Portland Custom Window Blinds

There are several factors to consider when choosing horizontal window blinds, including the size of your window or door opening, how much privacy or light control you want, and the style of your home.

1. An important choice will be the material: wood, faux wood/alternative wood, or metal.

• Wood is usually the first choice for a traditional home. A warm, natural stained wood blind adds beauty to any room. A painted white or off-white wood blind keeps the room light and bright and while blending with the existing woodwork.

• If blinds will be chosen for an area with moisture, like a kitchen or bathroom, you will want a faux wood blind that can take moisture without peeling or warping. We’ve had a faux wood blind in our kitchen window for over 19 years and it just wipes off with damp cloth if anything gets splattered on it.

• Metal blinds, also called “Venetian blinds”, are a good option for light control. However, they don’t do much for insulation, and for that reason aluminum metal blinds are rarely chosen by our clients for their homes. They are the least expensive blind we offer, but if you factor in your utility bills, the real cost of metal blinds may surprise you. They can, however, be a perfect choice for commercial applications and offices because they are naturally fire resistant and fire rated.

2. Another important choice will be the size of the slats.

There are blinds for every style of home whether it is traditional, contemporary, or somewhere in between. The size of the room and the window will dictate how large the slat should be.

For example, some very traditional homes call for a 1” wooden slat because there is very little depth to mount a bracket on the narrow, multi-stepped wood trim. The next size up is a 2” slat that can work well, depending on how much depth is available to mount on. Many contemporary homes can accommodate 2 ½” slats which provide for a cleaner, modern look.

Remember, the larger the slat you select, the better your view will be since there will be fewer lines in your field of vision.


3. When selecting custom wood blinds or faux wood blinds, you will also be choosing between “traditional routing” and “route-less” (called de-Light by Hunter Douglas):

With traditional routing, small holes are punched through the center of each slat to allow the cords to be threaded through that lift and lower the blind. A route-less blind has small cut-outs in the back of the louver which holds the cord in place, and the advantage is that you don’t need to be concerned about the sun hitting one of those route holes at a particular time of day and blinding you at your desk.

We recommend an inside mount on route-less blinds. This helps with keeping the slats in place since there is no center cord.

At your in-home design consultation, our custom blind designers walk you through the different blind styles and choices. We help you find the perfect fit for your home.

Our expert blind installers work quickly and efficiently, which is why we get rave reviews from clients.

Depending on the availability of the style of blind you choose, allow 4 to 6 weeks for the product to arrive and installation to be scheduled.

Interior custom window blinds are not a good choice for outdoors. Even though some of the slats are made to withstand moisture, the mechanics inside them are not. You will lose your warranty if they are installed outdoors. There are other great options like solar shades that our company provides to enjoy your patio or outdoor space in comfort and style!

If your blinds serve the purpose that you need them for, and they look cohesive from the outside of your home, then feel free to mix it up a bit!
One thing to keep in mind is that if you choose different products for different rooms but stay with the same color scheme, the rooms will flow, and no one will even know you did a different product.
Often in bedrooms, “room-darkening” is an important requirement, and a honeycomb shade is still the best solution for that.

You can use similar window treatments throughout your home, varying them depending on room size and function. For example, you may consider natural woven shades throughout the house for continuity. Then, in more formal rooms like living and dining areas, you could dress up windows and walls with drapery panels made from soft linens or faux silks.
The possibilities are endless! And we’ll help you sort them out to find the perfect feel for your home.

Well-crafted quality blinds are worth the investment for both the visual quality and the many, many years they will last.

Do your due diligence, and don’t purchase by price. If you purchase a custom blind from an established, local company like Adrette Window Coverings that only sells industry-leading products with good warranties, it will be the best possible investment of your money.

Parts do wear out, and the manufacturer should be able to send replacement parts for at least 10 years. (Our Hunter Douglas faux wood blinds have had parts available for more than 19 years!)

Blinds need to be restrung about every 5 years because of everyday wear. This type of repair can often be done onsite by a qualified and patient blind installer, or you could take your blinds to ShadewoRx, a local blind & shade repair shop, on SW Scholls Ferry Road in Portland, OR.

Often, our clients choose to match the blinds to their woodwork because the wood trim color is not going to change.

If you decide to match the wall color, just keep in mind that down the road, when you decide to paint your walls a different color, will the color of the blinds still work?

There are always exceptions and yes, it can be fun to choose dramatic black blinds or another contrasting color in the right setting. With some collections, we can even order a contrasting headrail or bottom rail for your blinds.

If you already know that your woodwork needs to be painted soon, you can select a blind color that you like and then have paint for your woodwork custom-matched to the color of your blinds.

Blinds are offered in wood, faux wood, and metal slats and can be very versatile. The best thing about a product with a slat is that you can tilt the slat, controlling the light and giving you just the right amount of privacy you need. They can also be lifted and out of the way which makes it easier to clean your windows.

However, one thing to keep in mind is to understand the relatively large stack of a wooden or faux wood blind when opened. It takes up space in the window, and it may be more than what you want. In that case, look at the roller shades we offer. They disappear completely into a small headrail when rolled up.