Wooden Venetian blinds for living room - cream or light wood?

[issynoho]

We're going to get wooden venetians for our living room but can't decide between light wood (oak finish) or off-white/ cream. Wide slats with tape, probably.

I think cream, DP thinks oak will be cosier ( north-facing room). I think oak will start to look dated quite quickly, although we do have a couple of bit of furniture it would tone with. Do darker colours show the dust more?

We'll eventually put lovely curtains up as well but at the moment it's for privacy without losing the light. Any opinions?

We have white/ off white. I love them as they blend in simply yet do the job

White. Wood will look dated straight away, never mind quickly (I speak from experience). Plus, do you really want a big brown slab at the windows? (I speak from experience again.)

We've got cream and they look great,love 'em.

I have white wooden blinds and they look great. I chose wide slats too but without the tape as the tape can get grubby quite quickly

I've previously had them in a soft white and a darker cream and liked both very much. I went for the widest slats and not the tape for the same reason as skyland.

I would get them again if I could but the windows here are too wide.

I would never get these blinds again. they're muck magnets!
The cream ones show the dust incredibly quickly, and are a real pain to clean (because the surface isn't perfectly smooth, you can't just wipe them).
I love how they look, but will never have another.

Good tip on the tape thing - thank you. I wanted taped ones because they look nicer. Now I can go for the cheaper option

We also have white and string. I wanted tape but DH preferred without (and am glad re grubbiness as Skyland mentions). They don't look too dusty even when they are, unless you look closely. Neighbours have dark brown and they show the dust up a lot more than ours do.

Also find them pretty easy to clean when we get around to it

Do you think they are safe enough for a kids bedroom? She is nearly 7 and fairly sensible. They would stay down most of the time.

You will need child proof cords. There are lots of ways to make them safe. Such as a rod instead of a string to raise or close them.

What do you mean by tape and string? Our shutters have no cords or string. They are actually shutters that open back or stay closed with just the slats open. So each one is a rectangle of wood with blinds inside, if that makes sense?

Like these

www.shutterlyfabulous.com/

So def child safe

Sadly shutters are too expensive as we are not going to stay here long enough for it to be worth it.

Yes will get some with a rod, and wrap the cord up on a cleat high on the wall. I'm imagining sill accidents that won't happen sticking head between the slats

I said we would never have wooden venetians again but I have awkward dormer bay windows upstairs and can't be arsed to make roman blinds

*silly accidents

We had different sorts of blinds fitted in various rooms last autumn,and the two different fitters both said their blinds now all have to be child-proof.