Create southwestern beauty with wood blinds in your home or business office It is particularly easy when the right window blinds are installed. Southwestern decor has always been the mark of relaxed comfort and natural beauty, and wood blinds fit right into that segment of decorating styles. This popular style is not limited to the Southwestern states, and it is a fun style to work with for accessorizing.
Navajo patterns and wood furniture and accents, and wood blinds are essential to Southwestern style. Adobe walls, round rooms, bold colors, pastels especially including turquoise, and earthy tones are earmarks of this style. Tapestries, pottery, heavy carved wooden furniture, and wood or faux wood window blinds complete the design elements.
There is no doubt as to the influence of Native American culture in Southwestern style. Instead of heavy fabric curtains, there is a preference to airy wood blinds for window treatments. The various colors of wood are very complementary to the rest of the room design. Choose from natural, oak, maple, chestnut, pecan, mahogany, or bamboo wood blinds, or select lighter weight faux wood blinds of printed vinyl coated materials.
These traditional window blinds, called Venetian blinds, are easy to use and offer complete lighting control of outside light sources. You can adjust slats up or down to let in full sunshine or reflect it upwards for more diffused lighting effects. They help control glare, and protect furnishings and fabrics from sun fading and damage. In addition, wood blinds are the best for insulation because of their density, and moisture resistance. They can keep cold winter drafts and hot summer sunshine heat out. This can help reduce electric, heat, and air conditioning costs.
Wood blinds are constructed like other window blinds, although you can order your wood blinds with cotton tape instead of cords that require small holes to run the cord through for raising and lowering the blinds. The control system is hidden within a steel headrail. It contains plastic and metal parts that control the blind system. You manipulate window blinds cords or the tape system to adjust the height of your window blinds, and to adjust the angle of the slats.
Wood slats are usually two inches in depth, and about an eighth inch thin. Some lighter weight wood and vinyl blind slats are one inch in depth. If you have a deep well window frame, you would want to mount blinds inside the frame. Otherwise, you may decide to mount them outside the window frame to provide better light coverage. All wood blinds come with a headrail valence to cover the top mechanisms. Additional side valence boxes can be constructed to encase the blinds and add to light control.
Real wood slats can be natural or stained, or painted; vinyl faux woods can also be colored. Real wood blinds are heavier than faux wood blinds, and can be heavy to lift. A modern control system, Smooth Lift, was designed to help with this, or your blinds can be motorized for the most ease in operation. Wood blinds stack up at the top of the window blinds when fully raised, and therefore are not usually placed in that position.
Privacy is another area where wood blinds excel. They are opaque, and offer no visibility when closed. This can eliminate an unsightly view, or prevent outsiders from seeing into a room. You can achieve privacy and still have Southwestern beauty with wood blinds. The dense slats allow excellent room darkening when closed. Room darkening is helpful for sleeping, naps, and when it is time for children to go to bed but it is still daylight outside. People who work nights and need to sleep days also enjoy room darkening for sleeping benefits of the finest in “dude ranch decor”.
