Blinds Vs Shades: Make the Right Choice for Your Home
BWS Marketing • Jun 02, 2021

Blinds are made up of individual slats. They can cover the whole window, can be raised to cover a certain part of your window or fully raised to provide unobstructed views. The slats from the blinds can also be rotated to allow some light to pass through.

Rather than use slats, shades are made from fabric or woven wood. Just like blinds, you can adjust the shades to allow light to pass through, or not.

Since both shades and blinds offer almost similar services, how do you make the right choice for your home? What factors do you consider? What are the advantages and disadvantages of both window treatments? Find out the answers to these questions below.

What are Blinds?

Blinds are very popular. Many people prefer them because they are very easy to clean, are affordable, have better light control, and they can be adjusted easily.

However, blinds have their downsides as well. For instance, not many blinds designs are available. Users always feel like they are compelled to use some specific designs. Blinds are also less energy-efficient, have minimal privacy, and the slats accommodate a lot of dust.

More About Shades

The main benefits of using window shades include plenty of designs to pick from, last longer, easy to use, and some designs (the cellular shades) are energy efficient.

The downsides of having window shades include maintenance difficulty, are not affordable, and some designs are not easy to adjust.

Factors to Consider When Choosing between Blinds and Shades

Just because blinds worked better for your friend or neighbor does not necessarily mean that they will work for you. Consider the following factors when choosing your perfect window styles:

1.   Privacy and Light Control

Both blinds and shades have different ways of controlling light and maintaining privacy. Blinds are made of slats that can be tilted to allow some light to pass. Shades, on the other hand, have solid fabric that allows completing opening and closure.

Picking a window shade made from a light filtering fabric will allow you to control your privacy better.

On this front, shades have a slight upper hand over blinds.

2.   Design

Given the blinds’ natural design, you can adjust them accordingly. You can choose to partly open your blinds or keep them fully open/closed. On the other hand, shades are either open or closed, they do not have an in between.

However, blinds are limited in designs, styles and colors. Shades on the other hand are more flexible. In fact, you can customize your shades to match the other parts of your home.

3.   Ease of Cleaning

Cleaning blinds is easier because you only have to wipe them with furniture polish or wipe them with a clean cloth. Shades, on the other hand, require washing with warm water or vacuum cleaning.

If you stay in regions with high traffic or you own pets, opting for blinds would be a nice idea.

4.   Durability

 

The materials that make up blinds (wood and aluminum) are very hard and durable. This makes blinds more durable as compared to shades (made of woven fabrics).

Again, if you stay in a place with heavy traffic or own pets, blinds are the perfect choice for you.

5.   Safety

Safety in any house is mandatory. Always choose blinds or shades with shorter cords. They should be well insulated and should not hang loosely (keep them out of children’s reach).

Final Verdict

The comparison between blinds and shades is very tight. Both serve their purposes very well. However, after closely considering factors such as the designs, ease of use, privacy enhancement, and durability, blinds are the better choice.

Blinds are durable, easy to clean, and enhance privacy. However, you will have to consider the other factors discussed here before coming up with your perfect choice.

You can  contact us or read our blog for more information.

 

Expert Advice by Just Blinds

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