Blinds

[niccig]

Starting to look at replacing our blinds. I know window coverings are expensive. Any advice on what to look at, where to get them from.

Thanks


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[AnnieW625]

We got these for our old house and were happy with them for the two or so months we had them before we sold the house. I loved the push up to open and pull down to close. We did the outside mount ones. I had to buy for 11 windows iirc and the total cost after a Home Depot discount was about $900. I could’ve spent a ton more but tbh we were selling and these worked. When I bought real wood Levelor brand ones from JC Penney in 2009 I spent about 1200 and they lasted 11 years and were starting to look a little worn (plus they were brown and they did look a little dark), but I probably could’ve gone another year or two before replacing. I would get a quote fr
Costco as well.

https://blinds.homedepot.com/p/home-...inds/304671544

We have plantation shutters in our new house and like them a lot, but I have no idea how much they cost.


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[WatchingThemGrow]

My first consideration would be "what does the outside of your house look like and what would look great from out there?" Our house is covered in dark brown brick, and what *I* wanted was white plantation shutters. It looks fine when they're open, but it looks bad when our blinds are all shut and bright white sets of 3 almost floor-to-ceiling windows in every room.

That being said, what we got works well inside. We initially got Levelor at Lowe's, the cut-to-order in store. They had easy pull strings. So opening the 12 blinds we always open was simple...just pull 3x in each room after opening the curtains. The other 2 rooms across the front have bay windows with a total of 10 casement windows...a lot of blinds. We open them later in the day. I'm saying this because the initial 12 blinds get a lot of sun and after 7 years, more than 1/2 of that initial $1200 of blinds had the mechanism lock up. They just wouldn't pull anymore.

We like looking out, so I ran out to get more at Lowe's to find the updated version in-store only has twisty poles. Twisting 30 twists for as many blinds as we have would be insane, so I special ordered a whole new set with pull cords during the Lowe's/Levelor Black Friday sale for 25-30% off. We entered the measurements online and the arrived cut to fit perfectly. It seemed hard, but they fit right into the old brackets with a tap (lucky!) and they work perfectly.

Still, it seemed expensive to have to replace them that frequently, but they're baked by the sun. I'm not sure if we would like the bamboo-type blinds since we really like the clean/whiteness of these cheap ones. I'm having a designer come in July, so I'll let her guide me on the next round of blinds for 6 years from now!

A friend did a lot of top-down, bottom-up pleated shades in her new house and loves them. Her window count and budget was so different from ours though. She had like 6 windows to cover and we have just a few of our 39 windows bare. We did end up getting a few of the pleated ones from Lowe's to put in our boys' rooms for insulation. I think they do a good job, but they're so - all open or all closed and we like the semi-visibility the 2.5" shutters provides.

[jgenie]

We had plantation shutters installed when we moved a few years ago. We had them installed throughput the house (40+ windows). We used Budget Blinds and have been very happy with the quality. They came out to measure and installed.

[niccig]

Thanks all. We currently have cellular top/bottom up/down so no cords or twist piles. There’s 6 in the living room. The main bay window is big so that may restrict some options. They still work, but they’re dirty. I could look at having them professionally cleaned. DH wants motorized so they go up/down without him getting up.

I’m not sure about plantation shutters - do they swing open so need to have clearance on either side? All the windows are either close to the edge of the wall or we have furniture too close.


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[jgenie]

I’m not sure about plantation shutters - do they swing open so need to have clearance on either side? All the windows are either close to the edge of the wall or we have furniture too close.

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They do swing open but they install them within the trim of the windows. We have some installed very close to the wall corner and they’ve been fine. We open and close the slats when we need light or privacy. We only open the shutters if we need to open the window. Our shutters are similar to these.

https://www.savannahblinds.com/fbm-d...n-Shutters.jpg

[niccig]

They do swing open but they install them within the trim of the windows. We have some installed very close to the wall corner and they’ve been fine. We open and close the slats when we need light or privacy. We only open the shutters if we need to open the window. Our shutters are similar to these.

https://www.savannahblinds.com/fbm-d...n-Shutters.jpg

Thanks for explaining and for the picture. I do like how they look. I’m add them to the list


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[ncat]

We've had pleated top down blinds in three houses now and I really love them. They did well for keeping our house without central air cool on hot days. They are great for privacy or blocking unfortunate views while still letting sun in. Especially great if your windows also open from the top.

[ncat]

We also have plantation shutters in a few windows. They look great but I don't love them. They are bulky and limit furniture placement and I can't get the view I want.