There’s a lovely big window in our living room. It lets in so much natural daylight and offers a lovely view over the garden. In fact, it’s pretty-much the only feature of the room at the moment, so I want to make the most of it. I wanted to give it a sleek, contemporary window-dressing but still wanted make sure that I can still get the maximum amount of light into the room. Here’s what I decided to do…
I’ve always hung curtains in the past.
But this time, covering up the window with heavy curtains didn’t seem like such a good idea. As a blogger I’m always on the hunt for natural light to help me take photos so it wouldn’t be sensible to cover up the main source of daylight in the house, would it?! And as much as I love my bumble-bee curtains, I don’t think they are even the right size for the window. I decided that my old curtains will get a new home in the guest bedroom and I’ve invested in a blind for the living room.
Pinterest has changed my style.
I used to quite like fussy window dressings. Y’know, blousey roman blinds with floaty voiles over the top. Or blackout roller blinds with thickly lined curtains in the winter. But since I started planning my new home on Pinterest, things have changed. I found myself drawn to minimalist interiors, white walls and rooms with lots of natural light. I started pinning images of shutters, chunky wooden venetians and long, sleek vertical blinds.
I wanted maximum versatility.
I wanted to cover my windows in order to enjoy some privacy in my home, but I didn’t want to block out the outside world completely. And I wanted to control the amount of light coming into the room; sometimes too much sunshine is as bad as too little light. So the idea of shutters went out of the window (excuse the pun). Even though the angles of the shutter could be tilted, a solid frame would inevitably block out more light than I wanted. That said, curtains were too ‘open or closed’ for me too, and even voiles seem to make a room darker.
I found the ideal solution.
Inspired by my visit to architect Norman Foster’s Willis Building in Ipswich, I decided that vertical blinds were the way to go. Even though the building I visited was an office (and didn’t want my home to feel like I was at work) I still admired the versatility of vertical blinds. They could be pulled closed to blackout the windows at night, angled to redirect the glare of the sun during the day and could be opened up completely to let in the maximum amount of daylight.
A mid-century modern yet homely style.
When I looked into the idea, I discovered that vertical blinds aren’t just for offices – I found plenty of examples in homes too. You probably already know that I love mid-century style and seeing as my house was built in the 50s, this style of window-dressing felt right for the space. The blinds I chose from 247 Blinds open from the centre, so they lie flat against both ends of the window, just like very neat curtains. And I chose a blackout fabric so that I can completely block out the light if I need to – bring on the all-day Netflix sessions!
So easy to install.
As you can see from the photos I’ve shared in this blog post, putting up this blind was a fairly simple DIY task. Just a few holes needed be drilled and then the blind clipped into the brackets really easily. Hanging the strips was the only part of the job that took any amount of time, but even this was a relatively quick and rather relaxing job. When I saw the rolled up blind strips I thought that it might take a while for them to straight out but there was no need to wait – I unfurled them and they hung perfectly straight immediately. 
The Origin Blackout blind has weights in the bottom of each strip, and a chain keeps them looped together. The mechanism runs really smoothly and you can rotate the fins by 360 degrees to let in as much or as little light as you like, at any angle. There’s a safety hook to keep the pulleys safely out of the reach of children too. It really pleases me just how neatly the blinds tuck away inside the window surround, but they can also be mounted on the outside of the wall if needed. 
What do you think of my mid-century modern window treatment? I think it really suits the window and the dimensions of the room. With my other windows I think that roller blinds would work best, and I’m still considering shutters in the kitchen, so watch this space for more DIYs! Would you choose vertical blinds in your own home? How to do get lots of light into your rooms? Let me know by leaving me a comment below or tweeting me @cassiefairy.
Some items in this blog post have been gifted to me and the pink links indicate a gifted product, affiliate link or information source. All thoughts and opinions in this post are based on my own experience and I am not responsible for your experience 🙂
