We plan to take down the aluminum mini blinds in the living room and family/dining room and opt to use nothing at all there, since the landscaping and the angle that the house sits on the lot afford us enough privacy for bare windows in those common areas.
But the bedrooms are another story. Those windows, for obvious reasons, need to be covered. My bedroom and the boys' bedroom have old white roller shades...so old that they won't roll anymore. Besides the fact that they aren't functional, they're just plain ugly...the strictly utilitarian type used in schools. The master bedroom has plastic mini blinds, which are only slightly better. At least they work.
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| White vinyl roller shades in my bedroom |
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| More white vinyl |
We had someone come out and measure all the bedroom and bathroom windows for an estimate on custom roman shades, my daughter's first choice. I think she was genuinely shocked when the bid came in at $7000+ for the shades plus installation. When we said that was more than we wanted to spend, they offered us a discounted price of $5000. Still no deal.
I suggested that we check SelectBlinds, an online company I had used several years ago when I purchased wood blinds for a previous home. I was happy with their service, as well as the quality of the blinds, and I knew they would be significantly less expensive.
By deciding on a modern roller shade with a cassette-style headrail that we could install ourselves, we were able to get the price down to the $1500-2000 range. This image from the SelectBlinds site gives you an idea how they would look.
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| Textured roller shade in Crystal Truffle selectblinds.com |
Just as we were about to place the order, my daughter backed out, because she started to have serious reservations about the color we had chosen.
You see, all our bedrooms have the original golden oak hardwood floors with a slight reddish tint...not quite as red as teak, but definitely not a neutral gold. We had picked a color that coordinated with that flooring. The problem is that my daughter wants to have the floors refinished a darker color at some time in the future, so she wanted to order more samples and try to find something that would look good now and later. The "later" may be a few years, but she couldn't justify even a $2000 outlay for something that would have to be replaced when the floors are redone, and she is certainly right about that.
We ordered a dozen new samples, and we received them a few days ago. We tentatively narrowed it down to these two:
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| Select Blinds Sweet Tea |
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| Good Housekeeping Gingersnap |
I'm currently leaning in the direction of the Sweet Tea, because I think it has enough colors present to look good with almost any floor color. Also, it provides slightly more privacy than the other shade. My daughter still can't make up her mind and may want to order more samples. Therein lies the dilemma. Which one do you like?
Gingersnap - sorry Dana ;)
ReplyDeleteDo you like the texture or the color or both?
DeleteThe weave/texture and the colour. To me the weave of Gingersnap looks more mid-century-ish. Maybe it's the photo?
DeleteThe weave is definitely thicker and more textured. I see your point about it having more of a mid-century look. The finished Sweet Tea would have more of a contemporary look. I think all of you may have won me over! :)
DeleteI like the colors in the Sweet Tea, but I think the style looks more store bought. I'd go with the Gingersnap because it has a more unique look.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good point. I hadn't really thought about that. Maybe we need to order all the different colors in that particular style.
DeleteI am in awe....cant wait to see the whole house all done up :). i like both options though
ReplyDeleteThe work is coming along well. We have some custom cushions to have made, a couple of pieces of furniture to buy, and a bit more art to buy and some to hang. It's almost ready for a reveal.
DeleteSuggest you cover all windows as burglars want to see if anyone is home. Besides you never know who may be lurking around at night. In my bedroom I have a light blocking roll down shade for sleeping with a mini blind and a light filtering curtain on top. The shade blocks all light at night while the sun can be blocked with the blinds but still open to allow light in and the curtain can be opened to allow the sun or closed to filter the light. A little complicated but it works.
ReplyDeleteThe windows on the front open into bedrooms and the formal living room, which we rarely use. Most of the bare windows will be on the back of the house, in the family room where we stay most of the time when we're home. I figure if someone has breached our gate, they've made their minds up to come in, whether the windows are covered or not. I'm pretty much a "Que Sera Sera" kind of person.
DeleteBoth are nice choices. Hmmm... I like the thicker look of the weave of Gingersnap but I see your point about all of the colors in Sweet Tea. Guess I'm not much help! :)
ReplyDeleteI admit that I like the more textured look of the Gingersnap. Curiously, though, you can see through it more easily than you can the other one. I think my daughter is leaning more towards the Gingersnap or something similar, and since she will ultimately be the decision-maker, I bet that's what it will be. That seems to be the favorite here! :)
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