Tips For Choosing The Right Blinds or Shades For Your Home
Finding the right elements for your home to create a unique style is not an easy feat. Whether it is a carpet, a sofa, a tablecloth, it takes consideration and visualising what works. At Redwood Blinds, we have put together a few tips to help you choose the right blinds and shades for your home. It is important to not only choose the window covering that will look great but also give you the features you need for your interiors.
Here is what you need to take into consideration when getting new blinds and shades for your interiors.
Budget
Do you plan to outfit only one window or the entire house? Depending on the blinds and shades location, you may choose to spend more on some windows and scaling back on the less important ones. You need to take into consideration that the size of windows will affect the price. Other features like your fabric choice, patterns or custom sizes will also add to the overall cost of your blinds.
Privacy and light
Are you looking for a very bright and airy room or more cosy? Blinds normally tilt to allow the sun in or keep it out of the room. When closed, the room is dark. Shades on the other hand have options that give you more control over brightness as some can be room-darkening while others filter light.
Cleaning
Blinds are dust magnets but don't necessarily require professional cleaning. A swiffer duster is usually enough to dust them. Fabric shades can be trickier to clean but you can use your vacuum with setting on low. We have a few more blinds cleaning tips here (link to cleaning blinds blog).
Safety
Safety is rarely an issue with blinds. There have been very few occasions where blinds have been a health hazard. But to stay on the safe side, if you have kids, go for the cordless styles.
The right material
Whether you are opting for blinds or shades, it is important to consider the material that will benefit you most. Be it vinyl, faux wood, plastic or fabric, each material will have a different look and feel depending on your space. For rooms that are highly exposed to the sun, you can opt for aluminium Venerians or roller blinds with block out fabric. In the rooms where you need to resist moisture, PVC blinds are the perfect fit.
What Type of Window Covering?
Blinds
Blinds come in different materials. Depending on the location of the blinds in your home, you may want to choose the best material that fits your decorating style.
Blinds are perfect for rooms where you want to adjust the tiltable slats to either let the sun in or out. They are perfect for privacy while at the same time offering a handsome and clean-looking window covering. Price varies in terms of the material and is generally in this order: vinyl, aluminium and faux wood.
The main downside of blinds is that the slats are placed vertically and will attract more dust and grime as compared to horizontal shade slats. This will just require a little more commitment to keep clean.
When you are choosing blinds, the wider the horizontal slats the illusion of bigger windows and space will be more noticeable. This makes blinds perfect for apartments and small rooms.
Shades
Shades are very versatile and offer more options in terms of style. The variety of pattern, texture, and fabric allows for more ways to create different looks and moods. Shades offer a softer look than blinds and are an easier way to refresh any room.
The downside with shades is that you need to regularly hand wash vinyl shades to keep them fresh looking. Light coloured fabric shades should be either vacuumed or spot-cleaned. In some cases, fabric shades may require professional cleaning.