WOODEN VENETIAN BLINDS: I WON’T TAKE YOUR MONEY!

At Barlow Blinds we believe in total honesty when it comes to advice on blinds, this is never more so than with Wooden Venetian Blinds.

The popularity of wooden Venetian blinds over the last couple of years has skyrocketed. Their chunky appearance, the ease of filtering the light that enters the room and the ability to co-ordinate the blinds with your wood floor have all helped boost their popularity.

But there are some downsides you need to be aware of before purchasing your blinds.

The reason for writing this article is a conversation I had with a customer who wanted a house full of bespoke wooden Venetian blinds.

We had found the perfect colour, the £3500 price wasn’t an issue and then Mrs Jennings made one comment that made me turn down the order.

Mrs Jennings said that she loved the view out of her windows so she would raise the blinds in the morning and lower them in the evening.

While this can be done, it is never something we would recommend as it will have a huge effect on the lifespan of your wooden Venetian blinds.

• Wooden Venetian blinds are very heavy to raise.
• The cord travels through a metal cord lock that will then lock the blind in the raised position. Raised and lowered regularly will cause the cord to fray, to the point where the cord will no longer pass through the cord lock.
• The lifespan of a wooden Venetian blind raised and lowered daily I would estimate to be 2 – 3 years. Whereas a blind that is only raised and lowered to clean the windows should last 10 years plus.

Our company’s position is very clear. If a blind is going to be used in a way that will significantly affect its reliability then we will not accept the order. This stance has upset some customers (as it did yesterday) but our reputation is built on reliability and blinds that last and we will not change that.

I have no doubt one of our competitors will install blinds for Mrs Jennings as I don’t expect too many businesses to turn down a £3500 order, and I do hope she takes my advice and doesn’t raise and lower them too often.

If you like the look of Venetian blinds and want to raise and lower them regularly then Aluminium Venetian blinds would be far more suitable (and you can get them in wood effect).

• Aluminium Venetians are far lighter, so much easier to raise and lower.
• Aluminium Venetians have 2 different operating systems that have no cord locks, so there is no worry about the cord fraying. They can be operated with a side chain (similar to a roller blind) and they can be operated with no chains or cords, that system is called easyrise.

With the wide variety of blinds available, there will always be a style that will suit your needs and how you want the blinds to operate, even if it wasn’t the type of blinds that you first had in mind.