Next week we are getting new windows in half of our house. I am going to need new window treatments for the family room, master bedroom and master bath. The master bedroom will need to have something room darkening. I have had pleated, honeycomb mini-blinds for the last 14 years and haven't been completely happy with them. Have they become more durable? Any recommendations on window treatments and where to get them? We aren't handy so anything we get we will probably have to have installed. We have a pretty simple, neutral decor and would want something fairly basic, durable and kid-friendly. My kids are older though so choking on the cords isn't a huge issue for us. Thanks!
Thank you all for the responses so far--and keep them coming if there are more ideas! I figured there had to be a variety of options out there since I last shopped for window treatments 14 years ago, but I had no idea how many! I'm thinking of some sort of sheer curtains (maybe J.C. Penney's) for the master bath since we rarely use the blinds in there anyhow and I don't need to keep out light. I will check out some of the other retailers mentioned to get ideas for room darkening in the master bedroom and am thinking of something different or unique for the family room. Bamboo sounds intriguing if it is sturdy enough for my rowdy boys.
We got some great ones at Smith and Noble (I THINK it is www.smithandnoble.com). They have good sales and were super easy to install. I actually did it all myself and I can barely pump gas!!! We got some great bamboo ones and some other type of natural fiber ones. They are very easy to customize.
Get on their mailing list so you get a sale coupon.
K.
I'm not very handy myself, but I also wanted new window treatments. I have slowly been replacing our fake wooden blinds for curtains. They aren't as hard to put up as you would think, but it is time consuming. I have bought some of them from Target (they are the darkening kind). Some I have bought from JCPenney, but I usually find what I want and wait until they go on sale. I think JcPenney's will install them for you?
We got our blinds from Viking Blinds in Woodbury. There may be more than one location though around the twin cities. They did a great job. Unfortunately we bought the blinds before getting the new windows so we had to take them all down and get them back up again once the new windows were in. I was concerned the blinds would not fit the new windows but their service guy came out and reinstalled the blinds and adjusted them to fit for what I thought was a very reasonable charge. All in all I thought the company was very helpful. They also have a wide selection of wood blinds, honeycomb, etc.
We got all our window treatments done by Custom Expressions. It was not cheap -- but the roman shades, drapes, and shades that we got are all really high-quality.
Hi Cindy,
In our bedroom I put up curtains, and then bought roll-up shades in the same color as our curtains. The shades I bought our room darkening shades with the fringed bottom from JC Penney. They keep our room very dark, and are pretty easy to install...we did it ourselves, so I'm sure you can do it.
C.
We have gotten all of ours at JC Penney - they have a large selection online, and will ship to your local store if you want...also, they have lots of sales and I have gotten all of our stuff at least 40% off. We have pleated mini blinds, 4 types of room darkening/insulated curtains and sheers form them, and I am very satisfied with all of them. You would have to install them yourself, but it really isn't hard to run a drill to hang a blind or curtain rod.
Good Luck
Jessie
As long as you know the size and everything of your windows then i would say look on overstock.com. they are inexpensive and good quaility. I buy all my home stuff from there. They have tons of selection and they ship them fast for a very low rate. Check it out.
We have used various sources over the years. We last used www.blinds.com and I was very happy with the result. They will send you samples of the blinds so you can see coloring and quality for free. They have fool proof measuring guides. You do have to self-install, but if you are even a little handy, you can do it easily. They carry all the brand names and also some of their own (generic). They have hole-free and and all sorts of cord free options. Since they have it all online, you can put it exactly what you want and in the correct sizes and they will give you all your options with prices. It was pretty easy and much less expensive.
