Choosing Window Blinds

The advantages of choosing window blinds as your window treatment. The many kinds of blinds, and a description of each one.

Besides being a very practical solution as window treatments, window blinds can be an attractive decorating feature. Window blinds have been popular as window coverings for both homes and offices for many years. Their popularity is explained by the fact that they are durable, easy to care for and give the best levels of light filtering and privacy.

Window blinds are now made in a number of different materials and types of finishes and most people use curtains or valances to add some warmth to the feel.

Here are the most popular types of window blinds, and a little about each one:

Wooden Blinds: These blinds are made of wood, of course. The slats of wooden blinds tend to be thicker than other types of blinds, but they add the warm soft touch of wood to the design of a room so most people do not mind that they are a bit thicker. They open and close just by flipping the slats.

Venetian Blinds: These are by far the most popular types of window blinds. They are typically made of aluminum, but also of plastic. The curved slats in the blinds come in a variety of widths from 1 to 3 inches. The plastic or aluminum can be died to almost any color to match a room scheme. These blinds are opened or closed by means of a tape that is connected to a string. These kinds of blinds afford the maximum privacy, since they can close very tightly.

Woven Blinds: Woven blinds are not designed with slats like the above ones. They are tightly woven with no spaces between them. When they are drawn, they offer maximum filtering from sunlight, but they can only be pulled up or down (by means of a pull string) and so do not allow the filtering flexibility of slat blinds.

Mini-Blinds: These blinds are very narrow-as small as 1/2 inch- and have become extremely popular because their narrowness allows for a very tight close, which makes the surface appear almost flat. Another feature that makes them so popular is the fact that they come in such a wide variety of colors so that they can match almost any room. They are easy to open and close, and very easy to clean and care for, especially the ones made of PVC.

Vertical Blinds: These types of blinds are mostly used for sliding glass doors, or perhaps very tall windows. They are hung up and down from a track, rather than from a vertical bar, and pull to one side for closing. They are also made of either aluminum or PVC and often are connected at the bottom by chain or cord, though not necessarily. They are perfect for closing off the light of a large surface, such as patio doors.

This wide assortment of window blinds give homeowners a lot of choice in how to cover their windows for the maximum amount of light protection, privacy and beauty.