Customising Your Vertical Blinds - By: Jamie Simpson

Vertical blinds are an excellent way to dress sliding doors and tall windows. These blinds have hanging strips that are suspended from runners that run in a horizontal metal track. This track is also known as a rail and goes across the top of the window or door. When the strips are expanded along the track, they give moderate light blockage and privacy to a room. When gathered up again at one side of the track they leave the door or window open to allow sunlight or fresh air into the room.

Vertical blinds can be customised so that they have just the right characteristics for the room you are designing. You can do this by just trying to find the vertical blinds with the right characteristics, by special ordering blinds made to your specifications, or even by customizing them yourself. The following are some areas where you may wish to consider customising these blinds.

Length of Rail

The length of the top rail or track needs to fit your doors or windows. This is one of the most primary considerations since the blind will not fit unless the length is right. Often they are standard lengths that fit correspondingly standard window and door sizes, but there can be many exceptions to this since it depends on the specifics of home construction. Measure the doors and windows where you will use the blinds carefully.

Once you have these measurements, look for the corresponding sizes at a home improvement store or online. If you can't find it, you can have it custom made to your size. Tell a store representative the size or enter it in an online special order form.

If you wish, you can even do this yourself. Buy a vertical blind with a rail size longer than your door or window by at least several inches. Then measure the door or window opening size and cut the top rail (for instance with a hack saw, circular saw with metal cutting blade, or grinder) to about one quarter inch less than the opening size. This will allow it to fit with an eighth inch on each side.

None of this matters if you are hanging the blinds across a non-recessed window or door. In this case just get a rail closest to the size and hang it on the wall in front of the door or window.

Colour

Another way to customize these blinds is in terms of colour. If you have a specific colour you would like to match, such as the colour of wall paint, furniture, or rugs, you can get some kind of sample of this colour and attempt to match it with the vertical blind strips. If you would like a more exact match you can have them custom made to your colour specification. Most stores and online vendors that sell these types of blinds have the capability of doing this.

You can also use a contrasting or complementary colour and this is not usually quite as difficult as regards matching. You might, for instance, have a theme of green and blue in a room and try to match the green of the wall paint with roughly similar shades of dark blue.

Pattern

Patterns can also be customized with these blinds. If you would like the blinds to feature a certain pattern on the hanging strips, chances are that the dealer will be able to do this for you or at least get close. Simply look at the patterns and see which ones are closest to those you are after. If they do not come close, ask the dealer what options there are for putting custom patterns on the blinds. The chances are they will offer some sort of option along these lines. Have them put the pattern on your blinds by working from a drawing, photo, or digital image of some sort.

About the Author

Find out more about vertical blinds

Article Directory Source: http://www.articlerich.com/profile/Jamie-Simpson/31437

Additional Articles From - Home | Home & family | Interior design