The blinds you choose have a large impact on the look and feel of your room, so it’s important to choose the right style for your home. 

Knowing a little about what’s on offer can help you choose the blinds or shutters that fit your needs and help you to best enhance your room.

What’s available in Australia?

While new products come on to the market every now and again, there are five main choices when it comes to blinds:

1. Venetian
2. Roman
3. Plantation
4. Roller
5. Blackout
6. Light filtering

The top 6

1. Venetian blinds

Venetian blinds are made of horizontal slats, usually wood or plastic, and suspended by cords which allow every slat to be rotated together to give you precise control over the amount of light that enters the room and the amount of privacy that you have.

Venetian blinds are typically easy to install, low maintenance and come in a wide variety of designs and colours.

2. Roman blinds

Roman blinds or shades are made of soft fabric. When the blinds are down, they lie flat against the window, but when raised they gather into pleats.

Stylish and sophisticated, roman blinds offer good privacy and light blockage but are not suitable for wet rooms.

3. Plantation shutters

Plantation shutters are shutters used as an interior window covering and are characterised by a wide louvre (slat). While they have a high cost up-front to purchase and install they help save energy and are durable to boot.

4. Roller blinds

Roller blinds use a stiffened fabric that can be rolled up onto a tube when not being used and are durable, easy to operate and economical to purchase.

There’s a large choice of fabrics, colours and finishes to choose from.

5. Blackout blinds

Typically a type of roller blind, these blinds have a coating that prevents light from penetrating through them. They have all the advantages of roller blinds but with the added attraction of complete privacy.

6. Light filtering blinds

With blackout blinds and roller blinds, many people choose to have a double blind installed and add a light filtering blind which offers privacy.

A light filtering blind is made from a sort of mesh and operates the same way as a roller blind. It sits closet to the window under your roller blind and would remain down acting as a screen (letting in the light, but blocking out neighbours and passers by).

Light filtering blinds come in a choice of colours. The darker the blind, the more light is let in, which is often the opposite of what people think.

Which choice is the most cost efficient?

The cheapest blinds to buy and install tend to be vinyl or aluminium venetian blinds or vinyl roller blinds. However while these are inexpensive up-front they give you very little heat retention.

To reduce heat loss you want blinds that leave as little gaps for air to get through as possible so that air is trapped in the room. Typically shutters give the best insulation as they can be closed with less air gaps than blinds and the efficiency savings over time can offset their initial cost.

Having the right blinds for your windows is an important step, not only in the visual appeal of your home but also in the comfort level. Different blinds serve different purposes, with some blocking all light, others helping to block drafts and some making it so you can still have an unobstructed view of the world outside your home. Choosing the right ones can be a daunting task. Do not fear though, with a few tips, you’ll be able to determine the right ones for you.

Fabric Vs. Vinyl

One consideration is the amount of dirt and dust in your home. If you have lots of pets and people, blinds that are difficult to keep clean of hair and dust may not be the best choice for you. Easy clean ones like vinyl blinds may be a better choice. Fabrics will also make a difference as different textures will hold dust and hair differently than other textured materials.

Function

It is also important to consider the function you are seeking for your blind. Do you want it to block out all light from entering your windows? Are you looking to have it reduce or remove the drafts coming in through the window? Or are you looking for a blind that makes it so that others cannot see into your home? Depending on the function you are seeking will determine the right blinds for your windows.

Size and Aesthetics

Size makes a big difference too, this can play out in a few different ways. Firstly, the obvious one, is the size of the window you need to cover. Some blinds will only come in specific sizes, others can be customized to fit whatever size window you have. Secondly, is the size of each individual blind slat. Some prefer the appearance of the mini-blinds, while others prefer ones with a much chunkier, larger size and style. Different sized slats, as well as differently sized blinds, can make a big difference in the overall appearance of the window, and the room as a whole.

Colours and Designs

Colours and designs are another aspect to consider. Different types of blinds may or may not come in the colours or designs that you want for your space. Wooden slat blinds are better suited for rooms wanting the more natural wooden style. They wouldn’t make sense for a space where the blinds for your windows need to come with a pop of colour. Painting over the beautiful wood slats would greatly remove a big part of the appeal of wooden blinds. Vinyl blinds, on the other hand, can come in a wide variety of colours and styles that may better suit a bright modern space.

No matter the blind you are seeking, and the function you need it for, our team at Complete Blinds will be happy to assist you finding the perfect blinds for your windows, in a design that suits you and your home. Having difficulties deciding which one is best? Contact us today and let us help you discover the different types of blinds and which one will complete your vision.

Renovating a house is certainly a fulfilling as well as enjoyable experience; home owners pay a lot of attention to ensure that their home looks attractive and up-to-date. Be it a kitchen or bathing room, all places are attended appropriately to ascertain a well maintained and comfortable home. However, the soaring prices of home renovation items have made it really hard for home owners to take a cut out of their income and renovate their home. Even so, you can achieve a desired home appearance on a budget. Adding window coverings such as awnings over windows is one simple solution to uplift the look of your house without denting your budget. Moreover, there are many advantages of adding awnings to your windowpanes.

The first and foremost advantage of buying window awnings is undoubtedly beautifying your home. Awnings help a lot in improving the interior and exterior of your home windows, if used efficiently. The most sensible thing about awnings is you do not need to invest too much. With an incredibly low investment, you can purchase pleasing and awesome awnings that complement your home design. Aside from being decorative, awnings provide numerous practical benefits. Awnings cover up the windows and offer you necessary privacy. Furthermore, you could fine-tune them according to your needs and have a look outside. As the incidents of burglaries and intrusions are prevalent nowadays, it is useful to have awnings to avoid robbers and intruders from peeping in your home. Besides this, you may keep an eye on your kids as well as pets playing outdoors when you take care of everyday life indoors. Most people are unaware that awnings over windows can reduce their electric bills. When the climate is hot during summer months, you may cover up your windows with awnings and stop the entry of sunlight in your house. By doing this, you could lower the temperature within your house without doing anything, which in turn eases your cooling devices. As a consequence, your monthly utility bills are reduced to a notable level. Likewise, you could allow sun light to get into your house during winter months and warm-up your home interior. By doing so, the heating appliances will not be overused, which also works to reduce your monthly electric bills.

Thus, there are several advantages of buying awnings for windows. Therefore, a lot of homeowners choose to buy awnings over windows to benefit from their decorative and practical benefits. However, particular factors need to be considered while purchasing window awnings. Firstly, determine your home design as well as the dimensions of your windows. This will assist you in getting right sized awnings that are in accordance with your home interior. Next, formulate a budget to ensure you do not invest too much. After doing this groundwork, check out reputable venues online to purchase suitable awnings. Browse through the range of collection at reputed outlets to get the finest awnings at optimum budget. After checking out several brands, select awnings over windows that are stylish as well as cost-effective.