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How to Adjust and Operate Blinds

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How to Adjust and Operate Blinds

2” Wood Blinds — 2” Basic, Ebony

Blinds aren’t only a simple and sophisticated addition to your home décor, but they also let you effortlessly control light and privacy in every space. In this post, we’ll go over a few simple tips on how to adjust blinds for maximum privacy, light control and UV protection.

How to Adjust Horizontal Blinds

One of the most common questions homeowners have regarding how to adjust blinds is, “Should I close my window blinds up or down?” By design, window blinds’ slats fit snugly together when closed to prevent light from getting through the slats. How you close your window blinds depends on what you would achieve in your space.

For Privacy

2” Wood Blinds — 2” Exotic, Zebrano

To achieve maximum privacy, we recommend adjusting your window blinds down. This position offers the most coverage.

For Summer Heat

To prevent harsh sunlight and uncomfortable temperatures in your home, we suggest keeping your window blinds fully closed during warm summer days. This also helps to keep your furniture, artwork and surfaces from fading and maintains cooler temperatures.

For Winter Cold

2” Wood Blinds — 2” Faux, Teak

During chilly winter days, you should open your window blinds to let the sunlight in and warm the room. However, if the forecast is cloudy, turn your window blinds down to add insulation and help keep cold outside air at bay.

For Light Control

2” Wood Blinds — 2” Faux, Blanc

If you’re looking to control natural light in your home, you should open your blinds partially or fully — depending on how much light you would like to enter. Opening your window blinds allows more light to enter the room and lets you adjust for glare.

For Aesthetic Appearance

2” Wood Blinds — 2” Exotic, Zebrano

If temperature, privacy and light control aren’t your main concerns and you would like to achieve the best overall window blind appearance, we recommend keeping them only slightly open. Downward-facing blinds provide clean lines and a pleasing appearance.

Find the Best Blinds for Your Home

2” Metal Blinds, Champagne

If you’re looking for beautiful custom window blinds for your home or have questions about how to adjust blinds, we’re here to help. Simply visit one of our showrooms nationwide to meet with an expert Design Consultant or shop online.

Achieving a Mid-Century Modern Look

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Roller Shades — Jonathan Adler Sorrento, Azure

Popular in postwar America, the mid-century modern style has enjoyed a resurgence in interior design. Flat roofs, bold colors, and hairpin furniture legs are just a few elements that epitomize the clean and bright feel of these homes. If you live in a home built between the 1940s and 1970s, or if you would like to introduce a touch of mid-century flair to your current abode, read on for our top tips and picks.

Dressing a Glass House

Inner Layer: Solar Shades — 5% Metallic, Zinc / Outer Layer: Ripple Fold Drapery — Sheer Wool Blend, Grey Owl

One of the hallmarks of mid-century modern homes is an emphasis on nature and the outdoors. This often manifests in large windows, sliding glass doors, patios and other indoor-outdoor living spaces. Drapes make an excellent window treatment on large spans of windows, as they can be swept aside during the day to maintain the views of nature and closed at night for privacy.

In the photo above, a layered look of neutral Solar Shades and Drapery let soft natural light filter into this comfortable dining space, creating a seamless barrier between the indoors and outdoors. The window and open floor plan are classic features in this mid-century home.

Walking the (Straight) Line

Roller Shades — Naomi

Contrasting with the views of nature and organic textures is mid-century modern’s reliance on straight, clean lines throughout the home’s interior. Roller Shades are a perfect fit for this style, with their sleek, minimal design and almost invisible stack when raised. Roller Shades can be used to cover glass doors and wide windows, with a variety of light-filtering and blackout options depending on your home’s needs.

Incorporating Geometric Prints

Roller Shade — Jonathan Adler Anton, Clementine

We can’t bring up the 1960s and 1970s without mentioning prints. For an instant dash of mid-century style, try geometric patterns with saturated colors like spring green, mustard yellow, teal, and orange. Many of our designer collections feature bold prints with geometric lines, such as Jonathan Adler and The Novogratz. If you choose a bright and busy material for your drapes or shades, your wall and furniture colors can be slightly muted to create contrast.

Tailored Pleat Drapery — Martyn Lawrence Bullard Sahara Stripe, Onyx

We invite you to browse our photo galleries for more inspiration, or stop into a showroom to explore all of our mid-century window treatment options. We’d love to help you complete your mid-century modern look with period-appropriate window treatments.

 

Choosing Contemporary Window Treatments for Your Home

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Flat Roman Shade — Victoria Hagan Tidal Line, Moon

Contemporary design is a style that generally incorporates neutral colors, clean lines, and natural materials. It’s popular for its simplicity and classic elegance.

Contemporary vs. Modern Design

Often, “contemporary” and “modern” design styles are easily confused. While they bear some similarities (for example, both contemporary and modern styles are relatively minimalist), the major difference between the two styles is that “modern” refers to the design of a specific time or era, whereas “contemporary” refers to the aesthetic. This means “contemporary” design is constantly changing.

Home elements such as furniture, paint selection, accessories, and, of course, window treatments, can help to enhance your contemporary design look. For example, if you are looking to incorporate contemporary window treatments, you should choose white, grey and other natural colors, as well as lighter-colored wood finishes. These design choices naturally lend themselves to the signature look of contemporary windows. In this blog post, we’ll go over a few considerations for contemporary window treatments.

Contemporary Blinds

2” Faux Wood Blinds — 2” Faux, Blanc

Unbelievably versatile and available in a variety of styles, blinds are a great choice for contemporary window treatments. Gone are the days of plastic white blinds — you now have a wide selection of options to choose from to fit your desired aesthetic. To incorporate contemporary style in your blinds, we recommend choosing natural-looking materials and colors, such as wood (or faux wood) and complementing them with bright accents.

Wood Blinds

2” Wood Blinds — 2” Painted, White

Wood blinds are an excellent style of contemporary window treatments. Our natural finishes work well with contemporary homes, and pair with neutrals and bright colors alike — and we also offer a beautiful selection of painted styles. Wood blinds are available in neutral colors and natural materials, so you can easily find a style that not only works for you, but also fits your price range.

Contemporary Drapes

Tailored Pleat Drapery — Martyn Lawrence Bullard Nomad Stripe, Onyx

Drapery is another versatile option of contemporary window treatments. Despite having an “old-school” affiliation, there are many new styles of drapery that work perfectly in any contemporary home. When choosing drapery for a contemporary home, shoppers look for lighter fabrics and avoid dark, rich tones.

Grommet Drapery

Inner Layer: Waterfall Woven Wood Shades — Artisan Weaves Cove, Ash / Outer Layer: Grommet Drapery — Velvet, Camel

Grommet Drapery features strong features, clean lines and a symmetrical aesthetic — perfect for achieving a unique, modern and stylish look on the window. Grommet Drapery offers a welcome update to traditional drapery and can be the perfect window treatment solution for your contemporary home.

Ripple Fold Drapery

Inner Layer: Flat Roman Shades — Grassweave, Snow / Outer Layer: Ripple Fold Drapery — Sheer Wool Blend, Cloud

Ripple Fold Drapery is another excellent drapery option that complements a contemporary style. Ripple Fold Drapes feature clean, even lines and are available in simple, neutral colors.

Contemporary Shades

Flat Roman Shades — Victoria Hagan Sankaty Stripe, Sand

In addition to drapery and blinds, shades are an excellent window treatment option for contemporary homes. If you’re shopping for shades for your contemporary design, we recommend light fabrics to naturally brighten the look and feel of your space.

Woven Wood Shades

Inner Layer: Solar Shades — 5%, Black / Outer Layer: Waterfall Woven Wood Shade — Artisan Weaves Cove, Beige

Woven Wood Shades offer clean lines and are made from natural materials in a neutral color scheme. Many woven wood shades are made from eco-friendly materials and woods like bamboo. If you’re interested in adorning your windows in all-natural materials, we highly recommend our Artisan Weaves collection!

Roller Shades

Roller Shade — Sheila Bridges Florentine, Grigio

As the name implies, Roller Shades roll up for a neat and clean visual impact. Roller Shades offer simplicity and privacy, as well as the ability to choose sheer light fabrics, heavier dramatic prints and blackout styles. They are one of the most versatile window treatment styles, which makes them very popular for contemporary design aficionados.

Find the Best Contemporary Window Treatments for Your Home

Ready to find the perfect window treatments for your contemporary home? Reach out to The Shade Store’s Design Consultant team online or at one of our nationwide showroom locations to find the best window treatments for your home. You can also visit our website to view and order free swatches.

 

Draperies and Curtains: A Guide to Custom Drapery Types

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Tailored Pleat Drapery — Martyn Lawrence Bullard Nomad Stripe, Onyx

With so many options available, choosing draperies and curtains for your home may seem a bit overwhelming. There are many decisions to consider when it comes to form and function, so in this post we’ll go over the eight distinct drapery styles The Shade Store offers — each with its own design aesthetic and list of benefits. We are here to help you understand the different types of draperies and curtains and how to choose the perfect style for your windows.

Ripple Fold Drapery

ripplefold drapery style

Ripple Fold Drapery is one of our best-selling curtain styles. It’s sleek and modern, but also functional and easy to operate. This drapery design is a great selection if you plan on opening and closing your draperies and curtains every day, as it glides effortlessly along a track. It’s also a particularly popular choice for sliding glass doors because of its ease of movement along the track.

Inner Layer: Solar Shades — 10%, White / Outer Layer: Ripple Fold Drapery — Holland & Sherry Wool Flannel, Glacier

We are also seeing a layering trend with draperies and curtains, where sheer, solar or light-filtering materials are layered under a heavier drapery fabric as shown in the image above. This technique adds depth and dimension to your windows and enhances the visual appeal of the space.

Tailored Pleat Drapery

tailored pleat drapery style

Tailored Pleat Drapery is another best-selling drapery design at The Shade Store. It’s fuller and has an understated elegance. Its waterfall pleats are held stiff with a buckram stiffener, allowing this type of drapery to be functional and easy to operate. Similar to our Ripple Fold style, our Tailored Pleat draperies and curtains are available in many different colors, patterns and materials.

Tailored Pleat Drapery — Linen Sheers, White

If you are looking for a lighter material, our Linen Sheers may be a good solution for you. Alternatively, if you need something more substantial to help block a drafty window, our wools and blends collection is worth consideration for your draperies and curtains.

Pinch Pleat Drapery

pinch pleat drapery style

Our Pinch Pleat Drapery is classically beautiful. The pleats are pinched 4 inches from the top of the curtains, creating a simple but stunning shape. Similar to Tailored Pleat, this drapery style is held stiff with buckram fabric, making it easy to operate and functional.

Inner Layer: Roller Shades — Sullivan, Sand / Outer Layer: Pinch Pleat Drapery — Holland & Sherry Wool Flannel, Walnut

While the pinch pleat drapery style is more traditional, it’s easy to give it a contemporary upgrade with layers.

Inverted Pleat Drapery

inverted pleat drapery style

Inverted Pleat Drapery is a unique curtain design in that while it’s neatly pleated, it still has a casual and relaxed character.

Inner Layer: Solar Shades — 10%, Black / Outer Layer: Inverted Pleat Drapery — Wool Blend, Fleece

This drapery style is better suited for decoration — not ideal for frequent opening and closing. If you need to control light, we suggest layering it with a roller or solar shade.

Goblet Drapery

goblet drapery style

Goblet Drapery is designed with a sophisticated shape, showcasing large goblet pleats along the top of the panels.

Inner Layer: Roller Shade — Prince, Ivory / Outer Layer: Goblet Drapery — Silk Dupioni, Leaf

Similar to our Inverted Pleat Drapery style, our Goblet Drapery is best used as a decorative accent and is not ideal for frequent use. Goblet Drapery has a large stack, which means that when open, more fabric will cover your windows.

Grommet Drapery

grommet drapery style

Grommet Drapery, as its name suggests, is hung from a rod with grommet rings. In addition to the many material and color selections at your fingertips, our grommets come in attractive finishes. We recommend matching the color of the grommet to the drapery rod and hardware.

Inner Layer: Waterfall Woven Wood Shades — Artisan Weaves Cove, Ash / Outer Layer: Grommet Drapery — Velvet, Camel

Grommet Drapery has a dramatic appearance, thanks to its deep folds. It’s primarily a decorative curtain style — not ideal for frequent use. It’s important to note that the fabric of the grommet drapery measures one inch above the actual rod, due to the grommet inlay within the fabric.

Rod Pocket Drapery

rod pocket drapery style

Our Rod Pocket Drapery is a classic, casual and traditional choice. The fullness of this drapery design is created by the gathered fabric near the rod pocket. Rod Pocket Drapery works best as stationary panels, as they’re not ideal for frequent opening and closing.

Inner Layer: Roller Shades — Cora Blackout, Shell / Outer Layer: Rod Pocket Drapery — Shoreham Stripe, Oatmeal

The pocket for the drapery rod is able to accommodate up to a two-inch diameter pole. In contrast to the goblet and inverted pleat drapery styles, our rod pocket draperies and curtains have a medium stack.

Cubicle DraperyTSS2018_Drapery_20

Our Cubicle Drapery is a great option if you’re looking something a little more budget-friendly. This style is incredibly versatile and functional, making it perfect for everyday use. Small grommets attach to hook carriers, allowing the cubicle curtain to glide easily along its track. The cubicle drapery style has our most minimal stack.

Cubicle Drapery — Sheer Wool Blend, Grey Owl

Want to see how each of our draperies and curtains look installed on your windows? Request a complimentary rendering or explore our inspirational draperies and curtains photo gallery.

We’re Here to Help

Know exactly which draperies and curtains you want, or do you still have some questions? Either way, our expert Design Consultants are here to help. Visit one of our nationwide window treatment showrooms, give us a call, or email us at design@theshadestore.com to get started today!

Woven Wood Shades Shopping Guide

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Inner Layer: Roller Shades — Sullivan / Outer Layer: Waterfall Woven Wood Shades — Artisan Weaves Reed, Slate

What Are Woven Wood Shades?

Woven Wood Shades are woven shades for windows made from natural woods, reeds, bamboo or grasses. Woven Wood Shades add immediate visual interest to any room’s décor with their rich organic texture. They also provide a relaxed atmosphere, inviting the peace of the outdoors inside. Woven wood window treatments look beautiful layered with drapery or alone for a simple, natural look. If you’ve decided on woven wood window treatments for your home, we’re certain you’ve chosen a versatile window treatment style you’ll love for years.

Standard Woven Wood Shades — Artisan Weaves Coastline, Muslin

Different Types of Woven Wood Shades

At The Shade Store, we offer four styles of woven shades for windows: Waterfall, Standard, Cascade and Roller. Three of these styles — Waterfall, Standard, and Cascade — can be thought of as Roman-style Woven Wood Shades due to how they stack when raised. The fourth style — Roller — operates just like a our regular roller shades made of fabric or other materials.

We’ll explain the differences among woven shades for windows and help you choose the right type depending on your needs and taste.

Woven Roman Shades: Waterfall, Cascade and Standard

Waterfall, Cascade and Standard Woven Wood Shades function like Roman Shades. The Shade Store offers a wide selection of materials and colors to complement your home décor.

The Waterfall Woven Wood Shade is our most popular style. It embodies a clean, simple look and has neat stack when raised. Pictured: Waterfall Woven Wood Shades — Grassweave, Cafe

Our Standard Woven Wood Shades provide clean lines and include a custom valance. This option allows for further customization with decorative borders, as seen above. Pictured: Standard Woven Wood Shade — Artisan Weaves Bayshore, Sage

Finally, for even more visual interest in your shade, the Cascade Woven Wood Shade features aluminum dowels hand-sewn into the shade every 5-7”, creating a beautiful ‘cascading’ horizontal pattern. Pictured: Cascade Woven Wood Shade — Grassweave, Snow

Privacy

Similar to Roman Shades, the above three styles of woven shades for windows can be made with blackout and privacy linings, making them well-suited for bedrooms, bathrooms, rooms facing the street and other areas where privacy is essential. In addition, you can choose the Top Down Bottom Up option for Cascade, Waterfall and Standard Woven Wood Shades (this option is not available for Woven Wood Roller Shades). Top Down Bottom Up woven shades for windows let you lower the shade from the top and raise it from the bottom, letting in natural light while maintaining privacy.

Woven Wood Roller Shades

Woven Wood Roller Shade — Jackson, Grey

Unlike the previously mentioned styles of woven wood window treatments, our Roller Woven Wood Shades don’t stack at the top of the window when raised. Sophisticated and minimal, these woven shades for windows take up only a small amount of space at the top of the window when raised, making them ideal for spaces with beautiful views.

Woven Wood Roller Shades are light-filtering, meaning they let in a bit of ambient natural light even when the shades are lowered.

For the brackets that hold roller woven wood window treatments in place, you can choose from a variety of stylish finishes. We also offer upholstered valances in the same material as your roller shade, as well as sleek metal valances.

Cord vs. Cordless Wood Shades

The Shade Store offers woven wood window treatments with and without cords. Our cordless woven wood shades let you adjust your shades’ height with a simple pull. Our motorized woven shades for windows are the ultimate in smart home solution — letting you synchonize multiple window treatments, set your favorite positions and schedule timers with your remote, smartphone, tablet or home automation system.

What to Consider When Purchasing Woven Shades

Waterfall Woven Wood Shade — Artisan Weaves Del Rey, Taupe

You have lots of options when designing your perfect Woven Wood Shades. For rooms that need privacy, Roman-style Woven Wood Shades are your best bet due to the available lining options. For a more modern style that lets light filter in, we recommend our minimalist Roller Woven Wood Shades.

The Shade Store offers an extensive selection of woven wood textiles to suit your taste and complement your interior décor. Sustainably sourced and environmentally conscious, they are handcrafted from the finest natural materials, bamboos and grasses.

We invite you to explore our newly released Artisan Weaves collection. Mastering the art of simplicity, this distinct collection of all-natural materials is beautifully textured and made with only natural fibers to create a theater of light that softens every space.

Here to Help

Our Design Consultants are always ready to answer your questions about woven shades for windows. Visit us at your local showroom, give us a call at 800.754.1455 or request a complimentary design consultation today.

 

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