Pleated Blinds

When you want to achieve total darkness and privacy in a room of your home, be it your living space, bedroom or a bathroom, one of the main problems with standard blinds is the way that they are designed with gaps between each of the slats – perfect for achieving ambience and an aesthetically pleasing finish, but often impractical when it comes to really concealing a window in its entirety.

As a way of getting around this, more and more homeowners are turning to pleated blinds in their most private spaces – taking the concept of a full piece of their chosen material, folded into a concertina pattern which allows the material to be extended down over the window, or pulled upwards into itself to let the light in.

The benefits of pleated blinds

The benefits of pleated blinds are simple – they allow for complete darkness to be achieved with no risk of light shining through the gaps in slats, and the ensure complete privacy. Not only that, but pleated blinds can also be used to bring patterning and colour to a room, with many homeowners - and particularly those looking for blinds for their children’s rooms – using the idea of a full piece of fabric to create a finish image when the blinds are down. This is great for children’s rooms as it means that even when their blinds are closed and they can no longer see outside, they can engage with the chosen image and allow it to spark their imaginations and creativity.

Pleated blinds tend to be thin in their material, purely because the thinner the material the more streamlined the effect is when the blinds are open, and the material is all bunched together. What this means in terms of aesthetics is that even when the blinds are closed, a certain warmth and ambience is created through the sunlight shining through the material – with neutral shades and pale coloured patterns utilising this natural light perfectly. While this is a benefit in living spaces, in those bedrooms where you want complete darkness we recommend opting for a darker shaded blind or investing in a blackout layer for added depth.

Another benefit which entices many homeowners is the simple fact that pleated blinds are cost effective and are super easy to install and adjust in line with your exact measurements. While most pleated blinds come with cords, modern homes may find that they are drawn to the cordless electronically operated varieties which are ideal for families with young children.

Things to consider if you are looking at pleated blinds

Aside from ensuring that the fabric and colour you choose is conducive to the level of darkness you want to achieve in your room, another thing you need to consider with your pleated blinds is how the texture of your chosen blinds compliments the rest of the room – with modern homeowners often preferring to keep textures quite prominent to stand out from the otherwise very neutral and two-dimensional colouring, while those who live in more vibrant homes often prefer to keep the textures minimal and instead use their soft furnishings to inject more colour.

The other thing to consider is whether you will use them throughout an entire room or just on one or two windows. Pleated blinds tend to suit both small and large windows really well, but homeowners should take care to achieve as much harmony between different windows as possible for an aesthetically pleasing finish.

For pleated blinds ideal for any home, head to blind specialist retailers.