Monday, December 6, 2010

The Top Brands for Honeycomb Blinds

Honeycomb blinds, sometimes called cellular blinds, are quickly become a favorite among homeowners and designers. These types of blinds are easily installed, highly adaptable and very affordable. Honeycomb blinds also come in a variety of colors and fabrics. The advantages of honeycomb blinds don’t stop there; cellular blinds are also known for the unparalleled ability to help insulate windows.

There are many brands of honeycomb blinds available on the market today. Some offer similar features while others have unique fabrics and designs. Listed below are some of the top honeycomb blinds brands.

Bali Blinds

Bali blinds are an ideal option for anyone who is hoping to make their houses and homes more efficient and healthy. Bali blinds are known for their ability to block heat loss in the winter and heat gain in the summer. They help keep regulate the temperature in your home without needing to crank up the furnace or air conditioner. This is a simple way to decrease the amount you spend on monthly costs and can save you a great deal of money over time. Bali blinds are also a great option for anyone concerned with conserving the environment. In addition to saving energy, Bali blinds are made in facilities with a commitment to reducing and recycling waste.

Bali blinds are further known for their easy installation, which makes them a good choice for those who engage in a lot of redecorating or do it yourself home improvement.

Levolor Cellular Shades: Like Bali shades, Levolor cellular shades are a good option for their insulating properties. Their superior insulating properties are due to the unique cell structure of Levolor cellular shades.

Levolor cellular shades are also well known for their innovation in design and window fashions. Levolor was founded nearly a century ago and has built a reputation for customer service, great window treatments and custom blinds. They are also lauded for aesthetic beauty and appeal. Levolor has made a name for themselves through versatility. They offer over two hundred colors, providing the consumer with an ideal way to furnish their home exactly how they want.

Trends in Window Shades

Over the past few years, home decorating and home remodeling has seen a change in trends. Not immune to this change are window blinds. Window blinds have seen a variety of alterations ranging from the subtle to the extreme.

Eco-Friendly
One of the biggest things on the minds of our world is the act of preserving it. Environmental conservation is often the reason behind many trends. We want to go green and we want to do it fast. Bali Blinds carries a line of environmentally responsible window blinds. Bali blinds are made in factories that make an effort to recycle and help your home be more energy efficient. Bali shades are known for having the ability to block the loss of heat and reduce the ability of UV rays to enter a home. They also help to better insulate your windows. This makes your home more energy efficient and saves you money while reducing your carbon footprint.
Do it Yourself
One huge trend among home owners that is sweeping the nation it is the concept of do-it-yourself work. DIY home improvement has also changed the way home owners purchase blinds. Home owners are now often in the market for blinds that install easily. Bali shades are a popular choice because of their reputation of easy installation and require little maintenance.
Color
Another trend among window blinds is the tone down of colors. Colors are no longer complex, bold, or busy. Instead the trend is to go with cooler colors like blues, aquas, and light greens. Natural colors, such as brown, wood and other earth tones are also gaining and maintaining popularity.
Simplicity
For many, the simpler something is, the better it is. That is the reason simplicity is becoming a trend among window treatments. Many people prefer to have other decorations and furniture in their house serve as their form of self expression, while the window blinds are used to serve the simple purpose of regulating light, privacy and temperature. Cordless blinds offer clean and simple styling that doesn’t draw too much attention.
Creativity
Window shades are a personal choice. They reflect your tastes in color, texture, and ambiance. The most important things to keep in mind when shopping for Bali blinds and other décor is the sky, at least the ceiling, is the limit. Feel free to use them any way you desire.

Mounting Window Blinds: Inside Versus Outside

When it comes to buying window blinds, there are many decisions that must be made. Things like type, cost, brand, material and color all must be considered before the time of purchase. But the decisions don’t stop there: you must also decide where you want to mount your window blinds, inside or outside of the window frame.

More often than not, people choose to mount their window blinds inside the frame. This is a universal choice for many regardless of the choice of blind. Solar shades, cellular blinds and a variety of other types are often placed inside the frame because an inside mount provides a much neater, organized and often tidier appearance. With an inside mount, there are no blinds hanging down to the ground or appearing wild and out of control.

There are several reasons for an inside mount. To begin, mounting your blinds inside the frame typically provides more convenience if you are combining blinds and drapes or other types of curtains. Mounting cellular blinds inside, for instance, helps keep the drapes and blinds from interfering with each other.

An inside mount can also help reduce energy costs further than an outside mount. The reason for this is because inside mounted blinds lay closer to the window than outside mounted blinds. This can result in the better trapping of air (whether this is warm or cool air).

No matter what type of blinds you are mounting inside, be it solar shades, or some other type, an inside mount does require a set of blinds that are perfectly measured.

An outside mount is beneficial for those who are unable to mount blinds inside the frame. Some reasons for this inability may be an alarm sensor or crank handle situated on the inside of a window frame or windows that are not deep enough to hold blinds. Another reason why you may choose to mount your window blinds outside the frame is a unique window shape. If you have a rectangular, octagonal, circular, trapeze, or other irregularly shaped windows, you may choose an outside mount so that your window blinds do not have to fit into an oddly shaped frame.

No matter where you mount your blinds, and whether you purchase solar shades or cellular blinds, window blinds are a great way to give you insulation, privacy, provide shade from strong sunlight and help you save money on your energy costs.

Tips on Picking Colors for Honeycomb Blinds

Honeycomb blinds are quickly taking the window treatments world by storm for several reasons. Cellular blinds are visually appealing, affordable and can save money. Honeycomb shades are well known for their ability to better insulate your home; saving you money in the cost of heating and cooling bills.

With all of this, you might find that your decision to buy honeycomb blinds is already made. However, when it comes to window treatments, color is an essential decision. The color of your honeycomb shades is going to come down to personal preference. Some people love certain colors, others simply loathe them. Here are a few tips to point you in the right direction:

Consider the Light

Honeycomb blinds come in a variety of colors. These include soft colors, bold colors, bright colors, and dark colors. Certainly the colors in the room will play a major factor in your color choice. A room decorated in dark red, for instance, might not mesh with bright blue blinds. Matching colors is not the only factor to consider. The amount of light you want shining into your room will also play a large role in deciding on the color of your new honeycomb blinds. Darker colors, for instance, will keep more light out than lighter colors.

Think Ahead

Another factor to consider when deciding the color of honeycomb shades is the future of your room. Since these types of shades are very durable, your new blinds may outlast the paint scheme of the room. If you are planning on redecorating a room or you tend to change things around with frequency you may want to purchase blinds that will go with virtually any decor. Tan and off white colors are much more versatile than bright yellow. Keep this in mind if you can see yourself repainting or redocorating the room in the next 5-10 years.

Be True to Self Expression

Ultimately, window treatments are about you and your self expression. Color is a huge part of this self expression. While you should consider logistics such as how much light you want shining in and how well colors will match, you really should buy window blinds that you truly like. If you can’t stand pastel colors, don’t get blind in those colors. If you think that the dark teal looks nice but just isn’t you, find something that is. Your house is a blank canvas, paint it with the colors that you love.

Roller Shades Are Back in Style

For anyone who is in the home improvement or redecorating business, it is easy to see that the trends in window shades are constantly changing. We occasionally see new designs and new ideas coming forward, but it is mainly the designs of the past that are reemerging. Roller shades, for instance, have recently re-lit the flame of their own popularity coming back in style with flair and technological improvements.

What Are Roller Shades?

Roller shades are a type of window treatments made with modern fabric. These blinds, sometimes called roller blinds or roll up shades, are known for their affordability and their simple functionality. They are also known for their ability to add color and style to any room of a house and their versatility.

What Are the Advantages of Roller Shades?

Roller shades are often manually controlled which keeps them affordable. However, roller shades can also be motorized. These types of window treatments are unique in that they can be automatically opened or closed through the use a remote control or a switch. This makes these types of blinds ideal for windows that are high up and out of reach.

Some roller shades are able to run on solar technology. These solar shades work through a solar unit that is usually set up outside the home. This unit absorbs sunlight during the day and converts this light to stored energy. The solar blinds then open and close through this saved up energy. The unit is replenished on the next sunny day.

Solar shades more often refer to roller shades that diffuse and filter sunlight. They come in a variety of fabrics, colors and patterns. They became popular in offices and commercial building design and have been used in homes to give a more contemporary look. Whether you want your window treatments to block out a little light, most light, or all light, you can pick a fabric that suits your needs. The variety of fabric also supplies different level of privacy: you can opt to be completely hidden from the outside world, halfway hidden, or just a little hidden.

Are Roller Shades Safe?

Roller shades, whether they are solar shades or other types, are one of the best options for avoiding sun damage. Over time, the heat and brightness of the sun can leave carpet, couches, chairs, and even walls damaged or discolored. Roller shades will block these hazardous UV rays.

Roller shades are also available in cordless systems. With these type of systems, there is no long cord that hangs down in a loop or otherwise. This is a good option for people who have young children and pets. Cordless roller shades reduce the risk of kids and dogs or cats getting dangerously entangled in the cord of window treatments.

Top 3 Advantages of Cellular Blinds

For over three decades, cellular blinds have been a fixture in homes all over the world. Recently, these types of blinds have started to regain their once flourishing popularity. The reason for this resurgence is simple: cellular shades are very advantageous to the home owner.

Before we go into these advantages, let’s explain what cellular blinds actually are. Sometimes called honeycomb shades, cellular blinds are a type of blinds made of fabric usually sewn or glued to resemble a diamond cell shape. These types of blinds are often superior to others particularly in the following three categories:

Insulation: Cellular shades are designed to trap air within their “honeycomb” cells. This air helps insulate your home and reduces the amount of heat your windows transfer. With this insulation, your home is better equipped to keep heat in during the winter months and cool air in during the summer months. This ultimately results in the use of less energy all year long, which saves you a great amount of money on both heating and cooling costs.

A Rainbow of Colors: Cellular shades come in a variety of colors. The reason this is beneficial to those in the market for blinds is because every house is different and every room is unique. One color of blinds is not enough to fit the world. Cellular blinds come in all types of hues and tints. This is perfect if you have a home with unique or bold colors, a home with subtle colors, or a home with colors that are somewhere in between. With so many colors to choose from, you won’t be forced to redecorate the rest of your house in an attempt to make sure your carpet, couches, and walls match your brand new cellular blinds.

Easy installation: No matter what type of window blinds you are installing, the entire process can sound quite intimidating. However, installing cellular shades is actually quite simple. These shades are designed with the DIY installer in mind. There are a variety of resources online that provide step by step tutorials and often video tutorials to help the installation go as smooth as possible. You typically only need a screwdriver, a marking pencil, a measuring tape, and a drill.

No matter you reason for being in the market for blinds; owning a new house, redecorating, or just engaging in home improvement, cellular blinds are a smart and appealing choice. They will help save you time, money, all while adding visual charm to your home.