Blinds Vs Curtains

Why are blinds the best form of window covering?

Blinds are a popular form of window covering, with many homeowners opting for shades over made to measure curtains.

You’re welcome to call us biased – we’re a blind manufacturer after all – but the variety of blinds available and useful features that come with them help to elevate window blinds to a slightly higher level than curtains.

If you are a curtain owner or are considering curtains then please don’t think this blog post is dictating what you should and should not shade your window with. Many homes suit curtains perfectly, and if you wish to have curtains, go for it. This is a blog post looking at understanding the rise in popularity of the blind and the reasons why more people are choosing to shade their homes with them.

Blinds and Interior Design

Window blinds are the best form of window covering because they can blend seamlessly into a room. Today’s design tastes tend to sway towards more simplistic, minimalist styles, where clean lines and subtle colours reign. Curtains, whilst perfect for some homes, can create too much of a soft texture in quite a large part of the room, and the folds and creases can detract from the clean lines many desire.

Blinds are less domineering in a room, often fitting tucked neatly into a recess, creating a smaller block of colour. Curtains generally work best when they have a long drop for the fabric to hang better, which creates great a bold, eye-catching piece of fabric in the room. Again, this isn’t a problem if you wish to make them a focal point in the room, however, they can overpower anything else in a small or narrow room.

That being said, we often see blinds being used to cover large windows, particularly vertical blinds on patio doors.

The difference here, and perhaps another reason for choosing this kind of blind, is that it gathers neatly at one end (or both if you choose to split it) and the louvres (the fabric strips) can be rotated to still allow in light.

With curtains it is a kind of ‘all-or-nothing’ means of shading the window – it’s either fully drawn and blocking out all the light or it’s fully open, letting in all of the light.

Many curtains are lined which also makes it difficult to only lower the light levels in a room, which a blind is more than capable of achieving. Blinds come in a choice of fabric - blackout or dimout, whereas with curtains you'd really need to consider net curtains if you want privacy and natural light entering the room.

Shop Dimout and Blackout Fabrics:

Saturn Hawaiian Sunset Dimout Roller Blind From £7.50

Bosa Tangerine Blackout Roller Blind From £9.60

Blinds and Multiple Functions

Essentially, we believe the window blind’s popularity comes down to the multiple functions of the blind. With a blind, you can shade your home (which is the most obvious need), but you’re also able to orientate many blinds to block the sun but still allow in sunlight and let you see out. These blinds are venetian blinds and vertical blinds and comprise of slats (horizontal and vertical respectively) that can be rotated.

Window blinds have the ability to suit the interior design of the room yet also offer safety, fire retardancy, UV protection, moisture resistance and more.

This means that people can not only shade their room, they can also use the blind to help them in other ways. For example, dimout and voile fabrics let light into a room but block direct beams of sunlight. As a result, any furniture in the room is saved from harmful UV rays, which can fade and damage them.

From a maintenance point of views, blinds are easy to keep clean which is another reason for their popularity. Many of our blinds can be wiped clean, which allows cleaning them to be bought into a weekly routine and taking no real additional effort or time. Curtains take a lot more work to keep clean, often being taken down and hand cleaned or dry cleaned. This means that curtain cleaning often becomes a ‘once a year’ job, perhaps as part of a spring clean.

Blinds Provide Choice

Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of choices of curtain, but essentially the concept is the same: curtain pole/curtain track and two separate pieces of fabric which are pulled towards the middle from either side.

With window blinds, however, the choice of styles and types is huge. Roller blinds, vertical blinds, venetian blinds and pleated blinds all offer different looks and functionalities, allowing you to pick a blind that is geared specifically to the window and environment you want it in.

A faux wood venetian blind is great in bathrooms and kitchens because not only do they look nice and have the same impact as real wood, they’re moisture resistant. This means they won’t absorb moisture and swell or warp. On the flip side, they are heavier than real wood. Each blind has its own set of unique properties that homeowners can use to their advantage.

Vertical blinds are perfect for long windows – patio doors or floor-to-ceiling windows, as they can be gathered at each end, out of the way of access areas but breaking up the solid block of colour common with roller blinds.

Pleated blinds are made for windows with rubber gaskets without the need for a drill and screws - you can install them in about two minutes flat! They’re also ideal for shading bifold doors because they’re held against the glass and don’t inhibit the door’s movement.

With such diversity within the range – and that’s before we even get to the fabrics and materials – it’s no wonder people enjoy finding the perfect blind for their window.

At the end of the day, it’s not a competition between blinds and curtains, it comes down to the room and your needs. But if you can’t make up your mind, your safest bet is to choose a blind from DotcomBlinds. Browse our different types of blinds, read a few blog posts to learn which type of blind you need, order your free samples and then place your order – it’s really easy and we do all of the hard work.

Shop Our Blinds Here:

Udine Light Grey Roller Blind From £26.40	Bosa Grey Vertical Blind From £18.00	Pewter BiFold Door Blind From £14.40
Slate Venetian Blind From £7.56	35mm Slate Wooden Venetian Blind From £16.80	50mm Fossil Faux Wood Venetian Blind From £9.60