Which blinds 😬 please help

[dontcomeatme]

Evening MNetters ☺️
I've just realised that in my entire adult life I've never purchased blinds!!! I've always rented houses and they were just there, not really something I thought of. However, I am now googling like mad trying to learn about all the different types. We recetly bought and moved into our forever home and one of the last jobs to get sorted is new blinds through out as the ones still in are actually falling to pieces. What do I buy?!
I like the idea of blackout roller blinds in all the bedrooms, especially in the young DCs rooms! Then something else throughout the downstairs? What's everyone's favourite? Wooden venetian, vertical fabric, I'm at a loss. My OH thinks you can't have 2 different types of blinds up and downstairs, that the whole house should match, is this true? I really don't want roller blinds downstairs 😬
Also we have windows in the upstairs landing, would they need to be roller blinds to match the upstairs vibe, or could they be the same as the downstairs ones? As you can see, I am highly over thinking this now and clearly IABVU. But....
What blinds do you have? And what's the pros and cons to them?

Also, do you have blinds up at French doors?? We have curtains but should we get blinds too?

Thank you everyone in advance ☺️

I have different blinds in different places! I do have all matching at the front of my house and no curtains except in my bedroom
But they're decorative tbh. At the back my daughters have blackout blinds, one of them is a velux window so she couldn't have had Venetian matching.

My house is 3 storey so I wouldn't be bothered about the top floor at the front but I was buying a job lot so it just got included!

I have dark wood Venetian blinds as they go with everything.

Have a look at blinds to go and measure really carefully the you should be able to install easily. My dad had to cut all of mine as I measured before the plastering was finished.

Also I don't have a blind on my French doors, I have thermal curtains to keep out heat/in warmth but I've seen those ones that clip right into the window frame and I think I would get those if i was getting blinds now but then they wouldn't match the window blinds! Downstairs I have matching blinds in kitchen and lounge so different on French doors would look odd in the inside.

Avoid vertical blinds. When I moved to Wales I was shocked at how many homes have them as they look bloody awful.

Personally I’d say Venetians in the living room/dining room/kitchen areas. For the bedrooms, see if there is a blindscreen installer near you. It’s like a concertina style blind but it’s fitted into a metal frame and blacks out the room much better than a blackout roller blind as there aren’t any gaps. They’re pricey but a lifesaver in the summer when the sun is up for longer!

I have cellular pleated blinds on my patio doors, I like the way they sit neatly and are barely noticeable in the daytime.

I have white slatted blinds in my kitchen windows as I wanted a clean, slimline look and they are easy to open and shut. I avoided fabric so they didnt smell of cooking! The con though is that they gather dust so I do damp wipe them every now and then which is a bit laborious.

I have different types of blinds across the house from blackout, slatted, roman and vertical. Depends on how I've styled the room.

We've had blinds from 2 online companies 247 blinds and blinds2go (i think)
Both good. Useful to look at the different types on their sites.
Personally, I like roller or roman blinds. Venetian are a pita, dust magnets!
If you want blackout for your bedrooms there are "cartridge" blinds. We have those and they are great. Also block out the heat in summer.

Ooh okay interesting, @2025mustbebetter my OH agrees with you that the front of the house needs to be matching, but the main living room window is at the front as well as our DC bedroom 😬 and good point about them not matching if bought later on, I was going to suggest that to OH but if we're going to do it I'll just buy the lot then they're all the same!

@PInkyStarfish I think nearly every house in my area has these so to me it's just the "norm", but I really like the look of the wooden venetian.

@HansBanans my OH just found these online she is looking to see how we could get them installed, I've never seen them before very impressed!

@seawolves ooh I don't know what these are, adding to the list to Google 😊

@Hillsmakeyoustrong very good point about the smell, we love to cook. Thank you, I'll definitely go no fabric!

Those slatted blinds are a pain to keep clean. I like a roman blind because you can have curtains too for extra light cutting out and they look more cozy.

I vote matching style to upstairs.

In our old house, all communal areas (hallways, lounge, dining room etc) had roman blinds in the same neutral colour and texture.

All kids bedrooms had roller blinds that matched their room decor plus curtains.

Our bedroom just curtains - again, that matched our bedroom.

In current house, all downstairs has one type and colour of blinds (electric and smart controlled - highly recommend). Upstairs are in keeping with bedroom decor.

I think if you mix match too much in communal areas, it could make the decor look messy but it totally depends on how you feel about decor, not everyone cares and that’s ok!

@sunnysidedeepdown this is the problem we're having now, I mean 1, they're are pretty dirty and there is a lot of damage, but also they are ALL different, I'm not exaggerating.
My living room has thin wooden venetian,
My kitchen has plastic? venetian, the landing is vertical fabric, 2 bedrooms have roller blinds, other bedrooms have vertical 😬 it really really bothers me walking around the house!
I like the idea of communal areas all matching and bedrooms being fitted to suit the rooms themselves. My only concern is a previous pp pointed out the cooking smell on kitchen blinds. Do you have roman in the kitchen? I would want none fabric in their definitely. But this would then determine the type of blinds I get in all communal areas!

I wouldn’t put a fabric blind too near the cooker either. How near the cooker is the window?

You could choose the same colour in a roller blind for the kitchen, always keeping 40cm or so showing at the top (looks much better than it being fully pulled up).

It’s a big investment but will make a huge difference to get new coordinating/matching blinds. We had our roman blinds for 3 years before we moved and they were still in pristine condition.

We have roman blinds in our bedroom, they blow when it's windy and we do get light down the sides as they fit inside each bay. Wouldn't have them again in bedroom.

Plantation shutters! You can get black out blinds fitted with them.

The cooker is in the middle of the room and I have 2 windows on opposite walls. I would be more concerned about any lingering smells getting trapped in the fabric, we cook a lot, curries, Thai, onions, eggs, etc.
I definitely want to get matching as much as possible downstairs but the kitchen may be the determining factor in my final decision 😕 x

if you want matching through the house try and go shutters - you can get DIY ones which are actually really easy to fit (just measure carefully) or get someone in - but they are effective blackout (better than roller blinds imho which always have light around the edges), let you shade the room and still let light in in summer, and 'softer' than just blinds in the window - but you can still add curtains in rooms where you want a cosy feel. Easier to clean than venetians and easier to open fully as well.

Honestly though - don't worry about what anyone outside thinks of your window decor. So what if one window has curtains and another has a roller blind? I am nosy as hell about other peoples homes and I don't think I have ever tutted to myself that their bedroom window has a different treatment than their lounge as I gaze into their home from the bus 😆

@AuntieDen I didn't even think of shutters I'll have a good look now this seems like a really good idea!

To be fair I have never even noticed other peoples blinds until I started looking into them and now I feel like I'm constantly staring at everyone's windows silently judging them 🤣

Absolutely never vertical blinds - they look like a office block and are often that cheap nasty (yet very expensive!) knitted type material which is deeply unattractive.

I have a mix - roller blinds in the bedrooms, Perfect Fit blinds on the south facing windows and patio doors. It keeps out the heat in summer.

We have white slatted wooden blinds on all windows with blackout roller blinds in bedrooms for extra coverage. Looks better from the outside and gives you light and privacy for getting changed in bedrooms

So the blackout roller blinds blinds sit over the wooden blinds in the bedrooms and you have both

@cremebruhlee I never even thought of that. Would you mind uploading a photo? Does it look over dressed or not even noticeable, because that would be ideal in the DC room x

We have Venetian blinds in all rooms up and downstairs. A mixture of professionally fitted ones and ones we have ordered to size and fitted ourselves. White wooden mainly but silver metalic ones in the bathrooms. We have intu blinds for the back doors and surrounding glass area as you can open the doors easier as the blinds fit into the rubber of the glass. These do need to be measured and fitted though

I never even thought about the bathroom! Do I need blinds if its a frosted pane? I wasn't going to bother.
Do you find the venetian black out enough in tbe bedrooms? I would much prefer them to roller blinds but my DC would never sleep in the summer 😅

You prob don’t need blinds in the bathroom
With frosted glass but it finishes the room. We actually have curtains also in the bedrooms. So blinds hung in the window inset and curtains outside. It all looks uniform
from the outside of the house as you can’t see the curtains from outside. I also feel this finishes the room and makes it more homely and comfortable - also keeps out any chill in winter