We went with Roman Shades, and despite spending a significant amount of money on them the garbage plastic mechanisms completely disintegrated within about 2 years.
We were able to salvage the fabric from the old shades (which was still in good condition), remount it to about $20 of wood and assorted hardware per the guide, and they've been perfect for about 5 years now.
It's one of a few times we've gotten something that's so bafflingly bad that the only explanation is planned obsolescence - for a rounding error in extra manufacturing costs they could have built something that would last decades. Always feels good to fix your way out of that.
While researching repairing them, we found this guide to build your own: https://www.onlinefabricstore.com/makersmill/how-to-make-a-r...
We were able to salvage the fabric from the old shades (which was still in good condition), remount it to about $20 of wood and assorted hardware per the guide, and they've been perfect for about 5 years now.
It's one of a few times we've gotten something that's so bafflingly bad that the only explanation is planned obsolescence - for a rounding error in extra manufacturing costs they could have built something that would last decades. Always feels good to fix your way out of that.