The Right Choice for Your Home: A Beginner’s Guide to Choosing Window Blinds
Ensure quality when making your choice
When it comes to interior design, the choice of window furnishings on offer is diverse to say the least. You’ve got conventional curtains, billowing drapes, traditional shutters and sleek blinds to choose from. While each option brings its own benefits and drawbacks, of late, designers are leaning increasingly towards the versatility and simplicity offered by window blinds.
These window furnishing offer a great degree of practical control over privacy and lighting in a room; while also providing a stunning array of streamlined window treatments, that are easy to install and a breeze to maintain. From Venetian blinds to roller blinds, there’s no end to the options available for the enterprising consumer, but before you make your choice, there are a few factors you might want to consider.
Key Considerations
How Much Light Do You Need?
It’s no secret that a good dose of summer sunshine and fresh air provides great health benefits for you and your family. Vitamin D helps our bones grow, regulates our sleep and fights off a slew of diseases. However, too much sunshine can put you at risk of skin cancer, not to mention the bleaching effect it has on expensive furniture.
When choosing your blinds, you want to strike the right balance between admitting external light into the home, and keeping it out if necessary. Venetian blinds offer minute control over light levels in your room through the rod adjustable slates that make up the frame. If you’re looking for complete dark then blackout blinds might be the best choice for you, these UV treated shades will protect nurseries and media rooms against the glare of streetlights and the harsh sun.
How Visible Do You Want to Be?
You work hard for your free time, and sometimes you just want to sit back and enjoy the scenery and fresh air, with blinds open. At other times a degree of coverage from the outside world is required. When choosing your blinds for privacy and protection there are a few different choices you can make.
Once again blackout blinds will almost completely blot out your interior from outside view, whether it’s day or night. They come in a variety of styles as well; roller blinds, Roman blinds and skylight blinds are all available in this material.
For a less extreme option, why not opt for some Venetian blinds that incorporate routless slats? Traditional Venetian blinds have small holes in each slat, which allow lift cords to pass through; these holes let through small amounts of light even when blinds are fully closed. Routless slats have no such allowance, providing complete coverage.
Finally you could opt for some thickly lined Roman blinds, while these won’t provide complete coverage of interior views they do pose a pretty effective barrier against outside light and prying eyes.
What Style Best Suits Your Decor
First there’s the choice of material to make. If you’re looking to add a more modern, formal tone, to your room then you can’t go wrong with wooden Venetian blinds. Pick ones in darker hues, to give your room a warm, inviting look. For an earthier, more natural appeal you might want to go with bamboo as a great alternative.
Aluminium blinds are sleek, shiny and elegant; they’re also a little more affordable than wooden Venetian blinds. They offer great durability and resistance to moisture, so if you’re looking to add some blinds to the kitchen or bathroom they’ll prove a good option. Another alternative for more humid atmospheres, are faux-wood blinds. Appearance-wise these are quite similar to wooden Venetian blinds, however the faux-wood finish is far more resistant to warping and rot, they’re a great choice for the garage or bathroom.
For broad glass windows and sliding doors, vertical blinds are a good way to go. They offer good light control and excellent coverage for large surfaces.
If appearance is your main concern, fabric blinds provide a great canvas for intricate designs and eye-catching colours. Gentler materials like cotton and linen can transform a harsh, utilitarian space into a soft, inviting one, by letting in just the right amount of natural light. They’re a great choice for living rooms and bedrooms.
For a wide range to enhance your interior, call Empire Window Furnishings at 1300 950 950.
When it comes to your home you want the best. We offer a customised selection of roller, venetian, vertical, cellular and panel blinds. For more information contact us today or visit buying guide.
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