Choosing the Right Vertical Blind

Solar vertical blinds from Bali

Vertical blinds are pretty much the ubiquitous choice when it come to window coverings for patio doors, sliding glass doors and over-sized windows. That said, there are more choices than you might imagine. This article is meant to give you the information you need to choose the best vertical blinds for your home.

First, vertical blinds come in a variety of materials, textures, shapes, colors and opacities (how much light is transmitted through the material). So, while vertical blinds are common, there’s more to consider than just white vinyl vertical blinds. The following are a few points that I believe the average window treatments consumer doesn’t know about vertical blinds:

Shapes – The vanes of vinyl vertical blinds normally have a slight curve to them.  But, you can also purchase S-curve vertical blinds. The difference is, when closed, the S-curve provides a textured look, similar to drapes. Imagine how standard vertical blinds look when closed; they look like a straight wall of vinyl vanes. The S-curved vanes break-up this line, providing depth and texture.

Materials – You can choose from vinyl vertical blinds (as mentioned), fabric, solar screen, faux wood, and wood.

Textures – First, for the purposes of simplicity, let’s separate vertical blinds into fabric (solar screen & fabric) and non-fabric (wood, faux wood & vinyl). Almost all vertical blinds, whether fabric or non-fabric come with texture choices.  Even vinyl vertical blinds can be purchased with texturized vanes. So, if vinyl vertical blinds are the only choice in your budget, consider texturized vanes for a more unique look. Some choices are naturally texturized, like solar screens.  When it comes to fabric vertical blinds, there are tons of texture choices. The only exception are wood and faux wood vertical blinds. For the most part they are smooth.

Cleaning – In general a non-fabric vertical blind is going to be easier to clean. All non-fabric blinds can be wiped down with a gentle soap solution and soft towel. Fabric vertical blinds can be vacuumed. That said, if you live in a humid climate, or if the vertical blinds are in a humid room (bath, kitchen) sometimes this humidity can cause dust to stick to the material, which is not as easy to wipe clean. Just something to keep in mind, especially for high-traffic rooms.

Weight and noise – Fabric vertical blinds are going to be lighter and will provide quieter operation. Being lightweight, fabric blinds will also tend to have a longer operational life – light materials means less wear and tear on the operating mechanisms.  Most fabric vertical blinds come standard with bottom weights, which are sewn into the vanes. Some fabric vertical blinds offer optional inserts that eliminate the need for bottom weights.

Light filtering – Vertical blinds will never be a good choice for room darkening or black out. Even opaque materials like vinyl will not totally darken a room – too many light gaps to be effective in this regard.  But there numerous light filtering choice in fabric vertical blinds. There are solar screen vertical blinds. They have vanes made from the same solar screen material as solar shades. This is a good choice for patio doors or large windows with a view.  The solar screen material allows view-through while blocking UV rays and solar heat gain. You can choose from a range of screen openness factors from about 3%-14%; the greater the number, the more light can pass through the material. Fabric vertical blinds are a good choice to preserve natural light as many of the choices provide gentle light filtering.

Privacy – One of the basic function of any window treatment is privacy. Most vertical blinds will provide privacy (people can’t see into your home). Solar vertical blinds are one of the few choices that don’t provide privacy.  In general, be mindful of the opacity of the vanes. How you see out of your window, is likely how people can see into your home.

Durability – If durability is an issue, the best choices are vinyl, faux wood and maybe solar vertical blinds.  Vinyl and faux wood vertical blinds are moisture resistant, scratch resistant and won’t chip, crack or fade under most “normal” use. Solar vertical blinds are made from man-made materials that are pretty durable and will also stand up to high-traffic environments.

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Cellular Shades & Blinds Demystified

The world of window treatments can be confusing.  It is an infrequent purchase so most don’t get the chance to get familiar with the breadth of available products and brands.  But window treatments are pretty important.  They provide privacy, light control and, sometimes, energy efficiency.

Cellular shades and blinds do all three. And, for that reason, I think they are just about the best overall window treatment you can buy.  They are good looking, come in a variety of pleat sizes, colors and

profile view of a double cell cellular shade

light control options from sheer to blackout.  They do all that while providing the highest level of insulation due to their honeycomb-shaped air pockets. See picture.

There are cellular shades and there are cellular blinds.  And, though people tend to call all window treatments ‘blinds’, there is actually a difference.  Blinds have slats (horizontal blinds. think: mini blinds) or vanes (vertical blinds) that tilt open or closed for light control or privacy. Shades are made with a continuous piece of fabric or other material and either roll up or fold up.

Cellular vertical blind sample

The only ‘cellular blinds’ are vertical cellular blinds. See picture.  These are designed, like any vertical blind as a window treatment for patio doors or large windows.  These vertical cellular blinds function like a normal vertical blind but, the individual vanes are constructed like with a cellular-like air pocket that gives these vertical cellular blinds greater energy efficiency than normal vertical blinds.  See pictures.

There are also vertical cellular shades.  Getting confused?  Stay with me.  Vertical cellular shades are like a normal cellular shade turned on its side for use on patio doors.  They open side to side on a track. If you want the superior insulation of a cellular shade, vertical cellular shades are the choice for you, because they are one continuous piece of fabric, and are available in single and double cell.  See pictures.

Profile of a cellular vertical blind

Lastly, there are just cellular shades for windows.  As I mentioned, they are just about one or the most practical window treatments you can buy.   They provide excellent insulation which will help to lower heating and cooling bills.  They come in variety of opacities (how much light is transmitted through the fabric) from:
*Sheer – for gentle light filtering
*Semi opaque – for room darkening
*Opaque – for blackout

By ‘blackout’, I mean that when the shade is closed almost all light is blocked. Cellular shades make great blackout shades because, combined

Blackout cellular shades - notice the Mylar coating

with special opaque Mylar coating inside the cell (see picture) and the tight fit within the window casing, you get almost total darkness.  This is perfect for bedrooms or home theaters. 

With all the opacity options, you could have cellular shades and blinds in every room in your home. Sheer cellular shades when you want natural light, semi-opaque cellular shades for greater privacy and  room darkening and blackout cellular shades for your bedrooms – and all will provide substantial insulation to your windows.

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Cheap Blinds

Retailers tend to steer away from ever labeling their products as cheap. The axiom is that the negative association will turn people away.  This, of course, doesn’t apply to every product. There are some things that the average consumer accepts as cheap, e.g. the contents of every Dollar Store.  

Cheap has two basic meanings:  low cost (a bargain) – low quality (junk). Everyone wants good stuff that’s cheap, that’s the heart of a bargain. A lot of people are looking for products online using the word cheap plus  “insert product here.”  Most of those people are simply leveraging the power of the internet to find good deals – they aren’t looking for junk. 

In the realm of window treatments, most retailers, online or offline, wouldn’t dream of calling their products cheap.  Instead, they use friendlier, yet still euphemistic adjectives like “bargain” or, “budget-friendly” and the like. Let’s face it when it comes to window blinds and shades, cheap usually means low-quality, off-the-shelf, non custom-sized vinyl mini blinds or roller shades made in Bangladesh (not that there’s anything wrong with Bangladesh) you might find at a big box store for under $10.

We at Blindsgalore are taking a bold step in the launch of our new BG Bargains line of blinds and shades, we are calling them cheap – not cheap as in low quality, just cheap in price. How did we do this?  We’ve taken out the frills and extras to give you a quality product at cheap prices. Now you can purchase made-to-measure window treatments for a lot less without sacrificing quality. The BG Bargains line of window treatments feature heavy duty components and quality materials, to provide years of reliable service.

The BG Bargains line of cheap blinds and cheap shades includes cheap vertical blinds, cheap aluminum mini blinds, cheap cellular shades and cheap roman shades. To keep costs down, we offer a limited color palette and only two features: cheap cordless cellular shades and cheap top down bottom up cellular shades.  

The BG Bargains line of no-frills blinds and shades are for all those people who want good quality, made-to-order window treatments but, for whatever reason – budgets, non-homeowner, or simply frugality – don’t want to pop for the name-brand. We’ve pared down the choices but kept the goodness coupled with the easiest shopping experience – measure, choose, order. You can do it all online and have them shipped to your door with no shipping costs.  Now you can decorate a room or a whole house for a fraction of the cost without leaving the comfort of home or burning pricey gasoline going from store to store.

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