Avoid These 5 Mistakes When Choosing Indoor Blinds: Enhance Your Home Decor

Indoor blinds provide an important function in the home, adding extra privacy while still allowing you to enjoy the views of the outdoors. Like curtains and sheers, roller blinds are available in a range of materials, colours and styles, which is why it’s so important to choose the perfect window coverings for your space.

Hanging blinds is something you can do yourself if you love a bit of DIY, but it’s equally important to get it right the first time to prevent time-consuming fixes and costly do-overs. With this in mind, we have gathered the top five most common mistakes people make when we see when homeowners hang their own window treatments - but don’t worry, we’ve also described how you can avoid them.

Hanging Blinds With The Wrong Type Of Fit

As you consider how to hang your blinds, there are generally two options - either inside the window recess or above it. Depending on what you want out of these blinds, choosing the wrong way can hinder their ability to do their job. Let us explain:

• Face Fit: Hanging your blinds this way means they are attached either above the architrave (the window frame) or on the top of the frame itself. They will hang down in front of the window and, if installed correctly, will prevent excess light from peeking through the sides of the blinds. This is especially important if you are installing blinds with the purpose of darkening a room, such as blackout blinds in the bedroom. The negative is roller blinds, when face mounted, have an exposed tube on top which, depending on the fabric backing, can be un-appealing. To solve this you can add a bonded pelmet or aluminium pelmet.
• Recess Fit: Blinds installed this way will sit inside the window frame and won’t hang past the bottom of the frame or extend outwards. They look extremely neat and modern, but due to the size of the brackets, light will seep through on either side of the blinds. This makes these blinds useful for living spaces where you entertain but don’t need total light coverage, such as the dining room or lounge. If gaps on the sides become an issue you can always select blockout blinds with side channels and a cassette to completely seal all light, which is especially ideal for theatre and shift workers.

Knowing this, it is important you choose the right fit depending on the function you want your blinds to have. 

Do you want privacy and light blockage? Then install your blinds with a face fit. They will extend past the window itself, covering it completely and preventing light and curious eyes from peeking inside.

Do you want streamlined, unobtrusive blinds that look great? Choose a recess fit for your blinds. This fit will cover your windows without drawing attention to them or causing them to sit bulkily outside the architrave.

You can discover a range of effective blockout blinds in Melbourne from Alfresco Blinds Co, your leading supplier of indoor blinds in Melbourne and wider Victoria.

Using The Wrong Blind Material For The Space

Certain blind materials are better for specific rooms of the home than others. Blind fabrics can be made from natural materials like cotton and linen, synthetics like polyester and acrylic, or even a blend. While you may want to choose your blind material based on what looks the best, you need to take into account how the room is typically used for and what best aesthetically suits your home

Areas like the kitchen or bathroom can generate a lot of moisture, which can cling to natural fabric roller blinds when made from materials like cotton or linen and cause them to stay damp. This, in turn, may encourage bacteria to grow and cause your blinds to become mouldy. In rooms like this, it’s important to choose blinds resistant to moisture, like those made from synthetic materials. The same applies for people with young children: a polyester based fabric which can be easily wiped and maintained, unlike cotton fabrics which cannot be cleaned if damaged.

Be careful if you want to use wooden Venetian blinds or timber plantation shutters, as wood can absorb excess water, swell and then crack - it also collects dust easily. Keep wooden blinds in rooms without moisture, or ensure your wooden blinds have been waterproofed to resist steam and water splashes in the kitchen or bathroom. You can also choose PVC Shutters or faux wood for that warm look without the extra upkeep, which are also more cost effective to your budget.

You may want to use the same type of material choice across your home for a cohesive look, but using the exact same materials every time just isn’t feasible. Luckily, many blind materials can be designed to look the same even when made from different fabrics. For example, if you want smooth, white blinds across your home, you can find cotton and polyester ones that will look the same while still resisting the elements where you need them to.

The Venetian blinds or Plantation Shutters from Alfresco Blinds Co. are made from quality materials such as basswood, PVC, aluminium and cedar. Explore the current range now!

3. Using Sheer Roller Blinds In The Wrong Rooms

While sheer blinds (or sunscreen blinds, as they are known) are loved for their ability to diffuse light into a space, they aren’t always appropriate for every room of the house due to their lack of light control. Although most sheer blinds offer privacy during the day, reflecting the natural light from the outdoors, the reverse is true at night. If you have lights on inside the home at night, it will allow people outside your home to see in.

You can mitigate this by only using sheers in places where privacy is less important, like the kitchen, and not in rooms like the bedroom or bathroom. Alternatively, pair them with blackout blinds so that you have total control over light and privacy to suit your needs! Dual roller blinds are perfect for this, as they come on a double bracket that makes it easy to install sheer and blockout roller blinds together on the same window.

Keep in mind that sunscreen roller blinds are designed to prevent some of the damage UV rays can cause in the home, but don’t offer the same light-diffusion that sheers offer. In turn, sheers don’t protect from the damage of the sun due to their loose weave.

Another important note about sunscreen day blinds is that they come in three different weave openness factors: 2%, 5% and 10%. Selecting the right openness determines the amount of natural light, privacy and visibility, so it’s essential that the right screen is selected to tailor your requirements. They may look similar, but don’t confuse these two types of light-filtering blinds!

Alfresco Blinds offers a great range of sunscreen roller blinds for your home, with options for how much clarity you want for your view outside.

4. Taking The Wrong Measurements

Whether you are ordering window blinds online or shopping in person, one of the first steps is to measure your windows to determine the size you need. Taking the wrong measurements is one of the biggest mistakes you can make, as they will throw off everything else, from the kinds of fixtures you need to the installation process itself.

Here are a few tips to make sure you are taking the correct measurements:

• Always use a rigid tape measure. Fabric tape measures can stretch over time and provide you with inaccurate measurements, so stick to metal tape measures. Take precise measurements in millimetres for perfect accuracy and always write them down so you remember them. Another good method is to double check your measurements using a laser measuring tape.
• Take window depth and accessories into account. Do you have a window winder or a window lock with a key sticking out? You’ll need to ensure your blinds don‘t touch these accessories, as they may tear through your blinds when you raise or lower them. You should also take into account excess space for the roller and brackets, as they will stick out from the window.
• Consider the shape of your windows. While most types of windows are square or rectangular, oddly shaped windows may require several measurements across them to find the correct number. And even if your window looks square, you may find it’s not as even as you think - so always take multiple accurate measurements at different points to be sure.

Once you have the perfect measurements, choose your window furnishings from Alfresco Blind Co’s collection online! We have an amazing range of single roller blinds and double roller blinds for Melbourne residents to choose from.

5. Using Cheap Blind Hardware

It may be tempting to buy the most affordable window blind hardware you can find, but this may backfire in the long run. Cheap hardware, such as the fixtures, winders and chain, can crack or even break under stress, or may even be damaged during the installation process, which can create a safety hazard later on.

 Cheap chain drives are a way many companies save a dollar to win over a job. Make sure to use brands like Acmeda to ensure longevity and ease of use. Weak chains may also snap when used roughly; for this reason alfresco blinds co have made a policy to always use stainless steel, as cheaper nickel plated chains tend to discolour, rust and break.

Flimsy blind materials can be torn upon impact - such as that from a pet or child - and may be harder to wash, should your blinds become stained. Natural materials like cotton may be easiest to damage, so if you are worried about the durability of your new blinds, look for roller blinds made from acrylic or polyester, or Venetian blinds made from aluminium or faux wood for maximum strength. 

Your window furnishings can last a lifetime if cared for properly, so choosing high-quality fixtures and materials is a great investment for your home.

All of the indoor blinds in Melbourne from Alfresco Blinds Co. are Australian-made from premium materials.

Choose Alfresco Blinds Co. For Your Indoor Blinds

Alfresco Blinds Co. is delighted to offer one of the best ranges of Plantation Shutters, Sheer Curtains, Motorised roller blinds, Venetian, Roman and roller blinds in Melbourne. We offer a fantastic range of Australian-made blinds and blind installation services, so you’ll always get the perfect fit when you use our services - with no danger of these common mistakes from creeping in!

Contact us online or at 1300 735 077 for a free quote. As the premier supplier and installer of indoor blinds in Melbourne, you can count on us for a great experience every time. For more information on indoor blinds, please read our blogs on six tips on picking the right blinds for your home and the versatility of double roller blinds in the home.