A Few Essential Tips for Choosing Blinds for Your Home

Blinds are a good choice for any home, but they are especially good for smaller rooms where curtains may seem a bit overwhelming. They are also a more neutral choice for when you want to coordinate your window treatments with a bold fabric pattern on furniture. When you're ready to choose blinds for your home, note a few essential tips to keep in mind so you know you get a choice you'll be happy with for years to come.

Material

Blinds are usually vinyl, plastic, wood, or fabric. Fabric blinds can add some softness to a space and can be good for toning down your modern décor, or for a craftsman style home with lots of wood trim. They might also offer the most noise insulation if you live near a busy freeway. Vinyl, plastic and wood may be easier to clean, however, so keep this in mind. Do you cook with lots of oil and other fats? If so, that grease can become airborne and wind up on your fabric blinds, causing them to get stained more quickly.

Wood can be a good compromise when fabric is not the right choice; it might seem more attractive and homier than vinyl or plastic, and wood blinds can be cleaned with a simple damp cloth. Vinyl and plastic are very durable, but they might seem industrial and less attractive than other options.

Light control

If you want maximum light control, you need blackout blinds in particular. These will usually have slats that are taller from top to bottom, so they overlap each other more thoroughly when the blinds are closed. In turn, you'll have less light "peeking" through the blinds. Light control blinds might also be a bit wider than standard blinds so that less light gets in through the sides of the blinds as well. Don't assume that standard blinds, even if they're black or very dark, will block out light—shop for blackout blinds instead.

Safety features

If you have children in the home, opt for blinds without a cord that hangs from the top housing unit; safety blinds will have a cord that wraps in a loop around the blinds rather than dangling. This will keep a child from getting caught in that cord. This is also good for homes with pets, especially cats who like to swipe at dangling cords. Consider, too, that cats might like to jump on the blinds, and very thin, cheap vinyl or plastic blinds might easily break, more so than wood or fabric. These may seem like minor features, but it is important to choose blinds that will be safe in your home.