Window Blinds by Shades Shutters Blinds

Window Blinds are window coverings made with slats of fabric, wood, plastic or metal that adjust to control the amount of light let in from the window. A roller blind does not have slats but comprises a single piece of material.

Horizontal Blinds use a thin woven ladder system to suspend the slats and enable slats to be closed by rotating a wand. A lift cord allows the blind to be pulled up and stack tightly to top of window when desired.

Vertical window blinds use wider slats that hang vertically from the top rail.  Instead of raising bottom to top such as the horizontal blinds, they come together from the left or right. This vertical blind allows rotation of slats by a rotating shaft in the upper head rail.

The term window blinds is also sometimes used, somewhat inaccurately, to describe window coverings generically- in this context window blinds include almost every type of window covering, i.e. shutters, roller blinds, roman blinds and of course, vertical and horizontal blinds.

In Great Britain, awnings are also considered blinds. A blind limits observation and thus blinds the observer to the view. The main types are slat blinds which can be opened in two ways and solid blinds.

Solid blinds can only be raised or lowered and are sometimes called shades. There are types of blinds, such as Holland blinds and woven-wood blinds, where there are small spaces between the slats. In others such as pleated shades there are no spaces because the slats are sewn inside fabric.

Window blinds reduce the heat from sunlight. Ancient Egyptian pharaohs had blinds made of reeds. The most inexpensive blinds in the 1800s were home-made roller blinds, made of cloth.

Window blinds can be manually drawn using a cord, or automated through motorization. Controls for motorized blinds can be from a wall switch or keypad, remote control, or a personal computer, eliminating the need for cords and allowing control of otherwise inaccessible windows. A number of homes are integrating blind control with central CBUS solutions. This control provides ease of use, but is also effective to control blind operation to reduce heat loss during winter or heat effects during summer.