 1967 to 2022 across 523 houses. Morse Landing and Morse Landing West carry 35 construction years and 359 houses, 1981 through 2024. Hidden Bay has been building since 1970 and every one of its 164 parcels is recorded as single story. Auburn Estates, by contrast, records all of its roughly 34 parcels as built in 2022. So we don't arrive holding a plan set. We take a three point measure and a square check at every opening, write down the mounting depth we actually find at the stop rather than at the casing face, and tell you which openings will take an inside mount before you pick a fabric.
Our Promise
We'll write the mounting depth we measured beside every opening on your quote, and we'll say which ones can't take an inside mount before you pick a fabric. If a Cicero opening is out of square past what a flat shade can hide, you'll hear that at the measure rather than on install day, and we'll show you the frame option that covers it.
Why Cicero Clients Text Us Photos of the Next Room
Serving Cicero and Hamilton County with quality materials, thorough inspections, and transparent pricing.
The plat name tells us nothing
Cicero Shores spans forty construction years, 1967 to 2022, across 523 houses under one name. One street can hold a 1971 cottage, a 1994 two story and a 2022 rebuild. Assessed values inside that single plat run $46,900 to $1,278,600 and recorded floor area runs 950 to 6,438 square feet. So we establish your individual house's construction year and its actual jamb depth before anybody talks product. A quote built off the subdivision name would be wrong more often than right here.
The water elevation gets its own spec
Morse Reservoir lies south and west of town, so the elevation carrying the most glass is the one taking low sun from mid afternoon to sunset, plus whatever bounces back off open water. That's a different specification from the rest of the house, and we write it separately. On the lake side the conversation is usually about openness factor, 3 or 5 percent, so you keep the water in view while cutting the glare. Inland Greystone Village, with no frontage at all, gets specified nothing like it.
We name the light gap first
An inside mount leaves a gap down each side. Lutron publishes 3/4 inch per side on its Roller 20/64 and a standard factory deduction of 1/16 inch per side, and shades over 120 inches tall or past a 4:1 height to width ratio get larger gaps than that. On a Morse Overlook wall that looks down onto open water, that gap glows at seven in the evening. If you want a genuinely dark bedroom on the water, you'll hear it before you order, and we'll price side channels or an outside mount instead.
Insured and insured, in writing
We're insured and insured. Indiana licenses plumbers, not window covering installers, so there is no state credential in this trade to hold or to claim. The Indiana Home Improvement Contract Act, IC 24-5-11, requires a written contract on any residential job over $150, and yours lists every opening in the house by finished width and finished height. Custom fabrication runs 2 to 5 weeks. Nothing here needs to happen tonight, and anyone selling it that way is selling something else.
Real Jobs. Real Results.
Photos from recent window treatment projects completed by the crew that measured them across Cicero and Hamilton County. Every project is documented with photos and a written closeout package.
The Cicero Sequence: Measure, Order, Install
Four steps, and none of them gets rushed. Measures usually book within the week. Custom fabrication then runs 2 to 5 weeks from the day you approve the order, which is the honest number for goods cut to your finished sizes. In a town of 2,519 households where one street can hold a 1971 cottage and a 2022 rebuild, the measure is the step carrying the whole job, so it gets the time it needs rather than the time a route sheet would like.
The measure at your house
We walk every room with a steel tape and a laser, take three widths and three heights per opening, check the diagonals, and record the mounting depth at the stop. On a Hidden Bay cottage at 6 to 12 openings that's about an hour. On a Morse Overlook house running 40 to 85 openings it's most of a morning. You get the numbers we wrote down, not just a total at the bottom.
The written quote
Finished width and finished height for every opening, the mount type we're recommending on each, the light gap to expect on the inside mounts, and a total price. IC 24-5-11 requires the written contract over $150 in Indiana, and we'd write it anyway. If your Cicero Shores house turns out to be a 1978 build rather than the 1994 you assumed, that goes on the quote too, because it changes the mount.
Fabrication, 2 to 5 weeks
Everything is cut to the sizes we measured, so nothing gets adjusted later at the factory. Dye lots matter at this step. Fabric woven in one run matches; fabric ordered eight months later for the room you added may sit a shade off it. Cicero cottages get added to in stages, so if the three season room is coming next spring, say so now and we'll buy the yardage for both phases in one order and hold the goods.
Install day at your house
We hang and level every unit, set the tension so a bottom rail sits true, then set travel limits and pair motorized shades to whatever hub or bridge you're running. Our own packaging leaves with us. On the out of square openings in the pre-1940 blocks, an L-frame or a deco frame absorbs the discrepancy that a flat shade would put on display. We'll take your old treatments down if you want them down. Hauling them off is a separate line, not an assumption.
What we see most often on Cicero window treatments
Cicero homeowners typically call us about these scenarios.
A New Build With Every Opening Bare
Moving into a new Cicero home with sheets taped over the bedroom windows is a rite of passage. The instinct is to do the whole house at once. Usually the better plan is the bedrooms and the west-facing living space first, then the rest in a second phase once you know how you actually use the rooms.
A Shade Hung On Drywall Alone
It came down, probably in year two, with the anchors still in the bracket and a hole in the wall where the fixing pulled through. Brackets belong in studs, headers or anchors rated for the load. This is an install failure rather than a product failure, and it's entirely preventable.
A Cold Slider Nobody Covers
Patio doors get skipped because vertical blinds are unappealing and drapery seems impractical. Meanwhile it's the largest area of glass in the room, gaining heat in July and losing it through a Cicero January night. Vertical cellular and panel track glides are the two answers most households have never seen.
Shutters Whose Louvers Will Not Stay Put
They drift open under their own weight because the tension has relaxed after a few seasons of Indiana humidity swings. There's a tension adjustment designed for exactly this. It's a twenty minute visit and most owners assume their shutters are simply wearing out. Anybody who has lived with shutters for a few years should know the adjustment exists.
Great Room Glass Nobody Can Reach
Two stories of window above a fireplace, blazing in the afternoon and freezing at night, and no realistic way to operate a manual shade. Households live with it bare for years. Motorized shades on that wall aren't a luxury, they're the only version of the product that will actually get used.
Condensation Marking A Wood Blind
Real wood sitting against cold glass through several central Indiana winters shows it, usually as swelling or a mark along the bottom slat. Faux wood or a moisture-tolerant product in that opening wouldn't have. It's a specification question that gets decided by whoever sold the first set. Once the timber has swollen there's no fixing it, so the choice matters at the order.
Five Stages, In This Order
Custom window treatments are made to your openings, so the order matters more than it does in most trades. This is how every Cicero job runs.
Free In-Home Measure
Every opening gets three widths, three heights and a diagonal square check, because houses settle and an opening that is out of square is the difference between a shade that runs true and one that binds. Mounting depth gets read at the jamb. It all goes on paper before any product conversation starts.
Product and Fabric, In Your Own Light
Samples get looked at in the room they are going in, not under showroom lighting. This is where openness factor, inside versus outside mount, roll direction and material get decided, and where we tell you the light gap you are going to live with.
Written Scope and Contract
Opening by opening, with the mount type, the light gap, the operation and the total price in writing. Indiana requires a written contract on residential work over $150 under IC 24-5-11, and we would write one anyway.
Custom Fabrication
Your sizes go to the workroom. Two to five weeks is typical depending on product and finish, longer on specialty shapes and motorized configurations. You get the real date at the measure rather than a range.
Install and Walkthrough
Brackets anchored for the substrate they are going into, everything checked level and square, motor travel limits set and scenes built with you standing there. Then we show you how it all works and take the packaging with us.
What Cicero Landlords Tell Us
4.8 stars across 497+ Google reviews for The Window Valet, who runs this service.
"Justin Noel was the best! Had a great experience and truly enjoyed the process and highly recommend Justin for your window treatment needs!"
"Handy is phenomenal. Very kind and efficient. He's a pleasure to work with on top of being a quality job. Cannot recommend enough."
"I had an amazing experience with The Window Valet from start to finish. Justin made the estimate and sales process easy and stress-free; he was professional, knowledgeable, and clearly explained all the options for our solar-powered skylight blinds. There was no pressure, just helpful guidance. The installation by Handy and Mark was equally impressive. They were punctual, efficient, and respectful of our home. The installation of the skylight blinds was flawless."
"Amazing people to deal with! Paula was super nice and informative when setting up the appointment. Jason came to the house with samples and was so knowledgeable and helpful! Then Handy did the installation and was so friendly and professional! By far one of the best home improvement experiences I have encountered! Worth every penny and they were fast and efficient. Our new house looks amazing with our new roller shades."
Real Questions From Real Cicero Jobs
Straight answers to the questions Cicero homeowners ask most.
Indiana Weather Affects Window Treatments Year Round
Indiana sees some of the most varied weather in the country. Cicero homeowners live in IECC climate zone 5A, which carries a real cooling load in summer and a real heating load in winter. July averages a high near 85F, January averages a high near 36F with lows near 21F, and the muggy season runs from late May into late September. That is why the same window can be the hottest room in the house in July and the coldest in January.
January lows at 20.9 degrees
A January average low of 20.9F puts a genuine heating load on a lake wall that is mostly glass. DOE and Oak Ridge National Laboratory testing recorded cellular shades saving up to 20 percent of heating energy and up to 15 percent of total heating and cooling energy against a bare window. On a Hidden Bay cottage where the living room faces the cove and the plat's houses run 728 to 3,024 square feet, that is the cheapest single thing you can do to the opening.
July sun off open water
July averages a high of 85.2F, and a west facing Cicero lake elevation takes direct low sun from mid afternoon through sunset with roughly 1,500 acres of reflecting surface below it. Roller and solar shades get specified by openness factor here. 5 percent keeps more of the water in view, 3 percent cuts more of the glare, 1 percent reads closer to a screen than a window. We hold samples up against your own view before you choose.
Humid rooms move real wood
The muggy season runs May 25 to September 22, and a Cicero lake house spends most of it with the door wall standing open onto a deck. Hardwood slats cup and swell in that air, and a three season room or a window over a kitchen sink is the worst of it. Faux wood holds its line and costs less. We keep hardwood for the dry front rooms of the pre-1940 Jackson Street houses, where it answers to period casing, and away from the water side.
Fade slows, it doesn't stop
NFRC attributes 40 to 60 percent of fading damage to UV, so a shade reduces fade rather than ending it. On a Morse Overlook wall looking down at open reservoir, the reflected component sits on top of the direct sun, which is why floors and fabrics on that elevation age faster than the same materials on the street side of the same house. A 3 percent solar shade left down through the afternoon slows it noticeably. Nothing available slows it to zero.
Choosing the Right Treatment for Cicero Rooms
An honest breakdown of the three we specify most often, and when each one is the right answer.
The one product in this trade with measured energy numbers behind it. Trapped air in the cells does the work, and DOE and ORNL testing found cellular shades saved up to 20 percent on heating energy and up to 15 percent on total heating and cooling against a bare window. In a Cicero house that matters in January and again in July, which is unusual for one product. Single cell suits most rooms, double cell where the glass is large or the room runs cold. Top-down bottom-up gets you daylight and privacy at the same time.
What you reach for when the complaint is afternoon sun. Solar fabrics come in stated openness factors, and that number is the whole decision: a lower openness cuts more glare and more of the view, a higher one keeps the view and cuts less. On a west or south Cicero window this is usually the honest answer rather than blackout, because blackout kills the room. Cassette or fascia hides the roll, and roll direction gets decided at the measure so the fabric does not foul a crank or a lock.
The one that stays with the house. Shutters are a finish rather than a covering, and they do not get replaced every few years. In Cicero the material choice is technical rather than a matter of taste: composite and poly in bathrooms, kitchens, laundry rooms and sunrooms, because a four month humid season followed by a dry heated winter will move real hardwood, and hardwood only where the room stays conditioned. Louver size, frame style and divider rail get decided standing at your window.
See What Each Fabric Does To The Light
Pick a fabric below and the window updates. It's a drawing rather than a photograph, so read it as a rough guide to what each family does in a Cicero room, and to what it doesn't do.
Openness factor is a measured fabric spec, so you can compare it line to line. The category names are not measured. One maker's room darkening can behave like another maker's light filtering, which is why the sample books come to the measure and get opened in the room they're going in, at the hour that room has the problem.
Experienced Window Treatment Installers Wanted
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Call to ApplyCicero Blocks We Measure Often
Window Treatment projects completed across Cicero's neighborhoods and surrounding areas. Click any neighborhood for the specifics we have learned working there.
Where we respond near Cicero
Our crews measure and install across Cicero and the closest surrounding communities.
Window Treatment Systems Compared in Cicero
Quick reference for the products we specify most often in these homes. Pricing reflects typical Cicero installations.
Typical Cicero market ranges as of 2026. The plus sign on upper numbers means your project may exceed the listed maximum based on inspection findings. Get a written scope and quote at no cost.
Expert Cicero Window Treatment Crews Available Now
Free in home measure across Cicero and the 46034 shoreline, from the Jackson Street blocks to Bear Slide. A written quote with every finished size on it. Measures usually book within the week.