Curtains & Blinds

Roller, zebra and vertical blinds against fabric curtains:

the window usually decides. Roller blinds come in two fabrics that behave very differently. Screen lets you see out by day and cuts the glare, but at night, with the lights on inside, the street can see in. Blackout vinyl shuts a bedroom down completely, apart from thin strips of light at the sides when it sits inside the frame. A zebra blind, also called a day-and-night blind, layers sheer and opaque bands that slide past each other, so one pull switches between filtered light and privacy. Vertical blinds in PVC or fabric suit wide sliding aluminium doors, because the slats stack to one side and the door still opens. Wood venetians and bamboo romans are more about looks than darkness. Curtains, from sheer voile to lined blackout panels, hang from a rod with eyelets or a track with hooks, and they move from one home to the next more easily than any blind. Covers in the same fabric are in cushions and pillows, and a blackout bedroom that is dark at noon wants a lamp from lighting.

Measuring a window for a blind, inside or outside the frame:

settle it first. Inside the frame, the whole blind, brackets included, has to fit between the sides of the opening, so measure across the top, middle and bottom and take the narrowest. Outside the frame, it should overlap each side by about a hand’s width to stop light leaking round the edges. Check which side the chain falls on, because next to a wardrobe it can end up out of reach, and with small children in the house the chain needs its tensioner screwed to the wall.

Ready-made rollers and made-to-measure quotes:

a standard-size roller blind for an ordinary bedroom window costs around Q200 to Q300 new, in only a handful of widths. Anything else is measured and fitted at home and quoted window by window, and zebra fabric, a wide vertical or a motor push the quote well past that. A used one that already matches your window saves the whole quote, and one slightly too wide can usually be trimmed by a blind workshop, since the tube and fabric can both be cut down. Nothing makes a blind wider, so one that falls short of your window is worth very little to you, whatever it cost.

Clutches, carriers and faded hems on a used blind or curtain:

ask to see it hanging, or at least unrolled. Stop a roller at a few heights: the clutch should hold it still rather than let it creep, and the fabric should wind back straight instead of drifting to one side and fraying. Hold blackout up to a sunny window and look for pinholes and cracks in the coating along old creases. On verticals, the plastic carriers inside the headrail break one at a time and leave slats that will not turn, and white PVC goes yellow in the sun. On a curtain, compare the face with the inside of the hem: a clear difference in colour is sun fade, and a lined curtain that went through the washing machine can come out with the lining shorter than the face. A blind without its brackets is a project rather than a purchase, so ask whether they come with it.

Blinds and curtains from a house you are handing back:

measure the fabric width and the drop, not the window, and say whether it was fitted inside or outside the frame. Tape the brackets and screws to the tube in a small bag. Photograph each blind lowered, the mechanism end close up, and blackout against daylight so a buyer can see there are no pinholes. If the houses on your gated estate share one plan, say so and name the room: a neighbour two streets away may have the identical window. Say whether it runs on chain, cord or motor, and give a curtain’s rod length. Someone coming from Mixco will ask whether the set fits in a car, and a roller longer than the back seat needs a pickup.