How to choose blinds? Types of blinds and buying tips

Blinds have a fairly long history. In translation from French, "jalousie" means "jealousy".This is due to the fact that for the East there were windows, taken with wooden plaques, which let in enough light, but hid from the prying eyes of women who went home without a veil.

Blinds allow you to fine-tune the intensity of penetration into the room of light, sunlight and air currents. This detail of the interior plays a serious role in the design of the room. It is also important that the integrity, harmony of color and stylistic composition under artificial illumination depends on it. In order not to bring disharmony into the comfort of your room, you need to know which is better to buy blinds.

Plan of article:

• Types of blinds
  
• Selection of blinds for plastic windows
  
• Selection of blinds for wooden windows
  
• Optimal choice of blinds for balcony or loggia
  
• Blinds or curtains - we make a difficult choice
  
• Useful advice when ordering blinds
  

Types of blinds

According to the design of blindsare divided into:

• vertical;


• horizontal;


• pleated;


• roller blinds;


• cassette.

"Classics of the genre" are horizontal blinds .This type provides excellent protection against exposure to the sun and rising room temperatures. The design of the blinds of this type is very simple and effective. There is an opinion that horizontal blinds are less reliable. However, experts argue that the only drawback of this type of device is the failure of the entire system when one lamella breaks.


Can be interframe( mounted between window frames) and internal( mounted on the inner surface of windows).

Open-close control is very simple and convenient. Blinds horizontal type does not create obstacles for the circulation of air in the room from the street, making it easier to ventilate. This type of blind can be used as room dividers for individual zones in offices and apartments. Thanks to the choice of material and color solutions, such blinds can decorate any interior.

Vertical blinds are a more modern trend and have a clear imprint of classic curtains. They are perfectly combined with large windows, bay windows, arches and sliding doors. In this type of blinds, the lamellas are perpendicular to the floor surface. They are equipped with a comfortable control mechanism, which rotates the lamellas at any angle around its axis. This provides the possibility of creating a different degree of illumination in a room. Vertical blinds are stretched using a cord, like curtains. Materials for vertical blinds are in most cases impregnated with antistatic and dust-repellent solutions. This prevents the accumulation of dust on them. Collapsed in a roll, lamellas blinds vertical appearance is very convenient to wash in a "stilalka."


Blinds-Pleated is a curtain made of a single piece of pleated fabric, which is folded if necessary. The system is installed directly on the window and allows you to close the opening of any area and form factor. Closing-opening is realized with the help of a cord and weight, weighting the lower part of the curtain. This kind of blinds protects the room well from sunlight. The abundance of colors and textures allows you to write these curtains in any interior.


Roller shutters( roller blinds) - represent a cloth of perforated fabric, which retards sunlight, wound on a special roller. This type of blind can be lowered to any level, like a horizontal type device. The fabric of the roller blind creates a light scattering effect, in which you see what is happening outside the window, remaining out of sight for observers outside. These curtains do not create obstacles for opening the window, help to save space. They can be free-hanging or placed in a box. If the roller blind is equipped with guides, this allows it to fit snugly against the window, providing more effective protection. Depending on the material of this type of blinds, you can achieve complete darkness in the room. This is useful, for example, for the purpose of arranging home movies at home theater with a projector.


There are also metal shutters. However, they provide a function to prevent the intrusion of intruders and are installed outside the windows.

The cassette blinds feature a roller blind mechanism. The difference is the enclosed curtains in a kind of "cassette" - a box with guides. The box is mounted directly on the leaf, so the curtain does not interfere with the mobility of the window, protecting it well from ultraviolet radiation.


According to the level of light protection, the blinds can be:

• reflective;


• with light scattering;


• light-absorbing.

According to the material, the blinds are:

• Aluminum - metal provides strength and reliability of construction, has reflective properties, reflects thermal radiation, is easy to maintain and clean.


• Wooden - eco-friendly material combined with excellent thermal and light insulation, various color solutions make this type of blinds an excellent option for any interior. Especially exotic are blinds made of bamboo.


• Faux-wood - the material consists of synthetic elements with impregnations of natural wood, has moisture resistance and high sun protection properties. At a price more affordable than the wood


• Fabric - have a good antistatic effect, easy to erase and, thanks to the rich color scheme and the possibility of photodecoration, look stylish, fit into the framework of any design of the room.


• Plastic - their dignity - it's easy to care, but the sunscreen properties of this type of blinds leave much to be desired.


• Multifacture - a combination of different materials, which gives them a very stylish appearance, able to decorate any room.

Selection of blinds for plastic windows

Plastic windows differ from other types of windows by a swing-and-tilt mechanism. Therefore, that the blinds do not hang out ridiculously and do not interfere, it is necessary to choose the appropriate design.


For this type of windows, blind roller blinds and cassette blinds are best. The advantage of these types of blinds is the fact that they are mounted directly on the sash of the window. This allows you to visually increase the volume of the room, while providing effective protection from sunlight. Also, the windowsill remains free, which is undoubtedly very convenient in places with a limited area: in the bathroom, on the balcony, kitchen and others.

Another advantage of these types of blinds on plastic windows is the ability to perform various manipulations with the window without cleaning the curtains.

If you are not satisfied with the minimalism of blinds of this type, you can always use them simultaneously with classic curtains and tulle.

The choice between roller blinds and cassette blinds in most cases is due to the design of the premises, the final objectives of the arrangement of the premises, the level of its contamination. An important factor will be the floor on which the room is located, as dust and automobile exhausts do not reach the height of 5 - 7 floors. It is also important to consider the proximity of the windows of neighboring houses to calculate the density of the tissue in order to hide your private life from the immodest views of strangers.

Horizontal cassettes are more resistant to dirt, high humidity and temperature changes. They are easy to clean from dirt, and they are extremely durable and resistant to burn-out in the sun.

Because of the beauty of roll blinds and the delicacy of fabrics, they are preferable to be installed in bedrooms and living rooms. The intensity of the light flux can be adjusted by selecting suitable tissues.

Selection of blinds for wooden windows

There are no fundamental differences in the choice of blinds for windows with wooden doors. It is possible to use all types of blinds, focusing solely on interior design and on your taste preferences.


However, a few recommendations of an aesthetic nature will not be superfluous.

More organically on the wooden frames will look blinds made of natural materials. It is especially interesting and unusual to combine a wooden window frame with wooden or bamboo horizontal blinds. In combination with simple furniture in eco-style, this will give the room a certain color of naturalness and identity.

In the case of a decent ceiling height in the room, it is advisable to purchase horizontal blinds. This will visually increase the volume of the room. Well, if the ceilings are located low, the position will correct the vertical type blinds. They will give the ceiling an illusion of height.

Optimal choice of blinds for a balcony or a loggia

First of all, it is necessary to mention that blinds with a sash attachment on the aluminum frames of balcony glazing are not suitable. First, on metal such type of them can be mounted at the cost of great efforts. Secondly, the structural features of the frame flaps will prevent normal opening and closing when there are blinds of this type on them.

It should also be borne in mind that we often leave balconies open for airing purposes. Therefore, the blinds on the balcony will be exposed to frequent and intense contaminants.


Vertical blinds mounted on the balcony are not followed for several reasons. Often the ceilings on the balcony are made plastic, which makes it impossible to mount vertical blinds on them. Also, vertical type blinds will hide the tiny area of ​​the balcony. The presence of several shutters of the balcony frame makes it difficult to install the blind control unit.

The best, as it seems to us, will be the choice of roller blinds, cassette versions of blinds and usual horizontal views. Their use will save space and provide comfort in operations with balcony glass doors.

Blinds or curtains - we make a difficult choice

First of all, this is certainly a matter of taste and aesthetic preferences. Consider the pros and cons of curtains and blinds.

Curtains have advantages in the field of decor. They form an atmosphere of coziness and comfort in the room. You can choose the colors and texture of the fabric, which will create the right mood and style of the room. The disadvantages are:

• rather relative protection from sunlight;


• difficult to choose the right room for the interior.


• slight variation in the regulation of the degree of illumination of the room;


• obstruction of normal air circulation during ventilation in the curtained state;


• the ability of fabric curtains to accumulate dust, which can provoke the occurrence of allergic reactions of the body;


• sneaking around the room and limiting the use of the window sill.

Blinds have great opportunities for realization of design ideas. They effectively perform the function of light control and heat reflection, prevent the penetration of sunlight into the room. They also visually expand the space of the room, freeing the windowsill, providing freedom of operations with the window sashes.

The disadvantages are:

• higher maintenance complexity compared to conventional curtains;


• is inclined to call associations with an office or other official institution, which not everyone will like;


• louvres made of artificial materials can give off a not very pleasant smell of "chemistry" when heated.

Helpful tips when ordering blinds

1. Installation of blinds in the opening of the window. The width of the blinds for this type of installation should be one or two centimeters shorter than the width of the opening. We draw attention to the angle of the slopes of the window, since this parameter strongly affects the width of the opening. The height of the lamellas should be one to one and a half centimeters shorter than the height of the window opening. The possibility of installing blinds in the opening is provided if there are aligned window sills. The lack of parallelism of the window sill with the upper edge of the window significantly spoils the aesthetics. In this case, you need to mount the blinds with a varying height. The plumb line of the control cord should be shorter than the height of the blind by fifteen centimeters.

2. Installation of blinds on the window opening. The width of the blinds in this case should be equal to the width of the window plus three centimeters. In the event that, due to the presence of heating pipes, the blinds will be mounted with some indentation from the wall, it should be added to the width of about fifteen to twenty centimeters. The height of the lamellas is calculated by adding an additional ten centimeters to the height of the window opening. If it is necessary to hide the sill, the length of the slats can reach the floor. Mount the cornice of vertical blinds best to the ceiling. This will ensure the reliability of fixing the structure.

3. Video instruction: