From the Floors Up

Six Signs It Is Time Replace Your Window Treatments

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When was the last time that you really took a close look at your window coverings? You will find that after some years, blinds, shades, and other types of window treatments start to become worn. Many homeowners switch out their window treatment after 7-10 years. If you cannot even remember the last time that you have upgraded your window solutions, you should inspect them for wear and tear. When window treatment becomes damage, they do not perform their primary function. Here are some signs that it is time to replace your window treatments:

Difficult to Operate

Are you finding that it is becoming increasingly difficult to raise or close your blinds? Over time the lifting mechanisms on blinds become damaged when the blinds stretch out and get too wide for the mechanism to support. When it becomes nearly impossible to operate your blinds, you can expect them to fall off of the window eventually. It is best to replace them as soon as possible.

Bent Slats

Exposure to heat and humidity over a prolonged period of time can cause the slats to warp and bend. It may even cause the slats to take on a wavy form. When your slats start to take on such an appearance, you should replace them as soon as possible because it sticks out like a sore thumb and will decrease the aesthetic value of your home.

Broken Slats

If you live in a home with children and pets, you can also expect your blinds to get bent out of shape eventually or even broken. In high traffic areas, your curtains and shades may even experience rips or tears. If this is in the case, you want to consider more durable window solutions.

Discolored Slats

So the slats are not looking as pearly white as they once did. If you have noticed that your blinds have a yellowish tint that it is impossible to get all the way clean, then it is definitely time for some new ones.

Not Meeting Your Needs

If your window coverings are no longer blocking out the sunlight or giving you the privacy you need, that means it is time to upgrade to something more functional.

Kid-Friendly

Blinds with long cords are a safety hazard for small children. If your window treatments are not safe for the children in your home, then you will have to upgrade to updated coverings with safety features.

We hope you found these tips helpful! Be sure to subscribe for more design tips and tricks.

Shutters Create Soft Mood

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Shutters

Window coverings can be one of the most challenging design choices in a home. Balancing light access, privacy, cost and design benefits can be complex. In the meantime, you may be living with sheets tacked to the walls with painter’s tape.

This space shows some of the advantages of shutters. The look is clean and inviting, and light is completely under your control. A simple adjustment of the louvers allows you to let in plenty of daylight without compromising privacy. And the light provided is soft and appealing.

This corner feels like a perfect place to settle on a summer Saturday morning. The white-on-white style is well suited to the filtered sunlight, and yellow-green accents keep the space feeling cool and clean. You can curl up and read a book – the light is just right – or talk with the person sitting in the matching chair on the other side of you.

Notice that there are just a couple of features in other colors. The dull silver of the labels is a good foil to the green, and the little turquoise-colored box on the top shelf pops gently in comparison to the other hues. Someone spent some time planning this corner, and the shutters provide just the right background for this design.

If you’re planning your window coverings, why not consider shutters? They can be custom-made to suit any size or shape of window, and provide a wealth of options in terms of color and materials. They make a great companion to almost any design, and can be a major contributor to the overall look and feel of a space, as this corner shows.

Choosing the Right Window Treatment

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18055454_SWhether you have just moved into a new home or are redecorating a room in your house, choosing the right window treatment can make or break your decorating scheme. There are so many options when it comes to treatments so you’ll need to do your homework to decide if you want blinds, shades or draperies.

Keep in mind the style of the house, your budget, the room the windows are in, and, of course, the windows themselves. Large draperies will look overpowering on small windows, while blinds on large windows may be overwhelming. Think about your color scheme when selecting the treatments.

You also want to think about how easy your window coverings will be to keep clean. Options for blinds include plastic, faux wood or aluminum. With regular dusting and an occasional wipe down with a damp cloth, blinds are fairly easy to maintain. If you pick heavy draperies they will need to be washed or dry-cleaned a couple of times a year.

Do you want your window treatments to provide privacy and block the light or do you want them purely for aesthetic reasons?

To get ideas look through home magazines, go through model homes, surf the web and look at what your friends have done. You definitely want a foundation of what you love before you start looking in stores.

Most importantly, measure, measure, measure! You don’t want to purchase a window covering, get ready to install it and then find out that it doesn’t fit or isn’t long enough.

Windows Instead of Walls

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There is a lot of talk about focal walls in decorating. What if you have more windows than walls in your room? Sun rooms and rooms with walls of windows can be tricky to decorate given you don’t have wall space as a focal point. In the case of too many windows, let the view outside be the star.

 

Garden rooms and sun rooms can have three walls of windows, leaving just one wall as a place to hang art or place a television. Place furniture in an arrangement that highlights both the view through the windows and the focal wall. Common arrangements of furniture right up against the perimeter will mean you are facing away from the view in a room full of windows—and not taking advantage of the view.  Some furniture that faces into the room is acceptable to create conversation areas.

 

Use flooring to designate seating areas in the sun room or garden room just as you would a living room. Often sun rooms feature both sitting and dining areas so rugs can help distinguish these two spaces. Ask your retailer about color stability in sunlight when purchasing flooring for a sun room or room with a wall of windows.

 

A wall of windows can be dressed with window treatments that allow you to control the light flow into the space. Curtains and shades, even when left open, will give the windows a more finished look. Coordinate these design elements with other colors and patterns in the room.

Blinds and Flooring Set Stage

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When you have a contemporary house with little or no architectural detail built in, the best solution is to create architectural depth yourself.

This room has a strong contemporary feel, and the light wood flooring and matching wood blinds support that while adding interest and depth to the room.

Choosing dark tape for the blind mechanism grounds the light elements in the room and connects the light wood choice with the dark leather bed frame and dark wood nightstand. Together they provide the contrast that makes a modern room work – the light wood horizontal combined with the dark verticals complement the dark horizontal furnishings.

The bed has a curved padded headboard that creates a comfortable place to lean back and read or watch the flat-screen. The nightstand also shows function as well as style with room enough for essentials on top and storage for books and magazines underneath.

Notice the pillow choices. Three sets of matching pillows add pattern. The bottom pillows are in a solid fabric, but the tie closures add a nice detail. The next two sets combine modern and a touch of traditional with the embroidered dragonflies. This room keeps accessories to a minimum, so the pillows add interest and help make the bed the focal point.

Functional and well-designed, this bedroom brings together a good foundation with an appealing finish. Do you want a bedroom with the right combination of connection and contrast? Let us help you select just the right combination of flooring and window treatments to get you started.

From the Floors Up

From the Floors Up blog was created with the goal of providing a destination for consumers, designers and those interested in the flooring, design, and kitchen and bath industries. Here you’ll find, current, accurate and informative information that is always just a click away!

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