Blinds: Real Wood, Composite, or Faux Wood (shutters, vinyl, hardwood floors)

[ShannonMilligan]

Need to buy blinds for our entire house. Pro's and cons? Preference? What about color? We are thinking white since our kitchen cabinets and hardwood floors are rather dark...don't want to make it too cave like. We are getting Levelor...

Thanks for your opinions!

[beachmouse]

We're doing the window treatment thing right now too, complete with concerns about dark cabinets, floors, window casements, etc, and not wanting to add something else too dark. The original plan had been blinds that went with the window casings, but we're now strongly leaning toward honeycomb/cellular shades because you can go in so many different colors that would complement the sea of wood and still have it look 'right'.

[Itz]

I went levolor for my entire house with the Cellular shades.. I previously had wood blinds up and didn't really care for them - myself.. My big window - the blinds were HEAVY... hard to raise and lower..
The cellular shades are WONDERFUL!!! and has made a huge difference during the summer and so far the colder temps..

The cellular shades have SO many more options to help compliment your style.. The one big window - has cordless, two blinds on one track, energy lining, etc...

[ShannonMilligan]

Thanks...I actually had cellular in my last house and liked them for keeping heat and cold in/out BUT I hated that the had to be up or down. I like that with wood or faux blinds they can be down but I can tilt the slats to see outside...

[golfgal]

I dislike the look of white blinds against dark woodwork. I prefer that if using wood blinds that they match the color of the trim around the windows. I have used real wood and faux wood and I thin the real wood looks much better but in lesser used or seen rooms we used fake wood because it was much less expensive and looks good enough.

I agree about the functionality of the 2" wood blinds. We never raise them, just open them and since the slats are thin and the openings wide enough, we can see outside just fine and it cuts any glare coming in.

[ToriaT]

I have blinds in my family room. There is medium toned woodwork there and the blinds are wood. In the upstairs bedroom, the woodwork is white and the blinds are white faux wood. I would match the blinds to the woodwork. The faux wood looks very real. If you are getting white blinds, its not necessary to get real wood.

[ShannonMilligan]

The trim is white, so we will go with white blinds. Now just between composite and real.

Thanks for all the opinions thus far!

[golfgal]

If you are getting white, I would seriously go to a home store (Lowe's, Home Depot, etc.) and get them there. They are a FRACTION of the price and with white, will look as good as more expensive ones. They will trim-for free-to size. I got some blinds at Home Depot for $18, compared to $55 online for "name brand".

[LovesFall]

We used white wood blinds all through out house except in the bathroom and garage. We bought the ones we needed for the shorter windows which was a standard size. When I priced the ones for the longer windows, they were outrageous. I went to Lowe's and Home Depot and was able to find all of the sizes that I needed without having to special order anything. Lowes and HD each carry different standard size blinds.

In our bathroom and garage we used a vinyl blind that has a wood look to it.

Good luck.

[K'ledgeBldr]

Composite is much more stable than real wood-
so there won't be any bowing or cupping of slats.
Price aside- did you consider plantation shutters?