If you are handy and have an Ikea nearby, check out their measure your own blinds. This weekend there is coupon deal. Consider those at least for your less important windows.

We have used Select Blinds for two homes; one of which was a new build. I have found them to be very easy to work with and the quality has been good.

Costco has quality blinds at reasonable prices and a very good warranty.

I think [ I use to install] that 450 to install is super cheap, 11 k for 36 windows is really reasonable, call JCpenney home decorators and get a idea about what would work for your home, not a decision to be taken lightly or in a rush to cover the windows up.

That are no rules, people mix all different kinds of shades. You do want some consistency when looking at the front of the house from the outside ... you don't have to do it, but it looks better.

The price sounds about right.

You can also use the temporary blinds found at HD or Lowes, to give you more time to make a decision.

I like cellular shades and used them throughout my house. I also have drapes to add color and texture. In the bedrooms I have room darkening cellular shades and light filtering ones in the living areas.

We are planning to be in the house for a bit and then figure out blinds. Easier since we move in October! That said we were thinking of black out roller shades in bedrooms and then black out curtains on top. For main area we just need to block direct sun and get a bit of privacy and we want to mostly leave all the windows wide open to the view. Down in the suite we will do basic slatted blinds. I’m hoping this will be under 11k for sure! Well under

I have used justblinds.com for two homes but I am lucky to be married to a guy who can do the install for me.

I prefer solar shades where light and heat are issues and i usually combine those with drapes to give privacy at night.I think that combo is nice so that you have the view during the day and on rainy days you can just roll them up.

So we desperately need blinds for our entire home

For privacy or sun/glare or both?

Are we wrong to do cellular shades in every room? I'm not really sure what people do...

What made you think of doing cellular shades? Is that what you grew up with? Do you like the look? Is there a particular decorating style you like?

Do you need blinds or would curtains work? Going off the Ikea suggestion, they also have inexpensive curtain rods and curtains, and the 100 percent linen Aina curtains, which come in various colors (white, grey, natural, blue) are quite nice, come in a 98" length which is good for taller windows, and are $60/pair. You can dress one window for under $100 if you use the Aina curtains and curtain rods from Ikea.

The temporary paper shades are great if you need privacy or sun/glare protection while you're still deciding what to do. There's Redi-Shade and Ikea also has one.

We need it for both privacy and shade. We have a lot of windows and even though our home is very well insulated the windows generate a lot of heat. We like the cellular shades because of the look of them and how we can get them out of the way when we want light. We went to blinds to go today and got a much more affordable quote on them... but I'm worried about the quality.

I have used Just Blinds.com for their economy faux wood blinds. The price is reasonable and quality is excellent. We installed them ourselves in our home and our daughter’s.

I’ve also used Blinds.com and been pleased with the results.

I've heard people say that Home Depot sources from blinds.com so I'm thinking I'll have them come in and give me a quote and check out their products too for comparison.

Go with Budget Blinds. I know quite a few people who have used their products and the quality is very nice. IMO, the quote you received seems spot on.

Holy moly--$11,000 for cellular shades for 36 windows is over $300 each! Are they oversized/motorized/made from hummingbird wings??? Cellular shades are the least expensive option for window coverings--you can do much better than that. I just purchased 2 single honeycomb cordless shades for about $75 each from Blinds to Go. My husband installed them in about 15 minutes.

I have replaced all my blinds and only spent less than 30.00 a blind for 35x72 windows. I bought mine from Jcpenney when they are 40% off and then use a 20% off coupon. I would wait for a good sale and then order them

Diana, are you happy with the quality from Blinds to Go? I'm considering just going with them as the quality appears to be similar to Budget Blinds but they came in at about half the cost. I'm worried about the quality though and if you'll be able to see cords through them when the sun hits them. I'm thinking either a light or medium gray color for every room, so I'm worried about seeing cords, or does that happen with all cellular shades?

You can also search the Home Decorating forum for recommendations/reviews for the various blinds sources.

I too was surprised at the cost when I started looking at blinds. I got cordless shades for 2 windows at Costco and have been very pleased with them - selection, installation, functionality all very good.

I was at IKEA last weekend and looked at their panel curtains. I haven't seen them installed but they seem like a good price and product. I especially liked the Vattenax in grey - looked high end for the low price.

I like blinds because you can control the amount of light and privacy you want. Blinds are easy to install and come with very clear instructions including how to shorten them if necessary. Check if HD has a how-to class if you are not very handy. HD also has reasonably priced blinds in various materials.

The cellular shades I purchased from Blinds to Go were cordless--no extra charge for them. So far I really like them--they look good and work fine. I am using them solely for privacy--I have curtain panels to dress the windows.

We ordered a mix of Bali pleated shades top down-bottom up, light filtering cellular shades top down-bottom up, woven wood with privacy liner top down-bottom up, and faux wood blinds, all cordless for 19 windows for $3.2k from Blinds.com

Diana, that's kind of my plan. Just have cellular shades for privacy and light filtering and then get curtains at a later time to make it look more finished.

Again, WELL under $300 per window. Liana, you definitely can do better!

Order basic white or off white vinyl miniblinds via WalMart for every window -- they now carry the kind w/o the strings -- the kind that you push up or pull down by holding them in the center. Your curtains/drapes will be the star attraction of your window anyway.

Invest in a battery powered rechargeable screwdriver -- relatively inexpensive at WalMart -- also getting a longer Phillips head bit so it will fit through those holes -- and install the blinds yourself INSIDE the window frame up against the top of the window frame. Easily followed instructions are included.

Please no vinyl miniblinds; cellular shades are much preferred. And they all come cordless as well.

As far as inside mount, I prefer it but it cannot always be done--depends on how deep your window recess is.

blinds.com. get a customer rep to help you when you call. they are the best. you can see all of the samples at HD, but order through the website. install them yourself if you can. it's not that difficult. (HD is hiring out to have someone install them for you anyway)

you don't say what size the windows are, but a cellular can be had for under 200. check out their website. maybe throw in some woven wood blinds for something diff. I ordered mine from them from Bali, and have had it on my 8' window for a decade w/no issues.

I've bought a bunch of Bali cordless shades from Costco. I like the insulation, privacy, and I like the sun up/sun down for my bedroom and my living room.

The living room used to have faux wood blinds...I'm not 100% sure I prefer the look of the cellular shades, but I do think they're more functional.

I'm not at all handy and thought installation was pretty easy.

I do have some doubts on the measurements for the bedroom windows. There are small gaps on the side of the shades that let in light, which aren't completely avoidable. BUT I wonder if I could have a smaller gap by mounting the shades in a different part of the window casing or using a smaller size shade, so maybe professional advice would have been helpful. I did talk to a designer about buying Norman or Hunter Douglas shades--she never followed through on a written quote, but the price was multiple times what I paid Costco. So I could throw away and redo the bedroom window shades and still come out ahead.

I corrected my previous post to say I got shades instead of blinds. (I think they're Hunter Douglas; anyway got them from Costco and they custom measured etc.) I much prefer shades to either slat-style blinds or cellular blinds.

A friend had pale yellow, translucent cellular blinds. She didn't realize that a spider got into one of the openings, until she opened and later re-closed the blinds. The squished spider made a big icky splotch that couldn't be cleaned. She ended up replacing all the blinds with shades. I've never considered cellular blinds since then.

Chiming in to say we used Blinds.com. They always have some kind of sale going on. We have a mix of wood (faux) blinds and cellular shades. But we also haven't ordered them all yet. We've been in our house 10 months and we still are using the paper temporary ones from Home Depot in the upstairs bedroom windows. They look great, my kids don't care and my guests really don't care. Free place to stay trumps any opinions on window coverings! :) The ones we have so far, I installed myself and will install the others when we finally get around to ordering them.

On our last house, we did mainly blinds from Costco, & after one failed in the master bedroom I purchased a Hunter Douglas Cellular for it . For this new build, reality is we will need one blind for the master bath area & something for the french doors off of the master bedroom, but that is a ways down on the list to happen here. We have a acreage & with the small chance of the neighbour to the east, looking in, but its at an angle & if they are close to the property lines.

I previously purchased cordless faux wood blinds, cut to size, at Lowes. Loved them. There was a small upcharge for cordless. Purchase them on sale. I think installation is free with a large order. I was just replacing a few at the time and did my own install.

With our post-fire remodel, we got new faux wood blinds throughout, inside mount, with decorative crown valances, since our windows are not cased out. They just have a nice sill. (Contractor sourced a local company.) I have added drapes over the blinds in the master and the family room. Other rooms pending as the mood hits me.

Hey There: I am reading through all the advise and I am sure you still not don't know what to get. Bottom line is that cheap never pays - everybody knows that.

HD blinds are absolutely great when it comes to the quality - we know because they are our competitor in the higher end market. But we don't compare with online companies made in China or big box stores like Lowes or HomeDepot.

So figure out first what your budget is and then find the honeycomb fabric you love. Get samples send to your home and touch and feel it and try out the look in your home.

So why you should look into our pleated blinds? Great quality, custom made and so many fabric choices. Our bottom up top down blinds are only 7/8 inches in depth and have NO cords running across your glass...

Best of luck on your project.

Just do not use BlindsBlindsBlinds. The guy was a creep and a liar. The verticals were poor quality.