Blinds (Douglas, Miami: loft, house, purchase)

[thedreamteam]

in the market to purchase blinds, but unfortunately we are not yet in town and we have to do it remotely.

is there a big (visible) difference between real and faux? as well is it worth it to pay the 30% extra to go from 2" to 2.5" slat? i realize this all could depend on quality of individual manufacturer, just looking for peoples general opinion on the topic.

thanks in advance

[altus2006]

There is a big difference between the real and the fake. The bigger the better because it means less of them to painstakingly clean. They are difficult to keep clean and are always dusty with all of the blowing dirt around here.

How are you going to order them "remotely"?

altus2006

[azdr0710]

maybe go with 2" on a smaller window and 2.5" on a bigger window??

I myself don't notice a BIG diff between real and faux...you could go to a local home store up in Canada and feel for yourself....

make sure colors and styles match if you're getting blinds near each other in a room...off-white is safe, if not adventurous....several wood shades available for a more rustic look....

may want to spend just a little more and get something that won't feel cheap and fragile...

there are standard sizes for common window frames, or you may need to go custom for a lot more.....

[andrzejn]

Originally Posted by azdr0710

maybe go with 2" on a smaller window and 2.5" on a bigger window??

I myself don't notice a BIG diff between real and faux...you could go to a local home store up in Canada and feel for yourself....

make sure colors and styles match if you're getting blinds near each other in a room...off-white is safe, if not adventurous....several wood shades available for a more rustic look....

may want to spend just a little more and get something that won't feel cheap and fragile...

there are standard sizes for common window frames, or you may need to go custom for a lot more.....

I wouldn't go with standard sizes each window should be measure separately.

[Master Shake]

If you order online, you can get exact measurements made -- which means you don't have to take out slats from the bottom. The big box stores will trim the sides to fit, but they don't remove slats from the bottom, which can mean you end up with a stack on the bottom if you don't pull them out yourself.

You can get faux blinds with simulated wood grain, which makes them look even better. Aside from actually touching them, it is not easy to tell faux apart from real. I would suggest sticking with standard 2".

Also, if you order online, look into the "route less" option. This makes the slats whole -- without the small cuts where the strings go. This blocks out more light and (IMHO) looks better when closed.

[valicky]

My dh has been in the blind business since the 80's. In our own home, we have real wood horizontal blinds and faux wood. The faux wood blinds are white and you really can't tell they're fake. They even have the wood grain. I wouldn't pay the difference for real wood if you're getting a painted finish vs stained. Faux wood also has the added benefit of not warping. We have real wood blinds in our master bdrm and loft and a few slats are a little warped. We also have the slats without the holes but for a bedroom, the blinds still don't shut the light out enough for us. We have to have blackout roller shades behind the blinds to darken the room enough for us. As far as slat size, that depends on the look you want and also the window size and depth of the frame. I wouldn't choose a small slat size on a big window or an extra large slat size on a tiny window.
I clean them really easily with a swiffer duster every once in awhile.

[thedreamteam]

Originally Posted by valicky

Faux wood also has the added benefit of not warping. We have real wood blinds in our master bdrm and loft and a few slats are a little warped.

are you sure about this? i heard the exat opposite and shelled out extra cash to move up to the real wood to hopefully avoid this exact same problem.

the way it was sold to me is that since we will not be in town during the summers and AC most likely shut off the house will be like a sauna therefor the cheaper faux blinds would begin to warp after 4 or 5 yrs becuase of the weight. The 100% real basswood is 2 and a half time lighter and would be guaranteed against this problem. hearing this we shelled out the extra $300 so we wouldnt be sitting in this exact same position 5 yrs down the road.

Did i get taken???

[sierraAZ]

Originally Posted by andrzejn

I wouldn't go with standard sizes each window should be measure separately.

Heck, no! I also naively thought when you have two identical windows you can only measure one!

Ordering blinds online is asking for headache! They're bad enough even when ordered to measure. I'm on my 2nd year of struggling with Levolor's cellular shades and they'll NEVER be quite right. The idea ('cause that's what I shelled out pretty penny on to a large extend) was great; the problem is the blinds hit the market before the idea was worked out! It's just a gift that keeps on giving!

[Bummer]

Originally Posted by thedreamteam

in the market to purchase blinds, but unfortunately we are not yet in town and we have to do it remotely.

is there a big (visible) difference between real and faux? as well is it worth it to pay the 30% extra to go from 2" to 2.5" slat? i realize this all could depend on quality of individual manufacturer, just looking for peoples general opinion on the topic.

thanks in advance

About three years ago, I custom ordered my blinds (White Faux Wood by Hunter Douglas) from Discount Blinds, Window Blinds, Wallpaper, Shades - Lower Prices at American Blinds, Wallpaper & More and the results were perfect. However, you do need to measure each window in at least two places. Installation was a piece of cake.

The total price and delivery time were both much better than any local quotes and the blinds fit like gloves. I would go the same route if I ever need blinds again.

Good Luck

[valicky]

Originally Posted by thedreamteam

are you sure about this? i heard the exat opposite and shelled out extra cash to move up to the real wood to hopefully avoid this exact same problem.

the way it was sold to me is that since we will not be in town during the summers and AC most likely shut off the house will be like a sauna therefor the cheaper faux blinds would begin to warp after 4 or 5 yrs becuase of the weight. The 100% real basswood is 2 and a half time lighter and would be guaranteed against this problem. hearing this we shelled out the extra $300 so we wouldnt be sitting in this exact same position 5 yrs down the road.

Did i get taken???

Not sure. Our blinds are 6.5 years old and the faux blinds are not warped at all. There are different qualities of both faux and real so that's probably a factor too. We never have the air off here once it hits the 80's so I don't know how the blinds would do if we did. We have them on windows that face all four directions and only the wood blinds have a few warped slats. It's not horrible but a few slats are slightly warped. Our Miami sun is not nearly as intense as it is there in AZ. The biggest blind we have is about 6 ft wide, faux wood, southern exposure, no warping. The real wood blinds are smaller with some warping.
I actually didn't know our faux blinds weren't wood until about a year ago. I thought dh had put all wood blinds on our upstairs windows.