<p>I am closing on a brand new upscale condo townhouse tomorrow that (for various reasons) I will not be moving into. We do have a tenant for the condo, who will be taking possession on 8/15. We will not be receiving enough monthly rent to cover all out of pocket costs – so I am on a budget here. </p>
<p>Among other things I have to do for the condo before the tenant moves in (as part of our agreement with her) is install blinds on <em>all</em> the downstairs windows. (I also have to buy and have installed a <em>stainless steel</em> refrigerator to match the kitchen, a washer and a dryer.)</p>
<p>I really don’t want to spend an arm and a leg on this – but I want something nice looking, durable, and reasonably priced. (Master BR has a set of 4 adjacent double hungs, plus a double double hung. LR has a slider and double hungs flanking the fireplace. DR and K each have a double double, as do the upstairs BR and study. Lotsa windows.)</p>
<p>I do not have time to install these things myself. I barely have time to shop for them! </p>
<p>So — opinions please!</p>
<li><p>Honeycomb shades OK? Single cell? Double cell? Other options for price and quality? I think privacy is the goal here, rather than room darkening. </p></li>
<li><p>Would you measure yourself and use BlindsToGo and hire an installer ? Blinds.com? or go to the local independent shop in town and have them measure, order, and install?</p></li>
<li><p>On the window (that I have not measured yet) that’s 4 narrow double hungs … maybe 8 feet wide and 6 feet tall … one mega blind or 4 little ones?
Ditto for the two sets of double double hungs.</p></li>
<li><p>What do I do for the sliding glass door to the deck. Faces the woods. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>I am beginning to think, as I write out my questions that going to the independent shop might be the best way to go, if it only costs me $100-200 more. </p>
<p>I know there’s someone in CC land that knows how to do this! Thank you so much for your help – before I head out to the stores after the closing tomorrow.</p>
<p>CNP, I do not know how to get the blinds done, but, you said it’s an upscale, new condo - are there any HOA rules that have to be followed, such as what color they have to be facing the outside? If there’s no HOA, ignore my post…</p>
<p>If the association has any requirements, it’s that they’d be white facing the street. They probably do. I want to do white anyway. Plain, basic, neutral. The walls are all white (Princeton White BTW … just a tad towards creamy). I’ll check with the sales office.</p>
<p>We ordered blinds on line. The price difference was significant (MUCH less than the local hdw. store or JCP having a great sale). They were Levelor brand, and came quickly with no hassles. If you know exactly what you want, and can size and install them yourself, feel free to PM and I’ll give you the name of the website.</p>
<p>There’s nothing particularly upscale about my house, but I always order my blinds from <a href=“http://www.decoratetoday.com%5B/url%5D”>www.decoratetoday.com</a> and I always buy their brand, American Blinds. If the windows are pretty normal, just measure and install yourself. They ship really quickly and stand behind their merchandise 100%. (I once had a blind get bent in shipping and they replaced it right away without even making me send the bent one back.)</p>
<p>On some of my big windows, I use one header with more than one blind hanging down. I actually like the regular old-style mini blinds, because I can slat them to still get some privacy, some sun protection, but a little fresh air.</p>
<p>In the past, I got blinds from Blinds To Go. They have an installer that will call you to come out and measure as well as hang the blinds.</p>
<p>I have also ordered blinds from American Blinds. As Weenie said, they ship very quickly. They also recommend people in your area to measure and install.</p>
<p>As far as the 4 narrow windows go, I would get two 4 foot blinds rather than 4 little ones (that’s what I’ve done in my home). It’s a much cleaner look.</p>
<p>I’m into the roman shades these days. I got rid of the horizontal blinds in my bedroom and replaced them with roman shades. They’re much less fussy looking and you can get them to operate with either a cord or the kind that you push and pull up and down. I ordered them from Pennys, and again, I feel it’s a much cleaner look than horizontal or honeycomb blinds. Horizontal bilnds are such a pain to clean, too.</p>
<p>I hate to admit this, but… when we moved into our house in 97, we didn’t have money to do all the windows the way we wanted, but needed the privacy right away, and HOA forbids sheets on the windows! I went to WalMart and bought their $3 mini-blinds (white, as per HOA rules) - and they are still on the windows 10 years later. (Some have curtains over them now.)</p>
<p>I did buy upscale blinds from Home Depot for the family room – those desperately need to be replaced - broken, yellowed. But the WalMart minis on the other windows still look fine!</p>
<p>Home Depot has some reasonably priced wood blinds (two colors: Golden Oak and White). They cut them to size, installation is a breeze (if you are mounting them inside the window frame), and they look more expensive than they are.</p>
<p>I used an independent shop and they were not as expensive as one would think. </p>
<p>I just had to replace blinds in my garage (of all things) which has a little decorative octagonal turret with five 2.5 x 5 windows. (don’t get me started as to why the cars needed a view…) I originally put wood blinds there thinking faux would look fake or ‘plasticky’. And the windows are visible from the street and drive, so they needed to look good. Bad move…heat and humidity did those wood blinds in in no time. This time, I chose the faux wood and boy was I wrong about the look…it is impossible to tell they are not wood! Total cost installed through an independent company…$43 per window. Not bad.</p>
I went to WalMart and bought their $3 mini-blinds (white, as per HOA rules) - and they are still on the windows 10 years later. (Some have curtains over them now.)</p>