Timber blinds or wooden blinds are increasing in popularity, often as an alternative to other types of blinds. However, it is vital that they fit into the overall ambience and design of a room as even a beautiful wood can appear ugly if it is incongruous within a room. Considering that many types of home furniture, such as tables, cabinets and chairs are made of some type of wood, timber blinds often compliment the furniture much better than aluminium or plastic blinds for example. Alternatively, a room full of modern décor might not fit so well.
People choose timber blinds for the effect and atmosphere that they give to a room. Maybe it’s somebody looking for a log-cabin effect that makes you feel warm and cosy on a winter’s evening. Maybe they just look authentic and attractive. Perhaps there is a different theme to every room to the house. Often they are used in outdoor patios. These would fit in especially well in a garden environment where there is already a wooden presence such as trees or wooden fences.
The plain practical reason for using timber blinds should not be discounted either. Solid timber means that heat from outside is absorbed quite well, meaning that the indoors can stay cool during hot parts of the day or year. This can have a positive tangible effect by helping reduce energy costs pertaining to air-conditioning. Similarly, in cold environments, the solid timber can protect and insulate from the cold, meaning that rooms need to be heated less and therefore require less energy costs. Finally, the blinds can filter or block extreme sunlight should you be in a sun-trapped room.
When coming to choose their blinds, people who are more environmentally conscious may prefer to use a faux- wood for their blinds as there may be the possibility that the wood comes from tropical hardwoods. At the very least, you may want to check whether the wood is sourced from a sustainable plantation where trees are re-planted after being cut down. Fortunately, most blinds are made of renewable, reforested timber such as Canadian Western Cedar or North American basswood. The slats are then stained or painted to resemble other wood species. On the occasions that the blind is manufactured from real timber, the name of that product will include the word “real”, such as ‘real cedar’
As with most products, nowadays people can choose to purchase it either online or at a regular bricks and mortar store. The benefit in the latter is in actually seeing and feeling the product for real. Only then can you get a true sense of the atmosphere that it creates, and in terms of natural wood, perhaps even the aroma! Obviously, this needs to be countered by the fact that prices may be cheaper online and there may be a greater choice as online stores may specialise in the product. In the case of specialist stores, you can often get a fairly custom solution based on the wood type, style and stain that you prefer. However, often the colour of the finished article can differ slightly from that advertised online as every piece of natural wood is different in some slight way.
Most sets of wooden blinds are available in sizes such as 25mm, 35mm, 50mm and 68 mm. They could be made of vertical slats, woven wood or faux-wood. The type of wood that they are presented in seems limitless. A quick scan of an online store will show pecan, walnut, light oak, dark cedar, birch and probably any other relatively common species that you care to name! In addition they may be supplied with colour co-ordinated ladder strings, head-rails or colour tapes. In fact the choice of these supplements could be what really gives the blinds the originality of ambience and effect that you are looking for.
So overall, using timber blinds could be the thing that brings some much needed originality, personality and character to your home. They could be the difference between a much more traditional and warm ambience and a cold, stark feel. It is vitally important however, that they fit into the overall feel of a room for them to maintain any positive effect. Hence they should be considered as part of an overall plan for the design of a room or whole property.