Venetian blinds - wooden or aluminium

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valery

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I want to put venetian blinds on my windows. They are all approx 900 mm wide, so I can buy readymades and do some trimming if necessary.

I cant make up my mind between wooden or aluminium.

Can anyone help me as regards durability and easy of cleaning - my preferred colour is white.

I have seen broken and bent slats on blinds in windows, is this problem confined mainly to the cheaper PVC blinds?
 
You should definitely go for wooden blinds. They are much nicer especially if you are putting them in your home. I've lived in places with both types and wooden are definitely easier to clean.
 
Sorry to jump on board. We are finally getting rid of the nets and just wanted to ask if the wooden blinds block out much light?

They look a whole heap better from the outside than aluminium.
I'm just worried that we'll be living in semi shade, especially in the sittingroom, where we spend a lot of time.
 
Thanks Joanne82 for the info on cleaning. Like Balmes I am also concerned about the light. I figure that aluminium blinds would be easier to roll up.
 
IMO wooden will look way better - no comparison.

Aluminium blinds for me = office or bank. Plus they make an annoying scrapy rattle.
 
I wouldn't put Venetian blinds on windows at all because they block out too much light - I grew up in a house with the aluminium ones and my parents in law have the wooden ones.If you pull them up to the top of the window you will see the difference in the amount of light coming through - wouldn't touch them with a barge pole!
 
I am interested in what you say about the Venetian blinds blocking out the light. I was thinking of getting them for our house but now am not sure after reading your comment as the sittingroom needs all the light it can get. Currently I have net curtains and they do block out some light. I don't like roller blinds as there is no privacy and they block out the sky. I wonder if anyone knows where I could get light net curtains?
 
you can get Colonial Shutters that can be folded back when you want lots of light and look great from both inside and outside Expensive but its a once off job Just google "shutters"
 
I recently had venetian wooden blinds fitted in a ivory color and didn't notice the room much darker, we previously had white roller blinds and I prefer the light on the venetian ones, you can roll them up if you find they darken the room and you have the option of tilting them to let some more light in while they are down and you can have some more privacy.
I wouldn't put aluminium, I think they are very noisy and more for work places.
 
Caveat said:
IMO wooden will look way better - no comparison.

Aluminium blinds ... make an annoying scrapy rattle.
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Agreed.

If you want the max amount of light, go for the 50mm ones. When they're 'open', the gaps are much bigger and there are less slats.

btw, try [broken link removed] before the local places. I haven't bought off them yet but think I will considering the local prices.
No affilaition.
 
Hi there,

I just got oyster coloured (kinda off white) 50mm wooden blinds fitted in my house. I shopped around and found Value Blinds (thanks to other posters here for the recommendation) to be the best value. I got 8 blinds fitted for 900euro. In my last house I paid 600euro for 3 roller blackout blinds and one wooden ventian blind so needless to say I am thrilled with the price I paid this time round and the service and quality were excellent.
I have to say this forum is excellent for tips and advice.
 
Ikea stock wooden blinds which I think that I will opt for. I read somewhere that you can alter their width using a "pull" saw. No sure what that looks like, but Mr. Valery can investigate further.
 
Forgot to ask, if I used white wooden blinds in the kitchen, would I be plagued cleaning them.
 
We put a wood effect metal blind in our kitchen and it's great. Low maintenence and I reckon it insulates in the same way as k-glass does. Same principle. Looks great also.
 
Venetian blinds contain a vast surface area for dust. Avoid at all costs unless you either love cleaning or love dustballs.

Roman or roller blinds are far more practical to clean, and from a light point of view.
 
Got wooden blinds a few months ago. For me it's been a major mistake, the downstairs is open plan and very bright but these blinds have more than halved the amount of light, so much so that I think I will have to change them again but cant really afford to. Stick to the normal roller blinds
 
We have blinds in all windows in current home and previous home. Very happy with them, second time around got the wider ones (50mm i think) and they do let in a lot more light. The alu-wood ones are great for high moisture areas, (wooden ones could rot eventually) we got them for our bathroom and the utility room which gets high moisture from the dryer. The alu-wood look good but i wouldn't go for them in the living areas of the house. They do get dusty but there are blind cleaners that help make the job a bit easier. The dust is there in the room anyway!! Great for privacy and can be tilted to minimise sun glare or let in more light.
 
valery said:
Forgot to ask, if I used white wooden blinds in the kitchen, would I be plagued cleaning them.
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We have white ones in the kitchen and I don't find they get any dirtier looking. Easy to wipe off any spills or grease. (Not like curtains or blinds!)
 
I did have white ones years ago (in a living room) and have never had the wooden ones, but it would seem logical that the wooden ones would darken a room more than the white ones simply because the white ones would reflect the light off the "blades" and bounce it around more.

BTW, in the end we got rid of our venetian blinds purely because they didn't provide enough privacy (they were on the living room window, facing the street with only a tiny front garden). Might be something to consider if you're using them in a room that is overlooked or open to passers by looking in.
 
We got aluwood venetions, (aluminium that looks like wood) for conservatory. They are thinner than wooden so when they are folded up they are neat and barely visible round the top. They are also only about 3cms deep so when they are down they don't take up the width from window to sill edge leaving plenty space for any window sill ornaments, etc. I think most blind companies would have them.
 
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