Blinds
Blinds are a big part of your lifestyle in your home but in many ways, they are the most unnoticed part of your interior decorating. Most of us set our blinds at a certain level and leave them there all the time. If you have a lot of shrubbery outside to give you privacy, you might leave your blinds up all the time. But most of us close our blinds at night because even if there isn’t anything going on in the house that demands discretion, having the windows closed off with sturdy blinds gives us that feeling of comfort and intimacy that the world is out there and we are in here.
During the day, blinds are great for controlling the flow of light into each room. If you have plants in the room, you want to be able to open your blinds to let the plants get plenty of sunlight. But blinds that can be closed partially such as Venetian blinds give you the ability to accommodate the needs of your plants but still filter the light so you don’t expose the woodwork of the room to fading or make the room too warm.
Blinds give us a lot of control over our environment. When you think about it, a home without windows is out of the question. We seem to have a need to feel connected to the outdoors by having windows that gives us a view of our yards, the street and the sky and other aspects of nature as well. To have a home without windows would make us feel cut off and unhealthy. Blinds then give us the ability to enjoy the quality of life that our windows provide us with but have some level of control over how much of nature you can see and how much you can be seen as well.
When you first buy a home or even move into a rental space, the window dressings get a lot of attention. Blinds are more than just functional units that are just there to block the light coming through the windows. In some rooms that might be true but in rooms that are very social, blinds also perform the function of contributing to your interior decorating scheme and adding to the personality of each room.
It is worthwhile from time to time to think about whether your blinds are making the kind of "statement" in each room that you want them to make. Blinds can be a powerful part of your décor. They can make as much difference in the ambiance of each room as the paintings on the wall or the bookshelves and furniture. So take a fresh look at your blinds and ask yourself if they are not only doing a good job of being blinds but making a good contribution to the atmosphere of the home. If not, maybe with a little attention from you, your blinds can do better.