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General

Much Ado About Bamboo

By Gina G.

Bamboo shades are great options to add texture and a natural vibe to any room.  If you are considering a bamboo shade but unfamiliar with them, here’s a brief snapshot:

Bamboo or woven wood shades are typical comprised of natural woods, bamboo chutes, and grasses. Because of their wooden composition, they provide some insulation, although they are not the best insulation option. These materials are generally held together by color coordinated thin threads (to allow the bamboo to really shine). Most bamboo shades will be sheer due to their composition unless the chutes are layered partially atop each other which would then give privacy. And, they are also usually the same color on the front and back of the shade.

There are a plethora of styles and colors to choose from that range from white to black but the majority of bamboo shades are offered in solid wood colors (usually popular wood tones like oak, mahogany, etc) or multi colored (to coordinate with a variety of wood colors).  The features available for bamboo shades are plentiful too.  You can choose a more formal look by choosing a bamboo style that has folds and bubbles out like a roman shade.  Or, for a more relaxed look, you can choose a more modern flat style resembling a roller shade. Most often, because of the more relaxed nature of bamboo shades, they are presented with a flat panel stlye. 

Although the headrails, brackets, and depth required for bamboo shades are varied, most come with a matching valance that is usually pre-attached to the headrail. The valance covers any hardware and gives the shade a finished look. For the bottom of your bamboo shade, you can choose whether to have it fold up (like a roman shade) or just roll up (these will usually have visible cords at the front of the shade).

Liners are another, more functional, option for bamboo shades that don’t have overlapping sticks or tight weaves. Most woven wood shades are sheer products without a liner. If you’re placing the shade in a room where privacy is necessary, you will need to add a liner to it. Some bamboo shades are offered with a blackout liner option making them viable products for bedrooms.

Finally, some bamboo shades are offered with fabric edges on the sides of the shade. These have dual purpose when utilized: to add pops of color and print and to protect the edges of the shade from damage.

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General

Summertime Window Solutions

By Gina G.

Summer is here with its longer days and brighter sunshine.  Although enjoyable, these seasonal weather changes can bring spikes in cooling costs.  If you have windows to cover this summer, here’s the top choices that will help against the rise in temperatures:

Cellular Shades – As their structure is designed to insulate windows, cellular shades are the primary choice for many seeking to keep the summer heat at bay.  Cellular, or honeycomb, shades come in a variety of colors and are offered with control options too (cordless, top down/bottom up, motorized).  And, depending on the levels of sun and heat the space experiences, you can opt for either a light filtering or black out cellular shade.  Light filtering would suffice for low to medium sun exposure or areas where natural light is beneficial.  Blackout cellular shades are great options where the sun and its effects are intolerable.

Blackout Curtains – Blackout curtains are great summer window treatments because they are functional but not permanent.  As they have a black out liner on them, blackout curtains will do wonders to keeping the heat from entering a space.  But also keep in mind that they will also darken the space significantly.  The best thing about blackout curtains, however, is that they are panels and therefore not fixed like a blind or shade.  When the space is hot and you want to keep it cool, draw the curtains.  Other times when insulation is not so important, keep the panels open.  And, blackout curtains are offered in such a wide variety of styles and prints, you don’t have to sacrifice décor to achieve your insulation needs.

Bamboo Shades – Bamboo shades combine both function and design for the summertime.  Functionally, bamboo shades are natural insulators since they are usually comprised of wood.  In addition, due to their sheerness in absence of a liner, most people opt to put a liner on their bamboo shades.  This liner, whether light filtering/privacy liner or a black out liner, will perform similar to that of the blackout curtains.  It should dramatically reduce the amount of sunlight (and its effects) to a space.  Design-wise, bamboo shades with their composition of woods, chutes and grasses are certainly trending as a great way to bring the natural environment into the home.

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Heritage | Pattern | Roller Shade General Inspiration Products Tips and Advice

Cottage Window Coverings

Fair weather season is just around the corner and many are busy preparing their cottage for sunny times ahead. Even if your neighbors abode is located a fair distance from your own, your still need to cover your windows to protect your furniture from excessive sunlight. Depending on your decor, there are a number of products that are available to suit your needs. Our article will concentrate on three specific styles of interior decor.

4 Styles for a Naturally Inspired Look

Woven wood, a natural product, can be a perfect match for the wooden walls of your cottage. If your windows face a wooded area or a lake, unlined bamboo blinds are the answer as they enable you to look out and enjoy the scenery; should you need a greater level of privacy or room-darkening properties, you can always add a lining at the back. As your cottage is only used during certain times of the year, you need blinds that do not attract great quantities of dust a flat woven wood style is easy to clean, just wipe with a cloth.

Wood or Faux Wood horizontal blinds are available in a wide range of natural colors that can be found in a cottage. These provide better light filtering properties and a greater level of privacy.

To confer a more prestigious look on your cottage, shutters are a great choice as they offer nearly the same options as Wood or Faux Wood horizontal blinds. You may open the slats only or the entire unit to let the sunshine in.

Finally, a roller shade from our Naturally Inspired Collection will fit perfectly among the natural decor of your cottage. Our new styles offer the appearance of woven wood while resisting warping in areas of high humidity. Easy to clean and lightweight, they are the ideal decorative solution for large windows.

4 Contemporary Styles for the More Modern Cottage

Cascade Sheers offer excellent light filtering properties combined with a privacy option. Made with a dust-resistant straight fabric, the window coverings are practical has they will only need a periodic cleaning. Furthermore, they are UV resistant to protect the natural furnishings in your cottage.

Aluminum Venetian Blinds come with the same options as the Cascade line, but a lower price. Aluminum shades resist discoloration and their slats do not warp under hot sunlight.

Cellular Shades give a modern touch to your cottage. Whether you choose a sheer, privacy or black out style, they all provide some of the best insulation properties. If your cottage has old windows or windows facing south, Cellular shades are the ideal option to help you save energy; also, cellular shades may be lowered to uncover the top of your window or combined to create a light filtering shade at the top and a darker shade the bottom to provide more light.

Last but not least, a solid shade or a solar shade may be a good option. While a solid shade will provide a greater level of privacy, a solar shade will let you admire the lake or scenery while filtering out harmful UV rays. Often made of wood, the interior of your cottage will be better protected against discoloration and remain cool.

3 Great Styles for the Classical Cottage

Harmony Roman Shades come in wide range of patterns and are lined to provide greater privacy or room-darkening properties. If you want to enjoy the view outside your cottage while maintaining a level of privacy, a top down model may be just what you need.  

Sheers which include panels made of material are better adapted to large windows, as they are lighter. Allure and Serenity window coverings include a sheer material between their panels; just like a curtain, they enable you to see outside.  

Whatever the decor in your cottage, there is a window covering to suit your needs and your budget. You are bound to be pleased with the result. Of course, our in-store qualified staff is ready to assist you!

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General Inspiration Tips and Advice

Picture Perfect Home

Right now, the housing market is a tough competition. People naturally wants to buy houses that meets their needs and budget, and either meets or exceeds their expectation. Buyers have lots of options to choose from, and they want to be able to see a lot of choices from the comfort of their own home. This is where technology comes into play, and if you want to be able to catch people’s attention in your listings, here are some tips that you can do to make your house the desire of everybody.

  1. SHOW THE INTERESTING FEATURES OF YOUR HOME – you think those brick walls are the star, or maybe those exposed beams, or the big decorative pillars, or skylights? Show it. If your space have it, then flaunt it. You’ll never know if this is what someone’s specifically looking for in their new home.
  1. FOCAL POINT – think your room looks boring and too neutral? Create a focal point by adding pops of color, you can do it by adding colors on the accessories like pillows, paintings, or even blinds.
  1. KEEP IT NATURAL – Use the natural light to your advantage. Take pictures when the sun is high and all the lights are flooding into your home. A well lighted room makes it look more open.
  1. USE FURNITURES WISELY – Use the appropriate size according to the space you need to fill. Big furnitures in a small room will make it look even more cramped. With big rooms, you can use furnitures to create new spaces. A fully furnished, well thought of, room can make your home look more cozy and homey.
  1. ACCESSORIES AND DIMENSIONS – Light paint colors make the room look bigger, mirrors give additional dimension and can reflect other areas of the house that are not in the picture, rugs can make the room look smaller because it creates the illusion that breaks the floor area.

You can attract people with pictures but keeping it clean and very welcoming will make them want to live there.

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General Inspiration Tips and Advice

Bringing the Outdoors, Inside.

After a long winter, the need to be outdoors and taking in nature becomes essential. We appreciate the spring and summer much more with its absence during the winter so our need to be outdoors increases and being indoors, decreases. But what do you do on a rainy day? During extreme humidity? You stay home, you stay indoors. And you’re back to missing the outdoors again. Back to missing the warmth, the nature and the colors. But, that doesn’t need to happen, especially when you learn how to bring a little of the outdoors, inside.

Now you don’t need to go all out and redecorate a room dedicated to an outdoors theme. But you can achieve that feeling with a few simple solutions. You may consider changing the tablecloth on your table to one with more florals on it or one with pastel colours to bring some brightness into the room. Colours like pale blues and greens can give a space a more refreshing and serene touch.

Adding some wooden or woven items in a room also gives it that outdoor, cottage feel. You can replace your placemats for beautiful woven ones. If you have existing plants in the space, put them in a wooden planter. If you don’t have any plants, get some! You will literally bring the outdoors to you with some house plants. Now if you’re worried about maintaining them, get ones that require the least amount of maintenance. Usually leafy plants don’t require a lot of attention. And of course, one of the easiest solutions is putting some fresh flowers in an existing vase. Pick colours that accent your existing colours.

Spring/summer time can also be a time where you feel a need to change something. And you know what, it doesn’t always have to be drastic. It can be something as simple as changing some sheers or blinds. We at Blinds To Go, have a woven wood blinds collection that can help you bring the outdoors inside. Our St Lucia collection, one of our newest, can bring some woven warmth to your room with light colours. It can act like a sheer and let in a lot of light during those rainy days, inside. So don’t let yourself get down on those summer days you have to be inside. Bring a little of the outdoors to you.

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DIY General Inspiration Interior Designers Tips and Advice

Sunroom Decor

Sunroom Decor

The sunroom used to be dark and dingy, but Andrea added some serious charm with a fresh coat of paint, freshly washed floors, and a few of her signature crazy-amazing DIY projects. The family’s sunroom is now light and airy—the perfect place to sit and enjoy a glass of lemonade on a hot summer day. Have a sunroom of your own that’s in dire need of a refresh? Here are 11 design ideas to take from this inspiring reno to use in your home:

  1. Opt for a light-colored paint to brighten the space.

Andrea used (Valspar’s Dove White) on the walls to help brighten the room and make it seem larger. For contrast, she used a darker color trim (Benjamin Moore’s Kendall Charcoal).

  1. Install DIY shelves.

Just simple shelves, made out of stained planks of wood and spray painted L-brackets, are a great spot for displaying knickknacks and succulents.

  1. Bring in some blue.

Adding a touch of blue is a great way to liven up a small room; Andrea brought in navy accents with a patterned rug.

  1. Look for ways to repurpose old junk sitting around your house.

Andrea made an eye-catching coffee table out of a door she found in the homeowner’s basement by sawing it in half and adding table legs. Another cute DIY: the tray that was on top of the table was made from a wood pallet. It looked pretty cool!

         5. Add string lights.

A foolproof way to add charm to your sunroom? Globe lights! Andrea placed a string in a zig-zag pattern on the wall to add ambient lighting once the sun sets.

  1. Hang curtains.

Curtains not only add privacy, but they also bring a textural, luxe feel to any room. But they don’t have to be fancy—Andrea made the curtains from drop cloths.

  1. Keep it natural.

Don’t paint over all of the natural wood finishes if you have ’em! The natural wood doors and ceiling instantly bring a warm feeling to this sunroom.

 

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General Inspiration Interior Designers Tips and Advice

Beach Home Decor

American Coastal Style

Should evoke a mood or a feeling of casual, breezy, seaside relaxation without bashing you over the head with beachy paraphernalia. American Coastal Style can be broken into subcategories like transitional coastal (my style), coastal cottage, and contemporary coastal. Regardless of which sub-style you prefer, they all have several things in common, tons of natural sunlight, casual furnishings made with natural fibers and textures, ocean inspired color palettes, touches of subtle sparkle from glass and mirrors, and “found”, natural elements from the sea or coast as decor accessories.

Coastal Color Palettes

Choosing the right colors for your walls and decor will immediately help transform your home and give it the feeling of a relaxed coastal environment. The ocean, sky, and sand provide the inspiration for a coastal color palette. Think neutrals like weathered driftwood grays and warm soft sands…Crisp whites like sailboat canvas and sand dollars…Muted greens like beach grass, kelp, and sea glass…Watery sea blues and aquas and..Deep navy and steel grays like the storm clouds over the turbulent oceans.

Let the Light Pour In

Coastal Decor celebrates the sunlight and beautiful vistas. Coastal homes have a multitude of windows allowing natural light to be the main source of illumination in the home. Window treatments are kept simple, light, airy and are rarely ever closed. Think about it, have you ever walked into a beach home that was dark and gloomy? I hope not. So even if you live hundreds of miles inland, go ahead and push back those drapes and let that glorious sunlight pour in. Who would want to obscure a gorgeous beach view anyway?

Casual Furnishings & Natural Fibers

The furniture in coastal decor is anything but stuffy and ostentatious. It should be comfortable and casual, but this does not mean you need to sacrifice style and elegance. Choose natural fibers like rattan, cane, or sea grass for chairs, and jute, sisal, sea grass, or knotted wool for floor coverings.  Slip covered sofas dressed in linen or cotton help keep the look casual, but with kids, a durable utra-suede or outdoor fabrics in sandy shades work well and are practical. Keep linens simple, crisp and clean, and light. And bring in hand painted, distressed accent pieces to round out the look.

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DIY Interior Designers Tips and Advice

Spring on a Budget

SPRING ON A BUDGET

What better reason to change the interior decor of your home than the ever changing season that we have in our country, instead of despising it, we all just have to spring forward and shake off those winter blues. There are surefire ways to refurbish our homes in a very minimal way so that we can keep up and be in the mood to welcome spring. Here are a few items you can definitely change or add without having the need to break the bank.
ADD SOMETHING OF “NATURE” IN YOUR INTERIOR
Putting houseplants are not just adding greenery in your living space but also increase oxygen level, purifies the air, and improve your health and focus. Adding the plants can give you a fresh spring feel.
FRESH WINDOW TREATMENT
Floral-patterns, colorful, and bright window treatments are also an update that can definitely change the way you look into your home. There are plenty of pretty Roman and Roller soft shades that can give you the vibrant spring-look. Try the paisley and chevron patterns, for a very minute but colorful details.
FLORAL ART DISPLAYS
If you are not as bold yet as holding the brush and painting an entire wall or even just an accent wall, why not decorate by hanging some floral paintings? You can experiment on size and colors, and you can definitely change up these items for every season.
The right accessories are equally important as all the elements in any home. Small things matter.
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DIY Inspiration Tips and Advice

Coastal/Nautical

Coastal/Nautical

What screams summer like sun, beach and ocean?!! To decorate your home with soothing hues and seaside accessories will definitely get you in the summer spirit. The coastal/nautical design delicately brings together traditional and contemporary styles, creating an environment where everyday living evokes feelings of a tranquil seaside vacation. Now, who wouldn’t want that!

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Blinds Inspiration Products Shades Tips and Advice

Going Green Beyond Energy Efficiency

Going Green Beyond Energy Efficiency

by Gina G.

A popular topic in window treatments when concerning the environment is energy efficiency.  Many people want to protect the green they spend in energy costs when heating and cooling the home.  Some folks have drafty windows; others have replacement windows but also want all the help they can get.  However, there are other ways to “go green” in selecting window treatments.  Perhaps the most overlooked, yet easy way to be environmentally friendly when selecting a window treatment is to choose the treatment in a material that is either organic or recyclable.

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