Blinds

When asked to dress a room, one of the main soft furnishing elements that we focus on has to do with the functional job of covering the window – a factor which has varying degrees of importance across different rooms in the house. For example, while a living space needs to be afforded privacy but without necessarily completely blocking out the light, a bedroom often needs to be left in complete darkness – requiring a much thicker and impenetrable window covering.

Blinds have long been used across practical and commercial spaces, with most buyers able to identify the thick canvas style fabric blind slats which hung vertically across a window and would flap and clink around in the breeze of an open window – covering the view of outside but without completely blocking out the light from entering. The modern variety of blinds however is very different – taking the concept of slats as a window covering and crafting them in a much more stylish and neutral way, often using natural or manmade wood products to create a finish which suits most rooms.

How do blinds work?

The operation of a set of blinds is relatively easy, with most relying on a pull cord set to one side which can either pull the blinds across or down over your window. One of the great things about modern blinds in particular is the way that they have kept the same simple operation as their older counterparts, and still offer that extra step which enables the user to rotate the slats to either form a solid wall against the window, or to open out and allow light to stream in between each slat.

The pull cord itself is often long and paired with a smaller handle which operates this rotation, with both adding to the aesthetic of the overall blind.

With regards to mounting your blinds on the wall, again this is a fairly standard procedure especially with modern blinds where the entire roll of slats can be pulled up to sit crammed together at the top of the window just under the mount box complete with its concealed mechanics and the mounting board. This is where the modern blinds tend to differ from older models, as more thought has been channelled into finding ways for the blinds to look as aesthetically pleasing and stylish as possible both during use and when not in use – whereas the older canvas blinds were primarily functional with little regard for commercial style.

Things to consider when buying blinds

Blinds are no doubt the most stylish and modern way of covering a window today, with many homeowners relying solely on blind across their whole home while others pair blind structures with curtains to ensure maximum privacy and darkness and to elevate and add extra layering to the windows.

However, buying blinds is not always simple, particularly when looking to cover large windows or extra small windows which sit outside the realm of ordinary sizing. We tend to find that many buyers opt for retailers offering bespoke blinds which are made to measure, though there are cases where extra care should be taken if approaching blinds – for example floor length windows in living spaces – as it may be that the quantity of blind slats needed creates an imbalance which is difficult to control and which looks out of place framed along the top of the window when the blinds are pulled up. If you do choose blinds for a full length window or door, we recommend horizontal blind which pull across rather than downwards.