Bali Blinds » Custom Blinds & Shades

Bali Diffusion Glass Essence Blinds

admin — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 21:58:55 +0000

When we wrote about the new Bali blinds models for the summer of 2009, we were admiring the Bali Diffusion 2″ Glass Essence blinds as being extremely decorative and functional. Since then, many readers asked us to provide a more detailed review of these window treatments, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do in this article.

So, Glass Essence is not really glass, but embossed acrylic, which has the main advantage of offering a good level of privacy while allowing the light to enter the room. As natural light intensity changes, the light in the room will also change, creating interesting effects. The energy efficiency of these window blinds is good, but one shouldn’t count on it to insulate older models of windows with single panes made of glass which isn’t the LowE we’ve got used to in the case of modern windows.

Bali Diffusion blinds are available in solid colors or in patterns that help creating a unique atmosphere. These patterns are really beautiful and creative, from the very discrete Filament Golden Streak, Filament Grass Streak or Filament Grey Streak, to the artistic Flare Licorice whips, Flare Stout or Flare White Wave. The Scroll series of patterns is also a good choice, mostly if the room decoration is rather simple. The most attractive, however, are the Stained Glass imitations: Stained Glass Craft, Harvest and Plum Mist. Samples are available for free.

Bali Diffusion blinds are available with four types of tilt: ControlMate remote control tilt system, cord tilt, wand tilt or ring tilt. The double slat valance is discrete and simple, so it can easily pass unnoticed.

In case you need such blinds for bay windows, it is possible to have them butted together for creating continuity. Cut-outs are also possible, as well as installing multiple blinds on the same headrail, for wide windows or patio doors. Customized blinds can fit sidelight windows, so you can cover even narrow openings without any problem.

The maintenance of Bali Diffusion Glass Essence blinds is easy, but they call for regular vacuuming, if you want them to look like new for a long time. These blinds can be immersed in water, but it’s not advisable to use strong detergents. Dry cleaning is not recommended either.

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New Custom Bali Blinds for Thanksgiving

admin — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 18:34:49 +0000

Bali blinds are now available with an excellent option delivery: you can order your custom blinds or shades by latest 8th of November 2009 and you’ll get them by 26th of November 2009, so your windows will be ready for the Thanksgiving celebration.

This is great, if you had in mind to redecorate your home or if you’ve just moved in a new one and need to buy appliances, decor and other stuff. However, you need to keep in mind that Bali’s offer is applicable only if the materials you select are in stock. There’s another thing: the Bali Custom Tailored Roman Shades, shutters and Specialty Shapes are excluded from this offer. It’s understandable, they take much more time to make, so you’ll just have to wait a bit more if you choose these exquisite window treatments.

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Hunter Douglas Sliding Glass Door Window Treatments

admin — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 09:42:48 +0000

We’ve talked a while back about sliding glass door window treatments, and the example I’ve chosen by that time to illustrate my point was the Hunter Douglas Duette 3/4″ Single Cell Sheer with Vertiglide Side Stack, which feature excellent insulation without the drawback of being opaque like other insulating window coverings are.

That article seemed to be appreciated by our readers, as we’ve got a lot of questions, mostly about other products in the Hunter Douglas sliding door treatments range. We thought a brief overview of these blinds would be an excellent way to help you make yourself a better picture of your possible choices, if budget is not your main concern.

First of all, you need to know that actually there’s no special product line in the Hunter Douglas portfolio, targeting exclusively sliding glass doors. It’s just a specialty shape, or a design option, call it what you like, which aims at helping their customers understand better what they can create in terms of interior space design and decorating. These are the Hunter Douglas shadings that are suitable for covering sliding glass doors, as described on their official website:

Silhouette window shadings
Duette Architella honeycomb shades
Duette honeycomb shades
Luminette Privacy sheers
Luminette Modern draperies
Vignette Modern Roman shades
Pirouette window shadings
Skyline Gliding window panels
Alustra Silhouette window shadings
Alustra Duette honeycomb shades
Alustra Luminette Privacy sheers
Alustra Vignette modern Roman shades
Alustra Woven Textures
Alustra Woods
Alustra Modern Precious Metals
Nantucket window shadings
Applause honeycomb shades
Park Lane Privacy sheers
Designer roller shades
Designer screen shades
Provenance Woven wood shades
Brilliance pleated shades
Heritance hardwood shutters
NewStyle hybrid shutters
Palm Beach polysatin shutters
Country Woods Expose blinds
Country Woods Genuine Woods blinds
Country Woods Select blinds
Country Woods Reflections blinds
Country Woods Classics blinds
Chalet Woods wood blinds
EverWood 2″ blinds
EverWood X-tra blinds
WoodMates blinds
Reveal with MagnaView
Macro aluminum blinds
Lightlines aluminum blinds
Decor aluminum blinds
Celebrity aluminum blinds
Cadence Soft vertical blinds
Somner custom vertical blinds
Crosswinds wood vertical blinds
Vertical Solutions Select

As you can see, there are plenty of choices, from sheer, transparent coverings to wooden blinds, which are extremely elegant and which can integrate very well into a classic interior design. You can find details about each of the above mentioned sliding glass door window treatments on the Hunter Douglas website. Maybe we are going to review some of them for you in our future articles.

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Conservatory Roof Shading Ideas

admin — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 11:34:08 +0000

We’ve discussed the necessity of conservatory roof blinds in one of our past articles. We are going to take a deeper look today at a few creative ideas of conservatory roof shading.

First of all, you need to be aware that the conservatory roof needs special treatments, because it’s exposed to the winter chills as well as to the summer heats, much more than ordinary windows in a home. This is why conservatory roof shading solutions should be more than simple, decorative accessories, but also very good thermal insulators, resistant to UV rays and easy to handle from a distance. Their function is to offer you a comfortable space in your conservatory and to protect the carpets and the furniture, which otherwise would fade and get damaged by UV in a very short time. This functionality comes with a high price tag, so adding a conservatory to your house is not the cheapest thing you can do in this world.

Shades with reflective backings: this is maybe the most inexpensive solution for covering your conservatory roof. Basically, window shades made of common fabrics are lined with a reflective coating which won’t be visible from the inside, but which would act as a barrier for the thermal exchange and as a temperature regulator. One of the most efficient backing materials is Aluminized Mylar, which is a thing that was firs used by NASA for reflecting the solar heat. I found an interesting article on how to make your own sunlight reflective linings for window blinds. I don’t know if you can apply it for the conservatory roof shadings, but at least you could save some money on the other windows in your home.

External shade netting: this is a kind of plastic net which is wrapped around the conservatory roof, dimming the light transmission with 50%. Personally, I don’t like it very much, because I like to be able to allow full light to enter at special occasions, but there are people who think this solution is better than interior shades.

Polycool Solar Control Inserts: these are suitable for polycarbonate conservatory roofs and they reduce up to 85% of the solar heat amount and up to 87% of blinding glare, without a significant light loss. These inserts are available in two finishes: silver and gold. I know Polycool is a trademark, but I don’t know the generic term for this kind of shading. However, if you’re interested, you can search the net and see it for yourself what brands are available within your area. I think it’s called window film technology.

Do you know any other unusual conservatory roof shading solutions? I’d be happy if you shared them with all our readers in the comments. Thank you.

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Seven Kitchen Window Treatments Tips

admin — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 10:36:04 +0000

Kitchen window treatments are very important, because some families spend a lot of time in their kitchen on a daily basis, therefore the look of this room matters. On the other hand, kitchens are subject to tough conditions, because of the steam and food odors that may penetrate decorations and accessories and remain there, being very hard to get rid of.

Here are a few tips to help you choose your kitchen window treatments wisely:

Kitchen window treatments need to be washable. If you like to cook, your window treatments would get dirty very easily, therefore you need to be able to clean them often. Machine washable fabrics are the best, as you don’t have to invest time and energy in cleaning them.
Sheer cotton cafe curtains or Venetian aluminum blinds are the best. Cotton is easy to clean and aluminum doesn’t retain odors. Besides, you can find them for cheap.
Thick fabrics should be avoided. Thick fabric drapes or pleated curtains aren’t suitable for kitchen windows because they’d soon become the home of mold and mildew, because of the steam and high humidity, so you’ll end up with stinky window treatments. Molds are not good for health.
Kitchen window treatments need to be easy to take down for cleaning. You don’t want to need a specialized person to help you each time you want to wash your window curtains or shades, would you?
Swags, privacy tiers and valances are nice in every kitchen. Remember to keep them as simple as possible, and you’ll be able to obtain the look you’re after without cluttering your windows.
You don’t need complete blackout in the kitchen. If you cook, then why would you want to do it in the dark? Choose merry, light shades of color and sheer fabrics for your kitchen windows coverings.
Light fabrics with cheerful motives are a good, inexpensive choice. Fruits, veggies, rabbits, plaid patterns, everything goes here. If you have kids, you can let them choose the fabrics for your window kitchen treatments.

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Bay Window Treatments Overview

admin — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 09:30:31 +0000

There are some of us who enjoy the privilege of having bay windows. If the landscape outside is something relaxing, like the beach or a mountain, it’s even better for the lucky ones. It’s great to sip your morning coffee enjoying the morning light in a room with bay windows. However, later on in the day, you may want some privacy and light filtering, so you need to install some bay window treatments in place. There are many solutions that fit this type of windows, from the Venetian blinds we all know, to Roman shades or pleated shades, or even plantation shutters. Everything goes, provided that you use the appropriate hardware. The main element that makes bay window treatments be a perfect fit is the curved track which has to follow the curves of your windows. This is why most of the times, this part needs to be custom-made, especially for your windows.

Tips For Elegant Bay Window Treatments

If you can, try to install your hardware as close to the ceiling as possible and don’t forget to use a valance to mask the rails. In case of bay windows, treatments that touch the floor such as vertical blinds or curtains and draperies will create a dramatic effect when fully shut, especially if you get some extra fabric to use it for decorative pillows or a table cloth, or at least a few napkins. Although you can make your own window shades without needing special skills, in case of bay windows you’d better address to a specialist installer, so you can be sure they’d be a perfect fit. Otherwise, you could easily spoil the effect, if your shades would hang unevenly at your windows. Bad measurements for window blinds are very easy to take and mistakes are costly to correct after your blinds have been produced.

When it comes to bay window treatments, try to avoid vertical blinds. There are two reasons for this. The first one is that verticals look very formal, office-style, so they can’t help you in giving your home that personal touch that makes great interiors. The second reason is that because of the bay windows architecture, such blinds may be difficult to operate and get tangled.

Pairing bay window treatments allows for more creativity. Consider, for instance, installing shades paired with panels, or sheer curtains paired with thick, heavy drapes. Bay window shutters are beautiful when used without any additional treatment, but you can consider pairing them with see-through shades.

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Top Down Bottom Up Shades: Full Privacy Control

admin — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 12:40:32 +0000

Top down bottom up shades are one of the fanciest innovations when it comes to home improvement. Their beauty resides in the fact that they can be either lifted from bottom to the top, like common window blinds we all know from ages, or they can be lowered from top to bottom, creating a look similar to those cafe curtains for country style kitchens. This is a very useful option, because it gives you the possibility to benefit from privacy and still enjoy the morning sky while still in bed. Almost any type of window treatments can be transformed into top down bottom up: shades of all kinds, from Roman to pleated shades, or Venetian blinds.

Brands of top down bottom up shades and blinds

As this type of shades is very appreciated by a lot of customers, almost all big names in window treatments have them in their portfolio.

Hunter Douglas has the Duette 3/4″ and 3/8″ Single Cell Opaque or Semi-Opaque, the Applause cellular shades and the Brilliance Pleated Shades, in either Venetian Crinkle or Haberdasher versions. One interesting model from Hunter Douglas is the Provenance Woven Woods – basic bamboo blinds with of top down bottom up, or a few more expensive versions from the same product range.

Bali blinds come with the Bali Diamond Cell 3/8” Double Cell Semi-Opaque (Northern Lights and Storm), or the Single Cell Light Filtering (Solitaire), the beautiful Bali Natural Shades Basic with top down bottom up option, or the Bali Standard Pleat Crepe or Spectrum.

If you want to go as cheap as possible and yet enjoy modern, beautiful windows and home decor, you can save a few dollars per window by going for generic top down bottom up shades, available from many retailers and online stores.

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Hillary’s Venetian Blinds: Cheaper Than Expected

admin — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 12:16:21 +0000

Hillary’s Venetian blinds are made of high quality aluminum, specially treated to prevent UV degradation, meaning that their color doesn’t fade or change with time. This is an important edge especially if your windows are exposed to sunlight for more than a few hours a day. For example, if your windows are facing South, it’s most probable that they benefit a lot from the daylight, as they are almost never in the shadow. On the contrary, rooms with windows facing North will be the darkest in a home, so you may not need special, expensive window treatments, because sun and UV rays won’t cause too much damage.

One of the qualities Hillary’s take pride in when it comes to their Venetians is versatility. Besides the possibility of choosing between four widths of slats, 15 mm, 25 mm, 35 mm and 50 mm, you can easily match them with your furnishings, thanks to the wide array of fabric colors and shades available. For instance, one of the best choices for a bedroom are the Blue Venetian Hillary’s blinds, because of the tranquility they suggest and because of their good level of privacy, yet letting enough light into the room. Another aspect of the versatility of these horizontal blinds is the possibility to fit them to skylight and roof windows.

Pricing can be determined only after discussing with a Hillary’s blinds consultant, because all their window treatments, awnings and shutters are made to measure and they come with a large choice of control options, trims, poles or other accessories. This is why a price given before knowing more details wouldn’t be too exact. There’s an example on Hilarys blinds official website: a lady who paid as little as 144 pounds, which is probably less than $300 for Venetian blinds for her dining room, kitchen and bathroom. There are no details on how big her windows were, but yet you can make yourself an idea of what would it mean to buy Hillary’s Venetian blinds for your windows.

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Conservatory Roof Blinds

admin — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 08:59:31 +0000

Conservatory roof blinds are an absolute necessity. A conservatory offers an excellent recreation space, but when the sun is hot, you may discover it’s impossible to live inside because of the heat that goes through the glass roof directly on your head. This is why conservatory roof blinds are so sought after, and that’s also why window treatments manufacturers have a very diversified offer when it comes to covering conservatory roofs.

In order to be efficient, conservatory roof blinds need to have a thermal insulation superior to common blinds and shades. That’s because the roof is more exposed to direct sun rays, and for all over the day, not only a few hours like in case of regular windows. This thermal protection can be easily achieved by lining the blinds fabric with a solar reflective aluminum backing. There are other helpful accessories that one can install on the roof windows, such as solar inserts, special window films that are transparent but stop the UV radiation from penetrating the window surface. Solar inserts are a relatively new invention and they work great in conjunction with polycarbonate conservatory roofs.

Most Used Types Of Conservatory Roof Blinds

Because conservatory roofs are usually high, cordless automated blinds are preferred for covering these windows. There are many types of blinds that can be adapted for conservatory roofs, from pleated blinds to roller shades or to pinoleum blinds, most of them being fit for any type of conservatory shape, be it Lean To, Victorian, Edwardian or Bespoke.

: Venetian Conservatory Roof Blinds

If you need conservatory roof blinds, you’ll see that there’s a wide offer available, many of the biggest manufacturers offering stunning models made of highly energy-efficient fabrics and motorized with the latest generation tubular motors, which are extremely silent and smooth in operation. Hillarys is one of the companies that have multiple choices to offer, and featuring a great experience in window treatments, they can advise you how to make your conservatory a great space to live in all year round. The photo on the left illustrates a conservatory with Citrus Pleated blinds from Hillary’s. This is only one example of the many solutions you can choose from when it comes to protecting your conservatory from harmful UV rays.

One last tip: retractable awnings may be as efficient as conservatory roof blinds.

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Buy Blinds Online And Save

admin — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 08:13:54 +0000

With internet becoming widespread, it’s possible nowadays to buy blinds online and have them delivered at your home in a few days. This is a very convenient shopping method, first of all because you save a lot of time, and in the second place because you can also save money. Virtual showrooms and stores don’t have to pay rent, they don’t need so many employees, therefore operating costs are much lower than in case of brick and mortar window treatments stores.

What Type of Blinds Can Be Purchased Online

Many people think that it’s difficult to buy blinds online, because one needs to know how to measure in order to be able to choose those sizes. This is why they prefer to have a window treatments specialist installer come at their place and take the measures.

There’s no need to worry about correctly measuring your windows. Most online blinds stores offer detailed measuring instructions with drawings, for all types of window blinds they sell, be them Venetian blinds, roller shades, Roman blinds, timber blinds, drapes, pelmets or valances or roller blind valances. You’ll find instructions for every type of mount, either we are taking about recess mount or face mount, or if your windows have architraves or not, so measuring is only a matter of paying attention.

When you buy blinds online, you can either choose your color directly from the website, or order swatch samples of all colors and materials and have them delivered to you so you can see how they look in reality. Some online blinds and shades stores deliver such samples free of charge, others charge $1 per sample, others have flexible conditions.

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