I have dark wood tone blinds in my house and my only complaint is they show dust...BAD! I love the look but have to hand wipe each slat at least 2-3 times a year.

thanks for the input ill keep that in mind, doesnt seem too bad but we'll see

Hi from neighboring Mesa! Espresso is such a rich look, and will give visual relief from our glaring sun. Cream will reflect the incoming light and keep the look bright. While you want all windows within sight of each other to be the same, you can change tones in bedrooms, baths, dens etc. It's personal preference-darker and more cozy, or lighter and brighter? Both are beautiful. Love your choices so far!

Annellepe you might also want to keep in mind what they will look like from the outside. I have a very traditional symmetrical outside elevation so I felt like each window need to be the same "color" from the outside otherwise I thought it would look like a checker board. And the dark blinds looked better with my dark brick also so white was out for me. My mom rolled her eyes at my rationalization on getting dark blind though so I may have put too much thought into it!

Designsofhome...I use my brush attachment on the vacuum to get the cord holes. Hope that helps!

You should look into doing woven wood shades. Much easier to clean! They come in a wide variety of colors and textures. When they are down they have a nice view through depending on the weave of the fabric. Also they are a Roman shade so you can pull them up and have a nice valance. Wood blinds are very hard to clean especially the dark ones as explained above. They also have a large stack at the top if you want to pull them completely off. See photo below of a Woven Wood shade.

smusec so do you have espresso wood blinds? do you like them a lot? do they get really dusty?

My blinds are more of a pecan colors so not as dark as espresso. They were in stock at Lowes...convenient and easy at the time. I'm not sure that I would do any kind of wood blinds in a future home though. They are definitely dust collectors...even the lighter ones! We have 2 dogs and 2 kids so we may be a "dustier" family! Lol! I do love the espresso blinds with all the other colors you've picked!

smusec! EXCATLY what we have ! Sorry to yell. I totally agree! Dust, dust, dust. I like the look, but I would not get them, again. They do block out a lot of light - all of it- if you have a terrible headache and want total darkness on a bright day. I dusted with the brush attatchment, last week, but it is still there. I just need to try that, again. Thanks!

Do they have to be blinds? What about a concept dual roller shade?

so designsofhome would you pick an off white wood blind next time? answering the last question unfortunately it has to be a 2 inch real wood blind from this color swatch since the home is already priced out and all supplies have been ordered. its included in the mortgage. i can try to see if they can cancel it and we can do them ourselves but i doubt it. ill ask tommorrow. that being said if they let me whats the best window covering to do?

this is the swatch

Honestly, I can only speak for myself, because I can not be right there, in your room with the swatch and all. However, I would (for ME) try and match the trim color . (wood work, you see in the room - painted doors, trim around doors and windows, baseboards, crown mouldings, etc). And/or the grids in your windows, if you have any. We have both stained wood and painted wood trim in most of our rooms. And, this may sound odd, but if I had to do it all over again, I would choose white. Our actual windows are stained wood (Early American) and our trim around the windows and doors is painted white. So, I could choose either.

Here it the thing, I have noticed, over the years. You might hate it for a couple of weeks. Then, once you get other things in your room, and some pretty curtains on the windows... most of the trim is covered, anyway. And, you will not be looking at it all the time. Right now, you are in a decission daze. Been there, many times , with my own homes, so I fully understand.
Since you have already paid, I would go ahead and get it done, and it will be one less thing to worry about, later.
Wood or faux wood blinds are a good choice. They will look nice and give you light and/or privacy. The woven shades, roman shades and all that are popular, now, are also nice looking, but if you want privacy, you will have to put a backing on them, or people can see right through them, at night, when your lights are on. Ask me how I know! No, on second thought, just ask the neighbor lady across the street what color my robe is! YIKES. I could not see out.. so I never considered she could see in!

Your house will be beautiful. You have made beautiful choices with all your other items that you pictured, in this discussion. The final blind or window covering has to be up to you. Just remember, if you choose wood, it can be dusty and dark - more maintence, unless you choose a lighter wood tone. If you choose painted blinds, go with the color that is a close match to the rest of the painted trim in the room. Hope that makes sense. :-) If I can answer any questions, let me know !

Great advice designsofhome! Picking every small detail of a house is so stressful! But the truth is most of the decisions you make won't have as big of an impact on the overall picture as you think. When a friend who has visited my house asks advice on something like should the finish of your fixtures match door handles, towel bars etc, I ask them if the finishes in my house matched? They usually can't answer! It's not something people notice unless they are making the decision. Your wood blinds will look great and be very functional for you climate. I do like the lighter blinds advice too. I will vote for lighter! And start saving my money to replace my dark ones with lighter ones LOL!

thanks for the advice! so if we pick lets say off white wont they show dirt easier?? yes we need privacy because the homes are so close together so we have to go with blinds i suppose right? also should we pick faux wood instead of real wood so if we need to deep clean them we can take them and soak them or is real wood better?? im so confused!!!

Dark surfaces show dust more than light surfaces. it's just a fact. if you don't want to be dusting your blinds every week, then get offwhite. Trust me....been there, done that....never again.

I would get cell shades ...

Off white blinds may show dark pet hair but not every day dust. Faux woods are cheaper if you're trying to save money (aren't we all!) and I didn't know about real wood drying out and cracking given your climate in AZ...? If your doing a painted blind and don't need to see the wood grain I would do the faux.

annellepe
thanks for the advice! we picked the faux wood blinds in a pearl white color. they are less expensive and last longer and will be easier to clean. it will make the house look bigger and brighter and be a contrast to all the other dark furniture we have. we will just do nice curtains to add some color in the living room and bedrooms. thanks for the advice!

I am so glad you made a choice. I know how it can be to ponder and not know what to do. You are so right, they are going to be easier to clean, cheaper to replace, if you need to or want to, down the road and you will have light and privacy. Once your curtains are up, and other things are in the room, you will not notice them, as much, and really, that is the way it should be. Right? You want your curtains and other things to stand out, not the blinds.

Mulitipl posts.

Annellepe this question is for.. I came across this post last night and thought I'm not the only one to have this dilemma. We're in the process of replacing all window coverings with the slats and I'm torn between the espresso colour slats (which would suit my style of taste) or the plain white that I have nothing to go with but only to blend with my trim. Are you pleased with your colour choice or deep down still wish you had gone with the darker shade?

I would go with white plantation shutters. They add a nice clean look, and do not show dust. Here is a picture of what I am talking about.

show color scale from honey wood to chestnut

I just got new BRIGHT white plantation shutters and they look way too bright. I have a color pallet just as yours, with lots of dark furniture. What a bummer, now I have to re-paint my newly installed shutters. If I could do it again I would do stained wood, would look much more sophisticated and elegant.

Espresso blinds just seem like such a huge - and pretty permanent - commitment. There are compromises in there, though. What about some of the lighter, but not white, shades of blinds?
Also, don't dark colors absorb heat? That's the LAST thing I would want to do in Arizona!
Re: cleaning . . . I have both real wood and wood-like blinds. If I had it to do over again, I would not have *any* real wood ones. You can power wash the non-wood ones. The real wood ones cannot really be washed, only damp-wiped. Window washers will power wash the non-wood, but charge much more to clean real wood because it takes so long to do them by hand.
I had a wood slat warp, but no problems with the non-wood ones.
Love the finishes you have chosen!

If you want a traditional look, dark furniture, dark kitchen, beige colors AND you want to go with white shutters, get off-white ivory shutters at 2-1/2" louvers for a more traditional look. That's my lesson learned. The classic bright white works well for modern lighter colors, not for dark brown elegant traditional.

Mtipton220

i would hesitate to paint those expensive new white shutters. They use a special process to paint those shutters and give them a nice smooth surface. Plus they have UV protection to keep the paint from turning yellow. I would be concerned that you will ruin them.

I have worked with many traditional homes with white shutters. You may need to add some drapery panels to soften the look.

HELP! We are building a home with dark brown on the outside and I have gray flooring with dark midnight/brown doors/baseboards with a light gray on the walls. I really want to go with a dark roman shade/roller shade however I want the back of the shade to be dark too. ANY SUGGESTIONS? I need them to be dark almost black out as they are bedrooms. Thank you for the sounding board.

Kakgunger, please start a new feed for your project. It would help to include some photos.

Do you have an HOA. A lot of shades have white on the outside because that is a requirement for the HOA. You can custom make Roman shades with a black out liner and whatever fabrics you want on the inside and outside.

Go with the white just my opinion as our hardwood and carpet floors are both generally dark. Houses 10 feet apart hmmmm....a natural light problem for sure. Look at installing a couple "skylight tubes". Easy to install

I think you need to go with the dark one .. !!

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