Monday, December 6, 2010

The Top Brands for Honeycomb Blinds

Honeycomb blinds, sometimes called cellular blinds, are quickly become a favorite among homeowners and designers. These types of blinds are easily installed, highly adaptable and very affordable. Honeycomb blinds also come in a variety of colors and fabrics. The advantages of honeycomb blinds don’t stop there; cellular blinds are also known for the unparalleled ability to help insulate windows.

There are many brands of honeycomb blinds available on the market today. Some offer similar features while others have unique fabrics and designs. Listed below are some of the top honeycomb blinds brands.

Bali Blinds

Bali blinds are an ideal option for anyone who is hoping to make their houses and homes more efficient and healthy. Bali blinds are known for their ability to block heat loss in the winter and heat gain in the summer. They help keep regulate the temperature in your home without needing to crank up the furnace or air conditioner. This is a simple way to decrease the amount you spend on monthly costs and can save you a great deal of money over time. Bali blinds are also a great option for anyone concerned with conserving the environment. In addition to saving energy, Bali blinds are made in facilities with a commitment to reducing and recycling waste.

Bali blinds are further known for their easy installation, which makes them a good choice for those who engage in a lot of redecorating or do it yourself home improvement.

Levolor Cellular Shades: Like Bali shades, Levolor cellular shades are a good option for their insulating properties. Their superior insulating properties are due to the unique cell structure of Levolor cellular shades.

Levolor cellular shades are also well known for their innovation in design and window fashions. Levolor was founded nearly a century ago and has built a reputation for customer service, great window treatments and custom blinds. They are also lauded for aesthetic beauty and appeal. Levolor has made a name for themselves through versatility. They offer over two hundred colors, providing the consumer with an ideal way to furnish their home exactly how they want.

Mounting Window Blinds: Inside Versus Outside

When it comes to buying window blinds, there are many decisions that must be made. Things like type, cost, brand, material and color all must be considered before the time of purchase. But the decisions don’t stop there: you must also decide where you want to mount your window blinds, inside or outside of the window frame.

More often than not, people choose to mount their window blinds inside the frame. This is a universal choice for many regardless of the choice of blind. Solar shades, cellular blinds and a variety of other types are often placed inside the frame because an inside mount provides a much neater, organized and often tidier appearance. With an inside mount, there are no blinds hanging down to the ground or appearing wild and out of control.

There are several reasons for an inside mount. To begin, mounting your blinds inside the frame typically provides more convenience if you are combining blinds and drapes or other types of curtains. Mounting cellular blinds inside, for instance, helps keep the drapes and blinds from interfering with each other.

An inside mount can also help reduce energy costs further than an outside mount. The reason for this is because inside mounted blinds lay closer to the window than outside mounted blinds. This can result in the better trapping of air (whether this is warm or cool air).

No matter what type of blinds you are mounting inside, be it solar shades, or some other type, an inside mount does require a set of blinds that are perfectly measured.

An outside mount is beneficial for those who are unable to mount blinds inside the frame. Some reasons for this inability may be an alarm sensor or crank handle situated on the inside of a window frame or windows that are not deep enough to hold blinds. Another reason why you may choose to mount your window blinds outside the frame is a unique window shape. If you have a rectangular, octagonal, circular, trapeze, or other irregularly shaped windows, you may choose an outside mount so that your window blinds do not have to fit into an oddly shaped frame.

No matter where you mount your blinds, and whether you purchase solar shades or cellular blinds, window blinds are a great way to give you insulation, privacy, provide shade from strong sunlight and help you save money on your energy costs.

Tips on Picking Colors for Honeycomb Blinds

Honeycomb blinds are quickly taking the window treatments world by storm for several reasons. Cellular blinds are visually appealing, affordable and can save money. Honeycomb shades are well known for their ability to better insulate your home; saving you money in the cost of heating and cooling bills.

With all of this, you might find that your decision to buy honeycomb blinds is already made. However, when it comes to window treatments, color is an essential decision. The color of your honeycomb shades is going to come down to personal preference. Some people love certain colors, others simply loathe them. Here are a few tips to point you in the right direction:

Consider the Light

Honeycomb blinds come in a variety of colors. These include soft colors, bold colors, bright colors, and dark colors. Certainly the colors in the room will play a major factor in your color choice. A room decorated in dark red, for instance, might not mesh with bright blue blinds. Matching colors is not the only factor to consider. The amount of light you want shining into your room will also play a large role in deciding on the color of your new honeycomb blinds. Darker colors, for instance, will keep more light out than lighter colors.

Think Ahead

Another factor to consider when deciding the color of honeycomb shades is the future of your room. Since these types of shades are very durable, your new blinds may outlast the paint scheme of the room. If you are planning on redecorating a room or you tend to change things around with frequency you may want to purchase blinds that will go with virtually any decor. Tan and off white colors are much more versatile than bright yellow. Keep this in mind if you can see yourself repainting or redocorating the room in the next 5-10 years.

Be True to Self Expression

Ultimately, window treatments are about you and your self expression. Color is a huge part of this self expression. While you should consider logistics such as how much light you want shining in and how well colors will match, you really should buy window blinds that you truly like. If you can’t stand pastel colors, don’t get blind in those colors. If you think that the dark teal looks nice but just isn’t you, find something that is. Your house is a blank canvas, paint it with the colors that you love.

Roller Shades Are Back in Style

For anyone who is in the home improvement or redecorating business, it is easy to see that the trends in window shades are constantly changing. We occasionally see new designs and new ideas coming forward, but it is mainly the designs of the past that are reemerging. Roller shades, for instance, have recently re-lit the flame of their own popularity coming back in style with flair and technological improvements.

What Are Roller Shades?

Roller shades are a type of window treatments made with modern fabric. These blinds, sometimes called roller blinds or roll up shades, are known for their affordability and their simple functionality. They are also known for their ability to add color and style to any room of a house and their versatility.

What Are the Advantages of Roller Shades?

Roller shades are often manually controlled which keeps them affordable. However, roller shades can also be motorized. These types of window treatments are unique in that they can be automatically opened or closed through the use a remote control or a switch. This makes these types of blinds ideal for windows that are high up and out of reach.

Some roller shades are able to run on solar technology. These solar shades work through a solar unit that is usually set up outside the home. This unit absorbs sunlight during the day and converts this light to stored energy. The solar blinds then open and close through this saved up energy. The unit is replenished on the next sunny day.

Solar shades more often refer to roller shades that diffuse and filter sunlight. They come in a variety of fabrics, colors and patterns. They became popular in offices and commercial building design and have been used in homes to give a more contemporary look. Whether you want your window treatments to block out a little light, most light, or all light, you can pick a fabric that suits your needs. The variety of fabric also supplies different level of privacy: you can opt to be completely hidden from the outside world, halfway hidden, or just a little hidden.

Are Roller Shades Safe?

Roller shades, whether they are solar shades or other types, are one of the best options for avoiding sun damage. Over time, the heat and brightness of the sun can leave carpet, couches, chairs, and even walls damaged or discolored. Roller shades will block these hazardous UV rays.

Roller shades are also available in cordless systems. With these type of systems, there is no long cord that hangs down in a loop or otherwise. This is a good option for people who have young children and pets. Cordless roller shades reduce the risk of kids and dogs or cats getting dangerously entangled in the cord of window treatments.

Top 3 Advantages of Cellular Blinds

For over three decades, cellular blinds have been a fixture in homes all over the world. Recently, these types of blinds have started to regain their once flourishing popularity. The reason for this resurgence is simple: cellular shades are very advantageous to the home owner.

Before we go into these advantages, let’s explain what cellular blinds actually are. Sometimes called honeycomb shades, cellular blinds are a type of blinds made of fabric usually sewn or glued to resemble a diamond cell shape. These types of blinds are often superior to others particularly in the following three categories:

Insulation: Cellular shades are designed to trap air within their “honeycomb” cells. This air helps insulate your home and reduces the amount of heat your windows transfer. With this insulation, your home is better equipped to keep heat in during the winter months and cool air in during the summer months. This ultimately results in the use of less energy all year long, which saves you a great amount of money on both heating and cooling costs.

A Rainbow of Colors: Cellular shades come in a variety of colors. The reason this is beneficial to those in the market for blinds is because every house is different and every room is unique. One color of blinds is not enough to fit the world. Cellular blinds come in all types of hues and tints. This is perfect if you have a home with unique or bold colors, a home with subtle colors, or a home with colors that are somewhere in between. With so many colors to choose from, you won’t be forced to redecorate the rest of your house in an attempt to make sure your carpet, couches, and walls match your brand new cellular blinds.

Easy installation: No matter what type of window blinds you are installing, the entire process can sound quite intimidating. However, installing cellular shades is actually quite simple. These shades are designed with the DIY installer in mind. There are a variety of resources online that provide step by step tutorials and often video tutorials to help the installation go as smooth as possible. You typically only need a screwdriver, a marking pencil, a measuring tape, and a drill.

No matter you reason for being in the market for blinds; owning a new house, redecorating, or just engaging in home improvement, cellular blinds are a smart and appealing choice. They will help save you time, money, all while adding visual charm to your home.

Monday, September 6, 2010

The Secret of Cellular Shades

The right window shades may last longer than your windows. Because window coverings are not a purchase the average consumer makes very often, they can get confused. Don't go for the plastic mini blinds! Seriously though, it is not hard to find out a little on these products which make our homes more comfortable and beautiful. On mistake many people make is that they just pick one thing - comfort or beauty- and ignore the other. You may want light control, but a blackout blind is just not that attractive in most situations.

They are called blackout blinds because they are supposed to completely block out light, like in a war time air raid. This means no light in your interior, and therefore the beauty of natural light is lost when closed. Cellular shades provide light control and insulation. Depending on the design, they may beautiful too. The blackout blinds use a Mylar coating and seamless fit to allow the shade to move up and down without any gaps.

The options for honeycomb blinds are numerous. Although originally made as a purely utilitarian device, honeycomb shades now come in colors and different materials. Thin fabric cellular blinds are translucent while full color blinds can provide blackout performance.

Generally the difference between a shade and a blind is that a blind has slats or vanes that are movable, while shades use a continuous piece of material. There are cellular vertical blinds designed to cover large areas. Each vane has a cellular air pocket that gives greater energy efficiency when opened. When a manufacturer says vertical cellular shades, they mean a sideways shade for patios on a track. They are just a larger version of what comes in the home.

The normal shade is where most people buy because of their energy efficiency. Air is actually a very good insulator as long as it is held stationary and not allowed to convect. Profile of a cellular vertical blind
Lastly, there are just cellular shades for windows. Over time they will result in lower HVAC bills. There is not a significant difference in performance between the opaque and sheer blinds, but it does exist. For light filtering you can use this sheer material, while if you want light control get a thicker material or opaque blinds.

Patio and Sliding Glass Door Blinds

When it comes to patio doors, sliding glass doors, and room dividers, most interior decorators think that they only have different kinds of vertical blinds to choose from. While there are new alternatives like roller track shades and bead dividers, there are plenty of good vertical blinds options to choose from.

The materials and textures that vertical blinds come in may astound those who lived in apartments with those cheap plastic blinds. Vertical blinds can come in cellular shades insulating material to stop all that heat loss through large glass sliding doors. The opposite of that is translucent materials that stop UV rays but still allow you to see the view with the blinds closed.

One thing you can really do to make those window coverings less boring is to get them with an s curve texture. Instead of looking like cheap vinyl, the vertical blinds now look like drapery because they have a little depth to them. They still have the same problem of bunching up like the normal vanes. Get stiffer materials to reduce the swaying bunching effect. If the s-curve shape is not an option, textured vanes still give a more unique shape.

In addition to different textures to break up the monotony of vinyl vanes, you also have choices on what material you want your blinds to be made from. Fabric is lighter and softer, while you can get faux wood or even real wood to match your interior decor or other window coverings. Note that it is hard to get real wood in such a long and thin shape so you may have to make some allowances in terms of price, thickness and strength if you want real wood vertical blinds.
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Vinyl and faux wood shades are easy to clean. The material is completely water resistant, and static neutral so you can use a damp wash cloth to clean it periodically. Fabric on the other hand needs to be vacuumed. If you have a vertical vacuum you may need a hose attachment. Don't try and run your upright vacuum up the walls! You are just going to break it and it will end up at the Denver vacuum repairs shop. Humidity is your  enemy with fabric materials because it makes dust in the air stick to the vanes. So vinyl blinds might be a better choice in humid climates or in areas like the bathroom.

Fabric is nice because they don't clank and are easier to move around. They may actually be too light, so some come with weights on the bottom to keep them straight. If you want light control on your patio doors, vertical is not the way to go. Consider drapes, curtains or a roller shade because vertical blinds just have too many cracks. A tiny breeze will send them swaying back and forth.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Wood Blinds and Valance Creation


But times have changed, and wooden blinds are no longer affordable. But they are still a fantastic addition to a room. Mainly because they come in a range of wood tones, they are very versatile. They provide privacy at night, but can be raised in the course of the day to permit unobstructed viewing.

Oh, you might will need 1 much more factor--a calculator. Despite the fact that this topper looks complicated, it's genuinely uncomplicated to put with each other. It's just figuring out the sizes of the panels that's a little tough.

Like the best accessory that completes your appear, blinds give any room polish and pizzazz. Adjust your blinds to let the sunshine in or keep your rooms cool in the course of the prolonged, hot days of summer. Incredibly versatile. Amazingly durable. Whichever material you pick, blinds are the best finishing touch. From horizontal blinds to vertical blinds, we've got you covered.


Simply because the topper will "wrap" around the sides of a 1 x 4, you'll require to include nine inches to this measurement. This measurement includes a half-inch seam allowance.

To make the upper panel of the valance, you'll need to have to cut two rectangles from your primary fabric and lining fabric. These rectangles must measure eight inches by your width measurement. Sew the fabrics together along both short sides and a single lengthy side. Clip the corners and turn the panel proper side out. Press the seams flat.

They are accessible in a wide selection of colors and stains from ethereal whites to austere ebonies that complement your style. You can borrow a design tip from the pros and add cloth tape or a decorative cornice box to include a pop of accent color in an unexpected location and finish the window.


Use your width measurement to determine how extended your piece of welting demands to be.

Finally, you need to produce the "pleats," which are nothing a lot more than tiny lined rectangles. First, decide how numerous pleats you want to contain on your topper. It is greatest to decide on an odd number of pleats. I decided to try five pleated sections on my topper, but if your window is narrow, you may well have much less.

Common Window Covering Maintenance

Window Blinds may need cleaning or repairs. You can save a lot of money by knowing how to do simple maintenance on your blinds like cleaning fixing strings.
Measures:

Slide blinds out of mounting brackets and open up the circumstance to have a look inside. If you have a matching set of operating blinds eliminate those as nicely and compare the inner workings with the malfunctioning blinds.


The problem may be a pulley that's out of alignment. If this is the circumstance, slide the rod back so you can eliminate the pulley and realign it with the other people.


Lock everything back again down and test the blinds. Adjust yet again if required.

After they work smoothly, snap the blinds back again into the mounting brackets and replace any trim.

No matter what type of blinds you have-wooden, fabric and vertical are the 3 basic varieties-these suggestions will make their cleaning and maintenance easy:

Vacuum blinds usually with the brush attachment. Vacuum throughout the slats, not up and down.

Use a lamb's-wool duster, again operating across the slats and starting at the top. Do not use plastic dusters.

When dusting or vacuuming vertical blinds, brush downward only, as the slats usually turn into unhooked if you brush upward.

Use a rubber sponge, also recognized as a dry sponge (observed at hardware and paint stores), to remove dust and residue from both material and vinyl blinds. Merely wipe the dry sponge firmly across the blinds.

For spot cleaning, spray an all-purpose cleaner onto a thoroughly clean dry cloth and wipe the soiled area of the blind. In no way spray the cleaner directly onto the blind.

You can wet wooden blinds when cleaning, but don't soak them. Clean them in place instead of removing them as you would for other sorts of blinds.

If material blinds turn out to be extremely dirty, take them to a dry cleaner.

Do not try cleaning blinds by spraying them with a vehicle-wash hose, dunking them in the tub or a single slat at a time.

To clean metal and vinyl blinds, follow this process: Take the blinds outside to your patio or driveway and lay them on a little rug or piece of carpet. Put a couple of drops of dishwashing soap in a bucket of water. Wet a automobile-washing brush and brush the blinds from side to side, and then turn them more than and brush the other side. Rinse the blinds gently with a garden hose although tilting them so that the moisture runs off. To prevent h2o spots from forming, rapidly run your finger down the slats a couple of times to get rid of excess h2o. When completed, drape the blinds over a fence or a couch to dry.