Blinds Sale Alert

Always on the lookout for a good deal on blinds, we wanted to pass on a great sale that recently came across the window treatments news wire...

Blindsgalore.com announced this morning that they are celebrating their 12th year of business with a 30% off everything sale.  The company sells custom window treatments online, which we have found to be the best way to save on quality blinds and shades.

Details:
30% off all brands, including: Bali, Levolor, Comfortex, Graber, Kirsch and Blindsgalore's house brand.  Offer excludes their BG Bargains brand.

No coupon code necessary.  Offer runs from 10-07-10 to 10-11-10.  Includes free shipping!

This is an excellent deal.  If you've been on the fence about pulling the trigger and getting some quality, made to measure blinds, then wait no longer.  This is about as good a deal as you'll see.

Discount Blinds from Blindsgalore

It can be difficult to find real discount offers online that aren’t bait for some form of scam. Well Blindsgalore.com is one online retailer that is frequently providing discounts on its own signature line of custom blinds and shades. If you are in the market for window treatments, Blindsgalore.com is not only an excellent retailer to shop from but they are also a high-quality brand of products. Some of these products which are most often discounted are: faux wood blinds, mini blinds, and shutters.

Discount faux wood blinds from Blindsgalore are made from synthetic materials such as PVC and vinyl. These blinds offer the attractive appearance of wood blinds with the durability of materials that can withstand heat, moisture, and many other elements that present in a normal household. In addition, Blindsgalore faux wood blinds are also easy to clean and maintain, simply requiring a quick wipe down every now and then. Optional upgrades for these composite wood blinds are cloth tapes, motorized operation, and route-less slats for better light control and privacy.

Discount mini blinds from Blindsgalore are just about the best deal you can find online for window treatments. If you are on a tight budget, mini blinds are definitely the appropriate solution for your home. Mini blinds, also known as horizontal blinds, are made from aluminum and vinyl materials. They consist of thin, horizontal slats ranging in widths of half an inch to 2 inches. The slats lay in a stacked formation that can be opened or closed completely as well as adjusted anywhere in between. Although function and affordability are the trademark characteristics of mini blinds, they are also quite clean in appearance and are often available in a wide selection of colors to match any home styling.

Discount shutters from Blindsgalore are plantation shutters designed for the interior of your home. Interior shutters are a long term investment as they have been known to increase the value of your home. Although they might be more difficult to install initially and more expensive than blinds and shades, they are a wise investment that will help boost your property value. You can find these Blindsgalore shutters in either wood composite or vinyl materials and many customizable looks. Keep in mind the size of your window and how the shutters will operate in the space you will be installing them.

Overall, these three discount window treatments from Blindsgalore are all excellent options for decorating your home. You can redeem these discounts by typing in the promotion codes, as listed on the home page, at the time of your purchase. Keep a close watch as Blindsgalore.com is constantly holding sales and offering new discounts. Enjoy shopping for custom window treatments at low prices!

Shop Smart When Buying Blinds

When shopping around for new window blinds it's easy to get sucked into buying the name brand blinds that the "helpful" associates at the store are pushing you to buy. Rarely do they tell you about the less expensive blinds that are sitting nearby for a mere fraction of the price.

All of the blinds look the same to the average consumer, so why the big difference in price? It's actually pretty simple. The cheap blinds are less expensive simply because they don't have a brand name. With the brand name comes a big marketing push with advertisements on television and throughout the nation's newspapers. When you buy name brand blinds, you are not just paying for the blind that you are getting, you are actually paying for everything that goes into marketing the product. Those marketing costs can nearly double the price right off the bat. Who really wants to pay to market a product? Not me. I just want to buy some new blinds to hang in my home.

When looking over the wide variety of blinds at the store, walk over to the part of the aisle where the cheap blinds are sold. You will notice that the selection is not as vast as there is for name brand blinds, but if the size and color that you are looking for are available, go ahead and make the purchase. 

I was a name brand shopper before the economy reached its current state, but over the last few years that changed.  Now I look for deals every time I shop.  Lo and behold, when you look, you find.  I've had a number of experiences since this 'new way' of thinking about money where I found what I was looking for at a price that I used to associate with low quality.  I am happy to report that after installing my cheap blinds, I wouldn't have it any other way! Yes, the selection is smaller for the cheap blinds, but as far as quality and style, no one can tell by looking at my window blinds that they aren't a name brand.  

When I installed my low price blinds, at first I imagined guests coming to my house and surreptitiously lifting up the bottom edge of the blinds to see what brand they are. After an initial instinct of thinking I might be found out as an imposter, I realized that these days, having a brand name product doesn't necessarily convey prestige, but perhaps a lack of wisdom.  

Answers to fabric vs. vinyl quiz

Spoiler alert - 


These are the answers to a prior post that challenges you to tell the difference between fabric and vinyl in some snapshots of vertical blinds swatches.


If you haven't read the challenge, go there first!  fabric vertical blinds vs. vinyl vertical blinds quiz






If you have, here are the answers!

Sample #1 - Fabric vertical or vinyl vertical?    -    FABRIC

Sample #2 - Fabric vertical or vinyl vertical?    -    VINYL

Sample #3 - Fabric vertical or vinyl vertical?    -    FABRIC

Sample #4 - Fabric vertical or vinyl vertical?    -    VINYL

So, how did you do?

Real fabric vertical blinds vs. vinyl - can you tell the difference?

Do you think you can tell the difference between the fabric that goes into a fabric vertical blind and a vinyl blind that is made to look like fabric?

Here's a very unscientific way to find out.  Below are images of both a fabric vertical blind material sample and a piece of a cheaper vinyl blind.  The image is cropped so that you can see each type of material without the edging - this might give it away and doesn't really reflect the way the product looks.

I know it's not the best comparison because of the color difference, but give it a shot.  Some are vinyl, some are fabric.

Check out all 4 and see what you think, fabric or vinyl?  At the bottom will be  link to the answers.

Sample #1 - Fabric vertical or vinyl vertical?

Sample #2 - Fabric vertical or vinyl vertical?

Sample #3 - Fabric vertical or vinyl vertical?

Sample #4 - Fabric vertical or vinyl vertical?

Please leave your guesses in comments!  If you really have no idea... well maybe that should tell you something about whether to buy fabric or vinyl.  As a point of reference, these photos were taken with a very simple digital camera and the size that you see is actually larger than actual size by maybe 50%.

Before you skip to the answers, remember vinyl vertical blinds are a lot cheaper, but fabric vertical blinds are ... fabric.  For some, it's all about the value and the way it looks in general.  For others, having the actual textile feeling of fabric is vital to the experience and important enough to merit the additional costs.

If you like this article, you might want to read a comparison of wood vertical blinds vs. faux wood vertical blinds.

...and, of course, the Real vs. Fake quiz results!

How to Save Money on Window Shades

Here's a guide to saving money on quality, custom window shades. Read on.

First piece of advice. Skip the big box stores. The products sold at these stores are typically of dubious quality and have been the source of too many problems, including incidents of strangulation.  I don't say that to sound alarmist but, there's been at least one or two major incidents every year, and yet people keep buying these cheap (read: low quality) products.  Never forget the old axiom, "you get what you pay for."

That doesn't mean that quality shades have to cost a fortune. When I say quality, I mean custom (i.e., made to the measurements of your window) and manufactured by a reputable, preferably domestic, company. I don't say 'domestic' to sound protectionist, it's just that US companies are held to higher quality and safety standards. 

That said, here's some practical advice on how to save a lot of money on window shades, like cheap cellular shades and cheap roman shades (read: low price, quality products); two of the most common and popular shades. First, do your shopping online. There's really no reason not to leverage the cost efficiencies offered by online vendors. 

This does, however, require a little do-it-yourself spirit. But don't think that the steps to getting new, custom shades up in your windows requires much specialized knowledge, tools or even much labor for that matter. 
Here are the tools you'll need (get ready for it): a steel tape measure, a piece of paper and pencil and, a screwdriver.  If you have an electric one, all the better. Even if you have to go out and buy any or all of these things, you will still save a lot of money by doing it yourself. To learn how, check out the following measure and install video. 

The steps are as follows: measure your windows, choose your window shades, place your order, wait for the UPS truck and then install them.  Bam!  You just saved yourself a load of dough. 

The best choices in the cheap window shades category are almost always the house brand.  By not choosing a 'brand name' i.e., Bali, Hunter Douglas, Levolor, etc. you'll save. By choosing a non-name brand, you are still getting a quality product. Maybe they don't have quite as many color options and features but, most people don't buy motorized, triple-cell cellular blackout shades in fuchsia. Most people buy basic colors with minimal features. 

Most online vendors offer discount coupons from time-to-time. You'll want to definitely take advantage of these. If you are having trouble finding a discount code, do a search on Google for 'company name' + coupon.  You will most likely see numerous affiliate websites that publish coupon codes. The savings range anywhere from 10-30%.  Add together the savings of doing it yourself, buying online, coupon codes and free shipping on top of that, you can get quality, cheap window shades (read: low price, quality products) for a lot less than you might think.

Imitation Wood Blinds - Valance

This is a close up of the valance on an imitation wood blind.  This is about as close as I can get with my iPhone and you can see the grain.  Even though it's just about the cheapest imitation wood blind you can get, it looks pretty good up close.  Across the room it looks great.

IMO, it's a good deal to get an imitation wood blind with a valance.  It's like getting a Honda with a sport package - it's not a Porsche, but it's a darn good value on a solid performer.  There's a car analogy for everything, by the way.