Anyone know anything about blinds/roller shades/etc?

[Scarpozzi]

I've got this room I built. It's got 8 total windows that are 3' X 5' in size....so lots of natural light. But the room is also on a second story and it makes it super easy to see in from the streets and surrounding neighborhood on 3 sides.

The room is near 650 finished square feet because of a bathroom, hallway, and attic closet, so it'd be cool if I could put a futon or bed up there as a spare guest area. I'm trying to come up with a decent solution to provide both privacy, light, and room darkening....in case I want to adjust light levels during the day. I found some 2 way shades, but don't know about how good they work....and they're too expensive for me to trust.

Are these any good?

Day / Night Cellular Shades | Customize | The Shade Store

Customize the perfect Cellular Shades for your home. With over 30 honeycomb shade designs, we can help find the best fit - for your windows and your style!

www.theshadestore.com

Any other recommendations? Does anyone recommend a place/website that sells this stuff for cheap? I see a lot of differences in prices...with 8 windows...it's going to be expensive. I'm trying to find the best deal possible.

I can't find any good pictures of how big the room is because I left my phone at home today....but here's a few snaps of what it looks like.


Moved from OT.
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[deadlyapp]

I think your best bet is going to have a double curtain or double blind system where you have a "privacy" shade and a "darkening" shade, similar to hotel rooms.

Your cheapest way out, and IMO the best looking is going to utilize a double drapery with curtains. As long as you don't have any ultra long lengths, you should be fine.

If you prefer the look of shades, then getting something like this Bali dual shade would work for you, but as you say, they are spendy for sure.

Bali® Dual Shades | Blindsgalore

Maximize your privacy with Bali® Dual Shades. Combine roller shades with solar shades into one system to create versatile light control and privacy level.

www.blindsgalore.com

Edit : I looked at your cellular shades that you linked. I like celluar shades as they generally have better solar/thermal properties (especially if foil/mylar on the inside) but generally they get damaged more easily and the extra cost of the cordless design is really a turnoff for me (I definitely wouldn't get those corded). The plus of Cellular is they can be cut to fit the window exactly usually.

 

[Scarpozzi]

I just liked how they were dual purpose. I have some cordless cellular shades in 2 of my bathrooms and haven't had any issues with them, but they're smaller...and not as expensive because of how they're built. I hadn't even though about blocking heat from the windows. 2 of the windows will get partial mid-day sun and 3 of them get full afternoon sun as the sun sets. My windows aren't the thickest in the world, but are argon filled/slightly tinted. I'm going to keep on researching and then touch base with my wife. I'm more nervous about dropping $1000 on blinds and having her tell me she hates them than anything.

 

[snoopy7548]

I have faux wood blinds and they're fine. Open them in the daytime and close them at night, though I've been considering adding curtains.

How about plantation shutters? They (can) cost a lot but look incredible and your wife will probably like them a lot.

 

[Thebobo]

Yea low windows high up - cant walk around with your junk hanging out.

 

[GoodRevrnd]

I did not know about day/night cellulars... those are really nice, and $$$$. Ideal for what I need though, hmm.

 

[herm0016]

we are happy with stuff from select blinds.com. They usually have a sale every other week or so at least 50% off.

 

[Luna1968]

i just spent about a grand on blinds.com. they had a nice 50% off sale a few weeks ago. i like the cellular cordless blackout blinds, for the bathrooms i got the top down/bottom up cellular cordless blinds. they are awesome. for the bedrooms and living room i got the cellular cordless bottom up blinds. easy to install and look great. You asked if the two way i guess you mean bottom up/top down blinds, they work great and give you lots of options of how you want to lighten or darken your room. i have no issues with the ones i got so far.

Levolor Blackout Cellular Shades | Blinds.com

Shop and customize Levolor Blackout Cellular Shades to perfectly match your décor. Free samples, shipping, and design consultations all at Blinds.com!

www.blinds.com

 

[Scarpozzi]

I did not know about day/night cellulars... those are really nice, and $$$$. Ideal for what I need though, hmm.

Yeah....me neither. They are pretty awesome when you have rooms that are dual-use.... Another issue we have is that the stupid city came through last Spring and replaced all our amber-colored street lamps with these new white light LED street lamps. The color temperature is so much whiter looking that it makes the neighborhood too bright at night....so city-funded light pollution.

 

[bbhaag]

Wow you have expensive taste man. I used your dimensions and when I put them into the link you provided each blind came out to around $500 each....holy crap.

Why not just go with traditional blinds by a company like Levolor? We did this a couple of months ago because the second floor of our house needed five blinds on the windows. My wife took the measurements and then we went to Lowes and ordered them. They came a couple of weeks later and my wife had them installed in less than a day. Total price for five blinds in a Levolor "premium color" was under $300.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Wow you have expensive taste man. I used your dimensions and when I put them into the link you provided each blind came out to around $500 each....holy crap.

Why not just go with traditional blinds by a company like Levolor? We did this a couple of months ago because the second floor of our house needed five blinds on the windows. My wife took the measurements and then we went to Lowes and ordered them. They came a couple of weeks later and my wife had them installed in less than a day. Total price for five blinds in a Levolor "premium color" was under $300.

I found that same style for maybe $80 at Home Depot. Honestly, my tastes are cheap....the purpose of this thread is to find the best product to achieve what I'm looking for. I just told my wife about the cellular shades and she may be on board with it.

 

[BoomerD]

Home Depot and Lowes run sales on blinds all the time. We bought some Bali top down/bottom up light filtering blinds a couple of months ago from HD. I took in my measurements, they made them and shipped them to me. Perfect fit.

 

[Scarpozzi]

I'm going to watch prices a bit, but am going with the same shades I linked, but sold by Home Depot, from the looks of it. They have enough custom sizes I can order that I should be able to get those almost as close as what I could order for a fraction of the cost. We just took 2 vacations and booked another one for March with in-laws that we basically pre-paid (airfare and hotel), so we've got to blaze through that CC before I want to charge another $800. I'm going to line up the order I need an maybe shoot for getting these after next month. I may go with some room darkening curtains too, but just depends on how we want the room to look.

 

[GoodRevrnd]

I'm going to watch prices a bit, but am going with the same shades I linked, but sold by Home Depot, from the looks of it. They have enough custom sizes I can order that I should be able to get those almost as close as what I could order for a fraction of the cost. We just took 2 vacations and booked another one for March with in-laws that we basically pre-paid (airfare and hotel), so we've got to blaze through that CC before I want to charge another $800. I'm going to line up the order I need an maybe shoot for getting these after next month. I may go with some room darkening curtains too, but just depends on how we want the room to look.

The day/night shades? What brand at HD?

 

[Scarpozzi]

The day/night shades? What brand at HD?

They must have been on sale when I looked at them last week:

Home Decorators Collection Snow Drift/Shadow White Cordless Day and Night Blackout Cellular Shade - 30.5 in. W x 72 in. L 10793478908646 - The Home Depot

The Home Decorators Collection White Cordless Day and Night Blackout Cellular Shade combines a sheer shade with a sun-blocking (blackout) shade to create one window treatment featuring both excellent light control and maximum privacy. Above the middle rail, light is filtered, diffusing harsh...

www.homedepot.com