electric blinds

Types of Blinds and their Best Uses

by BlindsHints and TipsInterior DesignPleated BlindsWooden Blinds

So, you’ve decided your home needs a fresh look or a bit more privacy, and blinds seem like the perfect solution. Great choice! Blinds not only improve the look of your windows but also offer practical benefits like light control and privacy. But with so many options out there, where do you start?

We have compiled a list of all the types of blinds you’ll find and explained where they’re best suited to help you get started.

Understanding What You Need

Before jumping into the many options, let’s clarify what you want your blinds to achieve:

  • Light Control: Decide if you want to soak your room in sunlight or keep it cosy and dim.
  • Privacy: If your main goal is prioritising privacy while still letting light in, certain blinds handle this beautifully.
  • Looks: Blinds are part decor, too. They should match your home’s style and make it more beautiful.
  • Budget: Prices vary a lot, so know what you’re willing to spend ahead of time.
  • Safety and Cleaning: If you have kids or pets, cordless blinds can be a safer choice. Consider how much effort you’re up for in keeping them clean, too.

Blind Styles

The first decision is blind style. The most popular options include:

Venetian

The History of Venetian Blinds

Venetian blinds are great for controlling and filtering the amount of light in a room for your needs. Made of metal horizontal slats that tilt to control light levels and come with a varying choice of slat width to further control light. They are a great fit for offices, schools and in the home.

Roman

A more luxurious option, Roman blinds are great for rooms that can get cold or chilly. They are raised and lowered by a chain you can personalise, and feature soft folds of fabric available in different styles, patterns or materials. But because of their fabric design, it is worth noting that they don’t work well in bathrooms, where they are prone to dampness. However, they are ideal in living rooms, kitchens and bedrooms where a sophisticated touch is needed.

Roller

A straightforward approach, roller blinds do what they say on the tin and are one of the most popular blind types because of it. Essentially a sheet that rolls up and down the space of your window, you can craft your blind from a variety of fabrics for your own special touch, and adorn them with elegant patterns to make them stand out. They work well in all environments to complement your room and provide full privacy and lighting adjustment.

Vertical

The classic design perfect for use anywhere in your home – from the living room to the conservatory – or in offices or schools, vertical blinds offer pure privacy and also filter light very effectively. Glare reduction materials make them great for south-facing windows which feature in a room where you’ll be undertaking a lot of written or computer-based work.

Panel

Used also as room dividers, panel blinds offer a contemporary take on blinds that can add an extra level of colour and dimension to a room. Patterned panels act as the most ideal form of this type of blind as they then can also act as a centrepiece of your room, not just a blind.

Skylight

With an impressive range of patterns and colours available, skylight blinds partner excellently with Velux windows which will be fitted perfectly to the frame. Blackout fabrics can help plunge your room into darkness, but other materials will simply filter the light. Coloured fabrics will allow for a specific shade of colour to flood your room, so get creative.

Wooden

Bringing a softer, more organic touch to the table are wooden blinds, be they faux or not. The design most often involves horizontal slats that are tilted to adjust light levels in the room. Wooden blinds do not go well in bathrooms, but faux wood blinds can withstand moisture a whole lot more.

Pleated

Pleated blinds are ideal for injecting a stylish and modern feel into your room. They are made of honeycomb or concertina folds of fabric that tuck away neatly or extend out when you pull the cord or tab to raise the blinds or lower them.

Blackout

Ideal for those who work nights and need their sleep in the daytime, blackout blinds are the type of blinds that block light from entering a room. You can transform some of the blind types above into blackout, but where blackout blinds work best is when they perfectly fit in the window frame, such as in the case of a skylight, where the light will be fully blocked out of the room.

Custom Features

Next, consider special features like:

  • Cordless lift operation: Safer for homes with pets or kids. Allows blinds to be raised and lowered smoothly.
  • Motorisation: Electric motors to raise, lower and tilt blinds automatically on a schedule or with the touch of a button.
  • Insulated fabrics: Help reduce outside noise and maintain comfortable temperatures. Perfect for bedrooms, media rooms or family spaces.
  • Custom sizes: Get a perfect fit for any uniquely sized or shaped windows. Precision measurements ensure proper light control and appearance.

Making the Choice: Blinds vs. Curtains

If you’re torn between blinds and curtains, consider this: blinds offer more flexibility in light and privacy control, they’re generally easier to clean and can be more cost-effective. Plus, they give a modern look that can complement any decor.

Finding Help Locally

For those feeling unsure, reaching out to local blind specialists can be a game-changer. At Paul James Blinds, we can offer personalised advice, help you measure, and even install them for you. We can guide you through the blind-buying journey, ensuring you end up with windows that look and function just how you want.

Paul James Blinds are the expert blind, awning and curtain specialists in the Colchester, Sudbury, Colchester, Braintree & Bury St Edmunds areas. We use the best brands in the field to provide top-quality and reliable products at a price you can afford. For a free no-obligation survey of your home, contact our friendly team today.

Blue Blinds with Flowers in from, within White Room

Window Dressing Options for Privacy

by BlindsHints and Tips

Whether it’s protecting your modesty in the bathroom or giving yourself freedom to relax in the living room, we all appreciate a bit of privacy in our homes, but if your windows are overlooked by neighbours or passing foot traffic, it’s easy to feel a bit exposed. To help you increase your privacy at home, the team here at Paul James Blinds have put together some of our favourite window dressing options that can shield your home from prying eyes.

Frosted window film

Frosted window film is a very low tech, cheap solution to your privacy needs and will offer a degree of privacy without compromising on the natural lighting you receive through your windows. Frosted window film is translucent, so while it won’t completely protect your home from nosy neighbors, it will distort shapes and colours. This solution is best used for bathrooms in which the humidity makes many materials unsuitable, and is rarely used in more social rooms as the aesthetic of this choice is not very attractive and can look very industrial.

Blinds

Venetian: Venetian blinds are a great choice for maintaining privacy as the horizontal slats can be tilted and adjusted to prevent outsiders being able to see in while still allowing you to see out. This means that your view isn’t hindered in your quest for privacy, and you can still allow natural light to enter your room.

Roller: Roller blinds are simple to use and offer a sleek, fuss-free design. You can opt for more sheer materials so that whenever the blind is drawn, light can still enter the room, or opt for thicker materials if you want the ultimate privacy. Roller blinds make a great alternative for frosted window film if you want something a bit less harsh.

Roman: Roman blinds offer a soft, feminine touch to a room so you don’t have to compromise on style for the sake of privacy. Like roller blinds, you can opt for sheer or thick materials depending on your preference, and these blinds operate simply.

Vertical: Vertical blinds are a classic piece, with the light, vertical slats being able to be tilted and adjusted to adapting lighting and privacy needs. The material for these slats is quite sheer, so they can be used as stand alone piece to maintain privacy while allowing light into the room, or paired with curtains for a more opaque and cosy feel.

Shutters

Shutters are available in a range of materials and styles, including plantation, PVC and wood, and are a robust and long-lasting choice for any window. Perfect for use in any room of the house, these sleek and stylish window covers are a great way to keep your home private. They’re made from thick, opaque material so you can completely block out the world, but also have slats to allow lighting into your rooms – you can also opt for your shutters to only cover the bottom half of your windows, so your room can still be flooded with natural light, if that’s a priority.

Paul James Blinds are home to a huge variety of window dressings to help maintain the privacy of the home, with our selection covering many designs of blinds and shutters. All of our products are made from the finest materials and are measured and installed very precisely by highly trained fitters to ensure a high quality and long-lasting product. Get in contact today for more information on any of our products and services, we’ll be happy to help.

 

 

Paul James Blinds invites you to Spring Clean Your Decor-blog

Paul James Blinds invites you to Spring Clean Your Decor

by BlindsInterior Design

Now it is officially spring, for homeowners this usually means one thing: Spring cleaning! Giving our homes a clean after a long year is a great feeling, and it really helps rejuvenate the home – and yourself! If you really want to take advantage of the season and the tradition, you can up your spring cleaning game by updating your decor too. Not only will this dust away the cobwebs from the previous year, it will spruce your home up for the oncoming year and bring your home on trend. Here is the advice from Paul James Blinds;

Declutter and organise

No matter our best intentions, our homes always end up accumulating amounts of rubbish and collections of unneeded belongings. Spring cleaning your home is the perfect opportunity to rid yourself of your surplus possessions and make your home more spacious. When deciding whether to throw or keep something, ask yourself whether the item has been used in the last six months. If the answer is no, throw it away! Once you have cleared out your home, organise your belongings so that everything has a place where it can be stored neatly.

Change the room layout

Altering the layout of your room is a great way of making a space feel new, and you may find that you prefer your new layout to the old one! Whether it’s trying feng shui or adjusting your tv and sofa to be out of the glare from the window, a small difference to your room layout can massively alter the way the space works.

Update your colour scheme

We’re not talking about repainting the walls and buying a new sofa here, but updating your accent colour for one of this year’s trends can really reinvent a room. Your blinds, throws, cushions and rugs can all be swapped out for an updated look very affordably, and the decor of your room will feel completely fresh.

Steam clean

Some of your soft furnishings are too large to be cleaned in your washing machine, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be cleaned! Sofas, rugs and carpets can become really grimey over a year’s use, and you may not even be aware of the deteriorating condition of your soft furnishings until you’ve begun to clean them. A steam cleaner is a quick and effective way of cleaning your larger soft furnishings, and you’ll be surprised at the colour your sofas and carpets used to be! Before using a steam cleaner, be sure to check your fabrics are safe to be cleaned in such a way as excessive moisture can damage some materials.

Florals

Take inspiration from the blossoming flowers you’ll soon begin to see and bring florals into your home. Whether it’s fresh or fake bunches of flowers, artwork or a floral printed roller blind, adding flowers into your decor will certainly brighten your mood and remind you that winter is most definitely behind us.

Swap out the heavy duties

You can also begin to change out your heavy duty blankets, quilts and curtains as the house begins to get warmer. Your summer duvets and lighter blankets will prevent you from being too hot and stuffy over the upcoming warm weather, and your heavy duty curtains can be swapped for lighter, space conserving blinds that offer good light control and insulation, without looking too thick and heavy.

Paul James Blinds invites you to Spring Clean Your Decor

Paul James Blinds have over 8 years’ experience in the design and installation of high quality blinds and shutters, and with our professional staff and expert fitters, we can guarantee a quick and easy process. Get in touch today for more information, we’ll be happy to help in any way we can.

We are located in Sudbury but cover all the surrounding area including Colchester, Chelmsford, Bury St Edmunds, Braintree, Witham.

 

 

venetian blinds

Choosing Between Real Wood and Faux Wood Blinds

by BlindsWooden Blinds

 

Wooden blinds have always been a firm favourite blind choice due to their elegance and the feeling of luxury they can bring to a room. However, when choosing between real and faux wooden blinds, you need to consider how and where your blinds will be used.

When choosing between real and faux wood blinds, there’s no definitive right answer, even though many will claim real wood is the superior choice. Your surroundings and circumstances influence the choice. Real wooden blinds aren’t suitable for all environments, making the faux counterpart a better choice than the real thing for some windows. Here are some of the considerations to bear in mind when choosing between real and faux wood,

Budget

Real wooden blinds are a lot more expensive than faux wood, and if you have a lot of windows the price can soon add up. If you’d like to control your budget a bit more or just aren’t sure about making such a large financial investment just yet, faux wood blinds make for a great alternative.

Aesthetics

Real wooden blinds are aesthetically more pleasing than faux wood. The colour options for real wooden blinds are much more varied as the beautiful and unique wooden grain can be left natural, polished or even painted to suit any room. Real wooden blinds also require fewer ladders than faux wood so have a sleeker design.

Humidity

When it comes to humidity, faux wood is the superior choice. Real wood isn’t suitable for bathrooms as the constant moisture can cause warping and cracking, ruining the blinds completely. Faux wood is mostly a vinyl compound and, therefore, not prone to weather wearing.

Durability

Faux wood is more durable than real wood so for blinds that will receive high use, faux wood is the better option. This is also a consideration if you have children or animals that live at home and can damage the blinds.

Weight

The compound that makes up faux wooden blinds is much heavier than real wooden slats so faux wood can be too heavy for large windows. The weight will make the blinds very hard to raise and lower and can put too much strain on the mechanism.

Care

Faux wooden blinds are much easier to clean than real wood because you can use any cleaning product without fearing that you’ll damage the wooden grain. This is an important factor to consider when selecting kitchen blinds as you’ll find a grease build up can occur which would be very difficult to clean off real wooden blinds.

Paul James Blinds offer a range of high quality, made to measure blinds to suit any home. Our wooden blinds are available in a variety of styles, including vertical blinds and wooden shutters. Our free measuring service and expert fitters ensure that your blinds look great every time. Get in touch with our friendly team for more information.

Large Louvolite blinds in living room - Paul James Blinds

Pleated Blinds: Not just for your conservatory

by BlindsPleated Blinds

Are you looking for a window covering that is both stylish and practical? Look no further than pleated blinds! Pleated blinds provide the perfect combination of style and functionality. They are capable of providing light control, insulation, colour, safety, and motorisation to make your windows look great while also meeting your needs. Let’s take a look at what pleated blinds are and the benefits they offer.

What are Pleated Blinds?

Pleated blinds are window coverings made from fabric that has been pleated together in a fan-like shape. They come in a variety of colours and styles to match any décor. The pleats create horizontal lines on the window which provide an interesting visual effect when the blind is open or closed. Additionally, the pleats can be folded up into a small stack at the top of the window when not in use. This makes them ideal for windows with limited space as they do not need to be pulled down all the way to get full coverage.

Benefits of Pleated Blinds

Light Control – Pleated blinds can be used to control how much natural light enters into a room by allowing you to adjust how open or closed they are. This makes them great for creating shade or blocking out sun glare on hot summer days.

Insulation – The fabric used in pleated blinds helps insulate your home against heat loss in winter and heat gain in summer by trapping air pockets between its folds. This helps keep temperatures consistent throughout the year without having to rely too heavily on artificial heating or cooling systems.

Colours – Pleated blinds come in a wide range of colours so you can find one that perfectly matches your existing decor or switch it up with something new! Whether you prefer neutral tones like beige, grey, or white, or something bolder like magenta or lime green, there’ll be something for everyone’s taste.

Safety – If you have young children or pets at home then safety is always an important factor to consider when choosing window treatments. Fortunately, pleated blind cords are usually tucked away inside their headrail so there is less risk of them becoming entangled!

Motorisation – Motorised pleated blinds offer convenience and ease-of-use with just the press of a button! This feature allows you to quickly adjust your window coverings without having to get up off your chair every time you want more privacy or light control – perfect for those lazy Sunday afternoons!

Why Choose Pleated Blinds?

Pleated blinds offer numerous benefits that make them an ideal choice for any home in Suffolk & Essex. Not only do they look good but they also help regulate temperatures throughout the year by providing insulation against heat loss/gain, giving you peace of mind knowing your energy bills won’t sky rocket during extreme weather conditions!

Additionally, their safe cordless design makes them child-friendly while their motorised version offers convenience at just the touch of a button – making them truly unbeatable when it comes to window treatments! So if you’re looking for something stylish yet practical then consider installing pleated blinds today!

motorised blinds essex

Automating Your Window Blinds with Smartphones

by Blinds

Smart Blind Automation Software

If you’re a Suffolk or Essex resident looking for a convenient way to control your window blinds, then you should consider automating them with a smartphone. Not only does automated blind control provide multiple benefits, but there are many options available for you to choose from. Let’s take a look at some of the best options on the market.

Tilt My Blinds

Tilt My Blinds is one of the most popular automated blind control solutions available. It’s easy to install and operates remotely via your smartphone. In addition, it has a sensor detector that allows it to detect natural and artificial lighting, which can be particularly useful for homeowners who want to save energy during the day by keeping their blinds closed when the sun isn’t shining. Overall, Tilt My Blinds offers numerous benefits for homeowners looking for an automated blind control solution.

Loxone Smart Home Application

The Loxone Smart Home application is another great option for automating your window blinds with a smartphone. With this application, users can automatically adjust their slats depending on the position of the sun in order to keep their house cool and comfortable throughout the day. This application also allows users to operate their window blinds from inside or outside of their home, making it ideal for those who work long hours or travel often. Plus, with this system in place, homeowners can enjoy increased comfort and convenience as they no longer need to manually open and close their window blinds every day.

Qmotion Wireless Window Blind Control Solutions

The Qmotion Wireless Window Blind Control Solutions is yet another great option if you’re looking to automate your window blinds with your smartphone. This solution does not require an electrician for installation and provides dual manual and remote operation capabilities so users can easily operate their window blinds from inside or outside of their home. Plus, users can set up to 6 events per day including opening/closing functions so their window blinds are always in perfect position throughout the day without any effort required on their part!

Automating your window blinds with smartphones is a great way to make sure that your house is always kept at an optimal temperature without having to put in any extra effort on your part. With multiple options like Tilt My Blinds, Loxone Smart Home Application and Qmotion Wireless Window Blind Control Solutions available, Suffolk & Essex residents have access to some of the best automated blind control systems around! All of these systems offer various advantages such as easy installation and remote accessibility as well as increased comfort and convenience – so why not take advantage of these amazing solutions today?