Rookie Mistake: Choosing The Wrong Blind For The Wrong Room

Are you sure you want that blind there?

Here at DotcomBlinds, we know most of our customers have a décor vision for how they want their home to look, so we try to not get too involved in our customer’s style choices. However, on the odd occasion we will intervene with a customer when they’re considering putting a blind into a space it’s not suited for!

We want our customers to get the most out of their made to measure blinds and curtains, so when necessary we may nudge a customer away from a type of blind that’s not suitable for a certain space and towards an option that is more appropriate.

There are a few reasons why some blinds aren’t suitable for some locations, for example: putting a blind that’s not water resistant in a bathroom could result in the blind getting moldy and deteriorating, or putting a slatted blind in a bedroom would make it less functional as light will still pour into the room around the slats.

So, today we’re going to go through an average home room by room and looking at the blinds that you should not use in them, to ensure that your blinds last for years and give you the best level of functionality.

Living Rooms

Let’s start with a quick one, the living room!

In a living room situation, you can use any type of blind or curtain your heart desires, as there are no environmental or functional considerations that would render any type of window shade inappropriate.

Bedrooms

Next, we move onto bedrooms, where your choices have a slight limitation to them.

Functionally, you’ll want a window shade in your bedroom to prevent outside light from entering the room to create a dark environment well suited for a good night’s sleep. Because of this, you should not use any slatted blinds (such as venetian or vertical blinds) as light may leak in around the gaps in the slats, or blinds made with a fabric other than blackout fabric as dimout or screen fabrics will still allow light into the room.

To recap: Avoid slatted & non-blackout blinds in bedroom settings!

Bathrooms

Now, we move onto bathrooms, the bathroom is a space where much more consideration is required.

As bathrooms have a tendency to get wet, warm and steamy, that will rule out any blinds which can be damaged by exposure to water and steam – effectively ruling out any blinds made from wood or a non-water-resistant material. So, in your bathroom, you should avoid using wooden blinds, which may warp or get water damage, as well as shades like Roman blinds or curtains made with a fabric that isn’t water resistant as the fabric can be damaged by the water and even develop mold.

To recap: Avoid wooden blinds & blinds made with a non-water-resistant fabric in bathroom settings.

Kitchens

Finally, we move onto kitchen spaces, the main consideration in a kitchen is the opportunity for messes and spillages.

Kitchen spaces can be quite messy, it takes just a single slip up to cover a kitchen counter in spaghetti bolognaise, or spill a glass of milk all over the floor.  Because of the potential mess, you should avoid blinds made without a wipe-clean fabric, as a single smudge of spilled soup could leave your blind with a stain so stubborn you’re stuck with it forever!

To recap: Avoid fabric blinds made with a fabric that isn’t ‘wipe-clean’.

And that’s that, hopefully by now you should have a good idea of what types of shades you should avoid when decorating a room of your house. While we don’t want to burst your bubble or tell you what to do with your décor, avoiding using an inappropriate blind will mean that you get the most out of your new shade and ensure that it doesn’t need to be replaced every single year.

If you’re brave enough to use a linen Roman blind in your kitchen, or a dimout vertical blind in your bedroom, more power to you! Just be aware that you may find that the blind doesn’t work as well as it could, or that it needs to be replaced more often than you’d like.

If you have any more questions about our blinds and what blinds are appropriate for different rooms of your house, why not check out our guide looking at What Blinds Work Best In Each Room Of Your Home or get in touch with our excellent customer service team.