Cheap faux wood blinds aren’t such a rare bird, if you know where to ask for them. Probably you won’t be able to find them at Bali or Hunter Douglas, as they pride in offering high quality window treatments that last a lifetime rather than cheap blinds for people on a shoe string budget. Cheap can also translate as economy, or value for money, and not necessarily as low quality materials. However, cheap is a relative notion, so let’s see what cheap faux wood blinds we were able to find for you:

Blinds com Brand 2” Economy Faux Wood blinds: with slats available in 8 colors, a 3” Crown valance and a flat bottom rail, they are as cheap as you can get. The 16” width x 20” height size cost only $18, while the biggest available size, 72” x 84” costs $111.

Levolor 16” x 20” 2” Visions faux wood blinds: made of flame retardant PVC, these blinds are very easy to clean and they come in 10 colors choices such as birch, cherry, maple, pecan and several hues of white. The 16” x 20” size costs $38. It’s more than double comparing to the ones mentioned above, but the material is better and the colors are more realistic. The main drawback of these cheap faux wood blinds is the valance, which is obviously made of plastic and which has plastic clips.

Lotus and Windoware 2” faux wood blinds: if all you want are some cheap, horizontal, white blinds, you can buy those, as they are quite durable and come with two year warranty. They include valances and mounting hardware and they are made of PVC foam. The smallest size available is 23” x 60”, available at the price of $28.99.

There may be more choices available, depending on your particular location. If you purchase online, you may discover pleasant surprises such as discount coupons or the facility to buy now and start paying after 90 days.

It’s probably a hard time for wood window treatments, since all these cheap faux wood blinds became widely available.

Bamboo blinds are beautiful because they are simple, and because they have a warm, natural look that makes people feel comfortable in rooms with windows covered with such treatments.

Bamboo roll up blinds are very convenient because they blend very well the rustic appearance with the comfort of automation we’ve got used to so much. But what’s the price of simplicity? Some would say that’s definitely too much. Only think of all those vintage items that are sold on eBay or on other auction sites for four-five figure amounts, while our grandparents may deposit similar items in their attic.

There are bamboo roll up blinds for all pockets. All you need is a little bit of scouring the web and you’ll find some good deals on the spot. Of course, you can’t expect the cheapest blinds to be motorized, but if you want, you can improvise an automation system with a small motor powered by batteries and operated via a switch you can place somewhere on the wall.

As cheap excludes custom, we found some nice bamboo roll up blinds in the economy class, at My Callaloo: the Fruitwood color bamboo blinds which are similar to the Vincent Walnut from Prestige or with Matchstick Light Walnut from Horizon.

Another online store where we found some good looking models of roll-up bamboo blinds was from UK and they were featuring very nice models, in a wide array of colors and finishes. Unfortunately we didn’t manage to find out the prices, as the store was a bit too complicated for us.

Next stop: Everything Furniture. The Laguna Bamboo Roll Up Blend In Natural Blinds convinced us once more that you can have quality without paying a fortune. The 36” x 72” size of blind was priced at $28.99, which is quite cheap in our view. However, as these blinds are also manually operated via a cord, we moved on with our research.

Believe it or not, I found what I was looking for at an Asian merchant on a trade site. Too bad the minimum order was 10,000 pieces. I won’t have so many windows to cover with bamboo roll up blinds in my entire life.

Virtually any type of blinds or other window treatments can be turned into remotely-operated motorized blinds if we attach a motor and a remote control to command the motion. More sophisticated systems may include light sensors or timers, in order to create the so-called intelligent electric window treatments. Usually, the motor is inserted into the head rail or the top panel of the blinds, therefore it’s not visible from the outside. The sensor which communicates with the remote control is somewhere in there, too.

When the IR or RF sensor detects a command coming from the remote, meaning that you’ve pressed a button, this command is transmitted to the motor. The motor starts to move in the indicated direction, triggering the movement of the blind, shade or curtain via a mechanism that transmits the motion.

There’s another variant of automated blinds: instead of having an IR / RF sensor and a remote control, the control switch can be placed on the wall, just like the light switches are. The advantage here is that you can’t lose the re mote, but you’ll have to get out of bed to adjust your blinds. Besides, if the system operates via wires, you’ll have to bury those wires into the wall, therefore that’s something to install when you renovate or when you build a home and not with all furniture and carpets in place.

How Are Automated Blinds Powered?

The power for such motorized shades can be either taken from the main power supply or from a set of batteries. The remote control operates on batteries, which can be AA or AAA or some special, flat models which are smaller and last longer. In case you fear of plugging your windows to the electricity supply, you can have the whole system running on batteries. In this case, as the voltage is low, such window blinds are safe for using in spaces with high humidity such as bathrooms, laundry rooms or kitchens.

As of the types of blinds and shades that can be motorized, you should know that pretty much all styles and models are suitable for getting this automation system. Maybe the most common ones are the electric roller blinds, but also Venetian blinds, vertical blinds or Roman shades can be added a motor.

Advantages of Motorized Blinds

There are multiple advantages that make motorized blinds an excellent option for both domestic and commercial use.

• First of all, in a home with children or pets, those cords that hang on the common window treatments are dangerous, because they could easily tangle and suffocate a child or a curious cat.
• Automated electric blinds move smoothly and evenly, so you’ll never have to level them again. This also minimizes the chances of your blinds getting broken and increases their lifespan.
• In case of very high windows, to operate them manually means to have a very long wand or cord, or both. This is not a very aesthetic thing to have in a home. Besides, it can be difficult to operate the crank for those conservatory roof blinds. Skylight windows are also problematic, as most of the times you have to pay extra for extension cords, so you can operate them from your height. Electric powered, remote controlled blinds are much better for skylights and roof windows.

Remember that it’s not always about the money. Sometimes it’s better to pay an extra amount and get significantly higher level of comfort. Motorized blinds fall in this category.