Bamboo Blinds - Save the earth and shade your life

In the last 6 months there have been recalls from many of the big name Bamboo Roman Shade manufacturers, the most recent being Ikea. In the past consumer protection groups were concerned with the cords on the front of blinds and shades that lift and lower blinds and shades, but in this case, the new concern were the cords in the back of Roman Shades that lift the shade in a ‘roman’ style so that they fold up.

The concern is that a child could put their heads inside these cords on the back, which would cause entanglement and act as a choking hazard.  I had seen in some cases these cords 12-13″ apart which is more than enough room for a child to put their head. Of the changes taking place in the industry, one is to reduce the maximum distance that these cord rings can be apart to 8″ making less space where a child can put their head. In addition, your shades should come with a retro-kit allowing you to take your cords off if you so choose (however, this makes the shade function quite poorly, so before you do this talk to your retailer about what the ramifications are).

In any case, be safe, and make sure that the bamboo blinds you purchase are in line with  or better than current standards.

If you live in a hot, sunny place your string may wear out on your shades. But don’t throw your shades out!! You may be able to just restring them and get a bunch more years of shade out of them.

Recently, I myself had to restring a shade and frankly, it was a bit more confusing than I expected. I did find a pretty good video that showed someone doing it, that helped me through it. Enjoy!

A lot of times we will get questions like, can I put bamboo blinds or shades in my kitchen, my french doors, my patio. And the answer is usually ‘it depends’. In this post I’ll review a few things to at least keep in mind when choosing bamboo blinds for the various locations of your domain.

1. Bedroom - Bamboo can look great in your bedroom, and a nice curtain overlay can add a beautiful touch. However, remember, if you get bamboo and you are a light sleeper that prefers it dark in your bedroom make sure to get a blackout liner or room dimming liner so that you don’t have stray rays of light hitting your eyes before you are ready to wake up.
2. Kitchen/Bathroom - Bamboo is a wonderful living product; however, if it receives a lot of moisture you may shorten its life, and you may find a new guest named mold visiting your house. Unless you have a specially treated shade, you should probably keep it out of the bathroom, and in a kitchen, keep it away from places where it can get wet
3. Patio - see above. If you want your bamboo blind to last, make sure it is specially treated. A nice outdoor bamboo blind that is treated is fairly difficult to find, in fact, if you find one - let me know! If you are looking for a shade for the inside of your patio, some places offer quite nice bamboo sliding panels as an alternative to a bamboo roman shade that will still provide that natural and eclectic look.
4. Living room/Family room - Things to think about are a) how close are you to your neighbors, b) do you have a TV, c) do you sometimes enter this room in the buff? Remember that since these shades are natural that it can be easy to see in your house. Unless you are quite comfortable with people seeing in, even when your shades are down, add a privacy liner to your order.

Of course no matter the room, you will want to match the decor and coloring of the room, which nice edge-banding can help with.  Hopefully the tips above will come in handy!

You want your bamboo blinds and shades to look perfect. All in all there are 1000’s of styles and millions of configurations. However, it is also important to make sure your bamboo window treatments look right on your windows. Without going into details about all of the custom options one might choose - I will just stick with custom sizing vs. stock sizing. And the reason is that with a stock size you may find on Amazon you or Buy.com you will definitely save some money - and who doesn’t like to save money?

First ask yourself if you want an inside or outside mount. Your window may determine this - you probably want at least an inch and a half of depth if you really want to mount it on the inside. Otherwise it is going to push outside your window. Second you want to ask yourself if you need a liner - ie, do you want the shade to really darken your room, in let’s say a bedroom. If the answers to your first two questions are ‘outside’ and ‘no-liner-necessary’, then ask yourself how perfect it needs to be? Can you live with it being up to a few inches larger in width and length than the width of your window? And finally - do you need a style that nobody has ever seen before, or are you looking for a nice shade that will look great with your decor?

The answers to those questions should help you figure out what you need. If you are not picky about size perfection and style perfect, and you want an outside mount - there may be some great stock options available for CHEAP. Even if you want an inside mount it may be worth looking - just make sure the window frame is 3/8″+ larger than the blind your order. If, however, you really want that great style, want to ensure the window frames your blind perfectly, and that the length is also perfect — your option is probably a custom bamboo window treatment.

In today’s world there are lots of great ways to find out information and select a bamboo shade product for purchase.  Today I will discuss 3 main channels where you can find out about bamboo shades and make a purchase: the internet, offline retail stores and designers, and discuss some of the pros and cons of each.

• Offline retail stores: There are quite a few offline window treatment specialty stores as well as big-box type stores like lowes.  At offline window treatment stores, you will get to touch and feel the bamboo blinds you are looking for, and while you won’t be able to pick you your shade that day - they will be able to consult with you to make you feel comfortable in your decision. They also may have some design advice that they will be able to provide. A big box-store will also allow you to touch and feel many of their bamboo shades, and you can put the shade in your cart and make a purchase that day; however, it is unlikely (in my experience) that the person who helps you will be an expert - and customization options may be limited.
• Designers/Interior Decorators: Interior Decorators are likely thinking about your house holistically and will provide valuable insight into how your new bamboo shade style will fit into your surroundings. The designer likely has window treatment vendors he or she works with so likely can provide a good price. However, it is always a good idea to ask questions to ensure your decorator has a good idea of the function of the shades.
• Internet: Clearly the Internet has changed all of our shopping habits (10 years ago you probably weren’t on a blog like this prior to your purchase!) You can go to multiple sites and see many options — and most of the sites will send you free samples — I recommend this highly– so you can touch and feel what you may be getting. In addition, since the Internet stores don’t have stores or charge tax, you can probably get your best deal. However, it is up to you to ensure that the store you work with has excellent service people who can walk you through all the pertinent details about measuring for a blind, so that you feel comfortable with your purchase. On all the sites that I know of - when you order a custom blind, they will fix it if they made a mistake, but if you made a mistake they will not. That is why spending time up front is SO important — and get those free samples!

My preferred route, start the process by looking on the Internet, and talking to a Decorator you know. Then get pricing from the Decorator and the Internet once you have narrowed down to the styles you want. And finally, make you purchase based on the price and service offered.  And there you go!

Re: my last post, I didn’t receive many quality comments regarding unique ways of selling bamboo blinds or shades. However, I did check out Google shopping for bamboo shades and found a variety of price points. Thus, I thought I should post a few things that you might want to look for when shopping:

• Quality - Is your shade or blind going to raise properly? Will it be cut evenly? Will the pieces be broken, will the stitching be solid?
• Options - can you put the cords on whatever side you want? Can you get top-down? How about edge banding? If you are looking for options you will invariably pay more.
• Customization - First you have to ask yourself whether you have a standard window size? Second you have to ask yourself how perfect you need the window to be — do you care about length, can the width be off an inch or so? If you want a perfect fit and you don’t have a window that is basically 35X72 you will probably need a customized blind or shade. Of course this will cost more. However, if you are OK with an outside mount, or a size that may be a bit long - go ahead and save some money by buying stock sizes. If you do this try to find a length that is at least somewhat sutiable for your window or else it may look odd if you get a roman style.
• Costs - When you look at google, shopzilla, or other shopping engines you may think you are looking at an apples to apples comparison, but often times you are not. Make certain you are not viewing a 10 inch by 10 inch blind that would only be appropriate for a dollhouse.  Plus, you need to discern whether shipping and handling is included.
• Production Time - This may not matter if you don’t need your blinds quickly, but everyone wants to receive goods they purchase relatively quickly. You may want to look at what the company promises, then look at the feedback that company has. If they promise quick delivery, but the feedback says they are slow - don’t expect your product to quickly!
• Customer Service - Is the place you are purchasing from reputable? do they have any online feedback? Does the website look like a two year old put it up? Can you call if you have questions?

Thats about all I can think of now, but feel free to provide some comments if you believe I missed an important point.

With my next post I would like to highlight 2 or 3 places that feature bamboo blinds and bamboo shades in a unique way.  If you feel that you have a unique angle in how you feature your shades, or have a unique product I would love to hear about it - with your take on why your product is unique. I will try to highlight a few of them. Please simply leave a comment, and I will review them.

Since it is nearing the summer, I imagine one thing that people are looking for are outdoor bamboo shades. Because of the harsh effect the elements may have on bamboo I would especially like to hear if you, or you know of a company that features outdoor shades that might be nice for decks or porches. I have even heard that some folks treat them themselves with a water-seal. How serene is this pic that I found on a South African website.

The other particulary interesting topic is green — and I believe a trend that will be forthcoming due to oil prices is ‘local’. I will try my best to sift through any comments I get and put a nice posting together.

I just attended the International Windows Covering Expo in Atlanta a few weeks ago and thought I would sum up what I saw in the way of Bamboo Blinds.

First let me say the show was a bit sparser than I expected although I imagine this was because of the Tornados that hit Atlanta the week prior. Walking in the first thing that you notice is Norman Shutters, whose exhibit took up quite a bit of space. But as I walked around, it was great to see all of the innovation that people were doing with Bamboo Blinds and Shades:

Bamboo Blinds - Some of the bamboo blinds themselves were gorgeous, sturdy, and of course eco-friendly. These have come quite a long way and I imagine will be as big to windows as bamboo flooring now is (to floors). It is hard to describe, and I really should have taken pictures, but be on the look out for these at your favorite retailer.
Bamboo shades - I saw some neat roller shades that were made from bamboo, and one thing I had not seen before is cordless bamboo roman shades. I imagine this may make parents and grandparents smile due to the safety that a cordless blind will provide. I also saw many, many types of newfangled way some of these bamboo shades were put together — with duofold, motorized lifts — wonderful new styles etc.

It is safe to say although the market for window treatments may be slumping, there is no shortage of innovation with bamboo blinds and shades right now. If anyone has some pics, please forward so I can put them up (and make this post more lively).

There are three major types of bamboo shades that I know of, and bamboo shades are called a variety of different names - woven woods, matchstick blinds, etc. So today I will go through each and discuss the meaning.

Matchstick shades - The term ‘matchstick’ refers to the size of the bamboo used in the shade. For matchstick shades, you will have lots of small bamboo sticks wrapped together giving the look of many long matchsticks held together in one shade. There are also some variations like flat matchstick - where the bamboo chosen is flat rather than round. Here is a matchstick bamboo shade example from Payless Decor:

Jute, grass, reeds shades - I combine these because none of them are generally lumped together next to bamboo when looking at woven shades. Jute is a strong and durable plant fiber that us used to make rice stacks. Some grasses are strong, some are less durable, so it is important to ask. Sometimes a grass blinds is too fragile to put edge banding around it, and you’ll want to be careful that you don’t buy a grass blind that sags. Here is an example from Smith and Noble:

Matchstick Mesh - Like the name it is a mesh of matchstick and different types of thread giving it a very woven look.

Woven Woods - Generally, this is a combination of flat and round bamboo in multiple sizes along with intricate threading. Woven wood patterns and colors are quite divere, and can range from basic to quite ornate.

Amazing all the intricacies that are available - so do your homework! For some more details on styles go an excellent resource is Callalloo

In this entry I will be focusing on some of the features that you can get on bamboo shades, NOT on bamboo blinds. Since the rollup version are generally very basic, the specific focus is the features that you can get on bamboo roman shades.

Feature 1: Top-down/Bottom-up (aka Duofold)

In addition to allowing you to lift your shade up from the bottom like you are used to, this feature enables the ability to pull the shade down from the top towards the floor as well. This allows precise light control, and can be very useful if your window gets bright sun light during certain parts of the day. Thus, you can allow the maximum amount of light in, without getting the glare or having to constantly squint.

Feature 2: Privacy liners or Room darkening liners

Bamboo shades are naturally woven. Natural light comes through every one that I have seen. If you want greater privacy, but do not want a shade that blocks the majority of light, then a privacy liner is terrific - you will still see shadows, but you won’t have to worry about peeping toms! If the shade is in your bedroom, or you want the ability to darken your room almost completely, a room darkening or ‘blackout’ liner is a great add on. When your shade is down, a blackout liners will blockout the maximum possible light. Note, if you get an inside mount with a blackout liner, some light will inevitably seep through the sides.

Feature 3: Edge-binding

Edge binding is a terrific decorative feature where a fabric is sewn on to the edges of your shade. This addition does two key things, 1) it really can make the blind work terrifically with the decor of your room, and 2) It covers the edges of the bamboo shade, which when exposed are subject to damage, and may be a bit rougher than you want.

Those are the major features, you can also find a continuous cord (makes pulling up and down easier, and is a bit safer), the option to get them true roman style, so even when at full length there are decorative pleats, and wood valances.