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BLINDS

Blinds can be made of fabric, paper, nylon, wood or various other materials. Fabric blinds can be as decorative as curtains, but because the fabric itself is collected at the top rather than the sides of the window, it doesn’t get in the way of other furnishings or of activity in the room. Basic kits to make them are inexpensive to buy, easy to use and come with full instructions and fabric measuring guidelines. Plastic and wood Venetian slatted designs are particularly useful for kitchens and bathrooms as they are neat, uncluttered and practical to clean. And simple paper roller blinds can be used either on their own or as a supplement to curtains.

In general, blinds obscure less light than curtains by keeping the bulk of the window clear, but if you live in a basement flat, remember that the light will be coming in at a downward- slanted angle, and by obscuring the top of the window you could be shutting it out. On the other hand, you’ll be well protected from prying eyes at pavement level, so it’s really a question of which is more important to you — daylight or privacy.

Roller Blinds

Roller blinds are the easiest to make and the simplest in style. They use up the minimum amount of fabric — stretched flat across the window with no pleats or tucks — and take up the minimum of space, rolling up into a slim cylinder at the top of the window. If the window is narrow, you may be able to get away with using a single width of fabric so that the selvedges form the side edges and don’t need turning or binding (although a contrasting edging can be added for effect if you want).

You will need to use a firm fabric which rolls up easily — your fabric retailer will be able to advise you. Roller blind kits are sold in standard sizes, but the dowelling rod around which the fabric rolls up can be cut to fit your window. Roller blinds are best fitted inside the window recess so that the sides of the recess provide a home for the fixings. Ready-made roller blinds in bamboo and rush are also available, giving an effect a little more like a slatted Venetian blind, as they let light filter through the weave.

Roman Blinds

Roman blinds are simple and, again, economical on fabric, but instead of rolling, the fabric is pulled up into deep folds, giving a slightly more decorative effect. The blind is hung from a rigid batten, and the folds can be stiffened by battens too, or left so that the folds are softer and less formal. The folds are created by threading the pull cords through loops at regular intervals down the length of the blind — the wider the interval, the deeper the fold.

Austrian Blinds

Austrian blinds are much fuller and more dressy: a good choice for a window where you’d really like gathered curtains but feel they’d get in the way. The fullness comes from a series of tapes running vertically through the blind so that the fabric gathers into ruches when it’s pulled up.

Festoon Blinds

Even more luxurious than Austrian blinds, festoons work on the same ruched principle, but using more fabric, so they look very gathered and flouncy even when let down to their fullest extent.

Shutters

Wooden shutters can take the place of curtains or blinds altogether. Older buildings may have original shutters still intact — it’s worth checking to see whether old shutters have been boarded up into your window surround. Solid shutters like these are excellent insulators in cold weather, as well as being a good security measure.

Louvred shutters that fold back at the sides give more of a colonial or Mediterranean effect. Some are designed with adjustable louvres so that you can vary the angle of the slats to control the amount of light you let in — from a horizontal position making the openings as wide as possible, to a more shaded angle that sheds a wonderful dappled light indoors.

If you like the idea of shutters but feel the room is too small for them to fold out comfortably, you can cheat by fitting false shutters that don’t actually move at all. Fixed to the wall on either side of the window, they will frame it rather like curtains, making it look wider and giving it better proportions.

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