Buyer's Guide

Replacing Window Treatments: Signs of the Times

Buyer's Guide

Replacing Window Treatments: Signs of the Times

December 8, 2021 By Christine Bucks

You’ve decided to refresh your bedroom or living room, and you’re working on a plan—paint colors, light fixtures and a couple of pieces of new wall art. That begs the question: Should you stick with your current window treatments?

From a design aspect, window treatments add a finishing touch and bring a sense of cohesiveness to a space. They’re also extremely functional—enhancing daylight, blocking heat and glare, and even helping insulate a room. So it’s important to have blinds or shades that not only look great, but that work well, too.

Now’s the perfect opportunity to give your window treatments a careful once-over. If any of the following issues apply, it’s time to replace the old with the new.

EverWood in Alternative Wood Silver Lining

Replacing Warped, Yellowed Wooden Blinds

Real wood blinds that have been exposed to years of sunlight or humidity can warp and yellow. In addition to looking worn out, warped blinds might also be cumbersome to raise and lower.

Solution: Enjoy the look of real wood without the worries with Everwood^® Alternative Wood Blinds. They resist fading, yellowing, bowing and warping, making them a good choice for humid bathrooms and toasty sunrooms.

Replace Aluminum Blinds

Aluminum blinds can be prone to bending, which, just like warped wooden slats, makes them difficult to raise and lower. Bent aluminum slats also look terrible from not only the inside, but the outside of your home, affecting its curb appeal.

Solution: Modern Precious Metals^® Aluminum Blinds are durable, making them great for high-traffic homes with kids and pets. Choose from a wide range of finishes, including mattes, metallics and pearlescent hues.

Slats No Longer Close Tightly

If the slats on your blinds don’t close as tightly as they used to—or, if you can barely get them to move—the tilt mechanism has probably seen better days.

Solution: If you’d like to replace your old blinds with new blinds (as opposed to shades, shutters or drapery), consider Parkland^® Wood Blinds. Crafted from real wood, Parkland blinds add warmth and richness to a room, and are available in a variety of stains and paint colors.

Replacing Frayed Cords

Frayed cords mean it’s definitely time to invest in new window treatments. Your cords might be fraying simply because they’re old, or because an internal mechanism in the window treatment housing is malfunctioning.

Solution: Go cordless! With the LiteRise^® system (available on many Hunter Douglas window treatments), you simply push up to raise the shade and down to lower it. An added bonus: cordless window treatments are safer for children and pets.

Designer Screen Shades in Mariachi Quicksilver

Frayed Fabric Edges

Frayed fabric edges could be a sign of inferior or old fabric, or fabric that’s too wide for the window opening and scraping along the frame when you raise and lower the shade.

Solution: Hunter Douglas offers the industry’s highest quality fabric collection, so you can rest assured your fabric will stand the test of time. Additionally, our window-treatment design specialists take care of all the measuring for your window treatments, ensuring a perfect fit.

Design Studio™ Side Panels & Drapery Fabric: Ingrid Color: Lace

Drafty Windows

While the best solution for drafty windows is to replace them, upgrading your window treatments in the interim can help.

Solution: Duette^® Honeycomb Shades are among the most energy-efficient window treatments available. Their cellular construction traps air in distinct pockets, creating a layer of insulation at the window.