Vertical Blinds and Shades for Expansive Windows
For those who don’t really care, one really must understand that there is a difference between ‘Blinds’ and ‘Shades’ –
Blinds are a shading system that are made of movable horizontal slats (can be rotated in a 180-degree plane) that can control the light coming through the window, held equidistant from each other by a corded string ladder, with separate string cords running through rollers to raise and lower the blinds over windows. The mechanical system of the blinds is housed in a headrail, with the bottom attached to a hem bar that gives the blinds a sleekly finished appearance.
Shades are generally single fabric panels fixed to a roller tube over which it winds when it’s raised. The bottom of the shade is crimped into a hem bar. This includes the grass or bamboo shades and the cellular shades.
Over the decades, windows and doors widened to allow for expansive views, making it imminent for shading manufacturers to come up with a system that was easily managed, rather than have panels and panels of blinds and shades over large glazing expanses. This gave rise to vertical shading systems that have become quite the norm, in both residential and commercial applications.
Vertical Blinds
Vertical blinds consist of vertical strips of stiffened fabric and are suspended by stems attached to a track system at the top, and can be drawn back to stack to the side to allow for an unobstructed view. Like their horizontal counterparts, the vanes can be turned to vary the amount of light streaming indoors with cords. The bottom of the vanes are weighted down by channel panels, and the vanes can be connected by beaded chains.
The above is the initial primary system from which some very exciting and sophisticated forms have evolved. Here is the basic form, followed by more specialized ones –
Graber’s 3 ½” PVC and Fabric Vertical Blinds
These vinyl blind vanes are available in a variety of styles, textures, and colors from whites, grays, pastels, and naturals that allow them to blend into any décor scheme possible. Among the fabric options, you could choose from a cross woven and tweed fabric to Phifer solar materials, in different weaves and colors.
They come with a standard ivory that incorporates a thermoplastic strap system, with wheeled carriers for smooth traversing of the vanes, and like all of Graber’s head rails can be reversed for use.
The operational controls include the standard chain cord control positioned to the left of the system, and you can opt for a split stack if you desire.
If for some reason a louver or two become irreversibly stained or damaged, individual louvers can be replaced rather than change the whole system.
Your vinyl or vertical blinds are easily feather dusted or vacuumed with the fabric brush option at low speeds, spot cleaned with mild detergent in water, or the vanes can be removed and immersed in mildly soapy water to remove stubborn dirt.
Graber’s 3 ½” Elite Vertical Wood Blinds
These blinds are all about verve and style in combination with audacious practicality! If you can afford them, there’s no better complement to wooden floors or exquisite wooden furniture, be it small or large rooms. Beautifully crafted for uniqueness, these exceedingly thin wood vanes are made from bass wood, the trees grown through practiced sustainable forestry in North America. From rustic to ultramodern, from traditional to eclectic, these blinds fit in with elegant ease. The vanes feature an exclusive hinged design that prevents warping, to have them hang with straight precision.
They can be stained or colored to a variety of shades executed in exclusivity by Graber. It is suspended by a G71 Super-Vue head rail system with the patented pantograph system that the vanes are auto-spaced and rotated when drawn open or closed.
These wood blinds can be dusted with a soft cloth. For painted finishes, use a damp cloth for stubborn dirt. For polished finishes, rub over with lemon oil or other wood preservatives till the dirt is gone.
Graber’s Sheer Vertical Shades
Now, this product is called shades! The polyester vanes of these blinds are enveloped by a sheer fabric that ensures that at no time when the blinds are drawn closed with the vanes rotated to its optimally open position can the UV rays ever damage the interior elements of a home. Sheer vertical shades combine the beauty and elegance of drapes with the functionality of vertical blinds – hence the term Vertical Shades.
The sheer enveloping fabric can be separately removed, and machine washed, keeping its vanes protected at all times. Should the vanes get damaged, they can be replaced individually along with their stems.
The heavy duty aluminum head rail with the steel pantograph traversing system ensures smooth function and even spacing of the vanes. Available in some white and off-white colors, in sheer to room darkening polyester fabrics in a variety of textures, these shades can be teamed with any décor to either complement of off-set the décor. And they are so easily maintained, by vacuuming or feather dusting.
Dressing those expansive doors and windows were never easier, never mind the shape. Vertical Blinds offer a solution for a great view, privacy, and room brightening.
