The Fabric Facelift: How You Can Use Blinds to Change the Feeling of a Room
The ambience of any room is a combination of factors–light, colour, texture, smell and atmosphere. Like a beautiful setting to a precious stone, blinds should enrich and round-off the feel of a room, transforming it to another level of stunning.
Sourcing window treatments and furnishings can be a frustrating process, as many businesses specialise in specific areas, meaning for a single property you may find yourself having to use multiple suppliers.
Personally, I have a preference for Wynstan Blinds when working, as they supply indoor and external window blinds, plantation shutters, awnings and everything in between–a one-stop-shop.
In both modern and traditional homes, window treatments which dominate a room can appear heavy and oppressive. Functional blinds should blend in with a room’s decor and design, adding colour and light–complementing and enhancing the room’s charm, whilst providing temperature moderating benefits.
Softening
Whilst natural light is a desirable asset to a room, transforming it from gloomy to glorious, it can also be harsh. By utilising blinds effectively subtle softening can be achieved which imbues a room with a calm, filtered light.
This filtering can also have a dramatic effect on the appearance of the contents of a room including:
- Furnishings – camouflaging flaws and evening colour disparates
- Protecting decor from fading
- Artwork – preventing colour fade whilst enhancing the harmonizing effect
Layered blinds, which are composed of a double overlay of translucent and opaque fabric, are a versatile method to control light entering a room. They can be subtly used to adjust light or can be opened completely, allowing an uninterrupted view.
Layered blinds have a streamlined unobtrusive design and array of colours and finishes which can be adapted to any decor and pallette. They can even be automated, removing the need for a side cord, providing both safety and convenience!
Adaptable, flexible, Light filtering
As light changes, so should your ability to alter your blinds to capture, enhance or filter it to protect your soft furnishings and wood finishes. Well-designed blinds can brighten a room simply through the use of colours and light channeling. Ideally internal and exterior blinds should provide the ability to see out whilst limiting or prohibiting the ability to see in.
Panel glides are a contemporary solution for sliding and french doors, allowing access whilst providing a minimalist, adaptable and streamlined design. The weights at the bottom of the panels prevents undue movement in the blinds during use.
Light enhancing
Dark or gloomy rooms suffering from a lack of light may not be greatly improved even by the absence of window treatments. However, through the use of cleverly designed blinds, light can be harnessed and amplified–dramatically lifting the tone of a room.
Adjustable blinds such as timber venetians, can be manipulated to capture or control sunlight. Simply by directing blades down they filter light, move them up to enhance light or completely raise them for maximum exposure.
They are an economical way to mimic the effect of plantation shutters, giving clean lines to both the interior and the exterior aspect of windows.
Timber venetian blinds also have the capacity be automated to operate at the touch of a button.
Focal point
Stunning, contemporary blinds can be a feature in their own right adding elegance and style to a room. Multiple colour combinations can be used to dramatic effect as with the Panel Glides pictured above.
For those seeking a high end finish to a home, plantation shutters are the ultimate window treatment solution. They provide:
- Crisp clean lines
- Flexibility with: Opening panels, Adjustable blades, Capacity to slide or fold
- Impact to both internal and external aspects
- Durable
- Low maintenance
- Stunning appearance
- Value adding
Temperature control
An important consideration around window treatments must be not only their aesthetic beauty, but their ability to moderate heat and cold. This increases comfort and lightens energy bills.
This ability to impact heating and cooling costs will be directly related to the material your window treatments are manufactured from. Remember, a single pane of glass loses 10 times more heat than an insulated wall. For those with large areas of glass, finding appropriate, energy-saving blinds can mean substantial savings on energy costs.
No matter what type of window furnishings you are looking for, there are a myriad of functional, stylish and affordable solutions. So, consider giving your home a facelift today, through the use of beautiful contemporary blinds and window treatments!
