Massive mistake re window blinds

[MiniCooperLover]

We had horrible yellow wood blinds from IKEA up for 18 years in the front of our house. Have gone on a bit of a decorating spree. Beautiful dark green walls in the hallway so it was all going well. DH wanted grey carpet and I wanted hessian as it's warmer looking. In the end went for pale silver/greys and it's horribly cold looking with the white woodwork and before the carpet went down we'd ordered new wooden blinds for the front of the house. Wanted shutters but they were twice the price and we had 5 big windows to do. So we went for off white in large slats fitted into the recess.

Big mistake ... the whole thing together is so cold and stark looking and office(y). Am so disappointed but need to make best of it but don't know how 😞.

This is the hallway blind ...

Sitting room before and after ...

I quite like it. Pull them up a bit maybe..?

I think it looks clean and fresh.

Agree with pulling them up a bit, the walls look quite stark . I would put a nice set of wooden shelves with some nice decorative items and plants in very non office style pots.

Looks fine but I think the livingroom might benefit from some floor length curtains. Just to hang there at the sides, not that you are going to be closing them over the radiator. You can get away buying a narrow width if not closing so no need to spend a fortune.

We all make mistakes. I'd say repaint the walls. There's nothing wrong with the blinds. It's the wall colour that's making the room cold and stark.

You can soften it but getting some lightweight curtains that are just there to frame the window, dont have to draw them.

I know what you mean though, I think a lot of homes these days look cold and barren, and Im not a fan of grey. Everything is grey these days

I like them.
I agree with pulling them up and maybe putting something nice (a floral arrangement) in the centre of the windowsill to soften the area a little.

Also think some curtains in the living room would look nice, warm and a little softer,

Yeah I feel your pain OP, I have all white wooden blinds just like this and a few very big bay windows. When they are all down they look like a bloody garage door!!

however they do look nice when all open and then sometimes I pull them up to 2/3s which is quite pretty.

They do look better from outside unfortunately (in my opinion). what about adding some plain floor length voile on some of them to soften the room? Especially in lounge, you could go for a white but not the totally transparent ones but a more natural finish like a soft linen style? But not a heavy curtain if that makes sense. To dress the windows.

i won’t have these again either (also massive pain to clean!)

Definitely need curtains as well to finish dressing the window. Agree with pulling the blinds up a bit and having something decorative on the window sill.

I think they look nice, but I would add decorative curtains. You can draw them when you feel like it but they do not need to be drawn for privacy.

Plants and voile hanging down ? Soften the look

It’s very on trend for just white shutters or Venetian blinds but the reality is it can make the room feel and sound cold and stark, all you need is to add some floor length soft curtains and pull the blind up to show off the shape of the windows, plus some flowers or a houseplant to soften things up a bit.

We changed from brown wood to white blinds and it took a bit of getting used to. Definitely agree with having some long curtains even if just for show, if you're not up for repainting. Love the herringbone floor. I don't think I would have put blinds on that nice hall window; would probably have gone for a Roman blind.

Thanks all, some good suggestions. Yes Richards Gear, I think you are right on that one 🙈 I'll have to make the best of it now

Voile panels on a lightweight pole would really soften it and add texture. And a couple of trailing artificial plants, my house is full of ikea ones, I really like them.

I think the advice to add some softer curtains for decoration is a great idea. Make sure the curtain pole is wider than the window by 15cm ish each side, so you have space for the curtains to hang without shrinking your windows.

What were you expecting from slatted blinds? All they offer is a bit of privacy, they don't dress a room or keep the warmth in like curtains.

i'm not a fan of slatted blinds (or shutters).

I'd bin them and have a Roman blind in a nice fabric or a proper curtain

Floor length curtains added to all windows.

I like them. Give the radiator a luck of paint and soften the areas around the windows with some plants.

I think you just need to get used to the change. You could also add some of the shear curtains from IKEA to soften it up more.

Bin them? I'm assuming you don't know how much blinds cost??

Definitely can't bin them, paid £1300 for the 5 windows. Shutters would have been £3500 so that wasn't happening. DH has agreed to curtains in the sitting room. We have patio doors the other end of the room with blue velvet curtains so maybe we'll match those but not as deep so a shorter pole etc to sit straight. We need to paint that room too.

Also we'd painted everywhere so haven't hung any frames back up, that'll hopefully help.

Can you add curtains and have them part over the windows..