My pretty apartment and my cat and me.
June 18, 2010 10:43 AM Subscribe
I have a lovely new apartment with lovely and odd sized floor to ceiling windows and a glass balcony door (yay!) I was thinking Blinds to Go custom blinds, but I have two issues to consider:
1) Cat. My cat has clawed curtains, and crashed through metal blinds. Just tore right through them to get to the window spot of his choice.
2) Allergies. In my previous apartment, I had machine washable curtains, which were a good (and recommended) solution for my dust allergies. I've heard blinds are not all that recommended for people with allergy/asthma problems, but I think blinds would work better than curtains for the space, which is ultra modern and bright.
I like the idea of the honeycomb blind style, but would that work given my limitations? What have other cat and allergy owners done in this case?
1) Cat. My cat has clawed curtains, and crashed through metal blinds. Just tore right through them to get to the window spot of his choice.
2) Allergies. In my previous apartment, I had machine washable curtains, which were a good (and recommended) solution for my dust allergies. I've heard blinds are not all that recommended for people with allergy/asthma problems, but I think blinds would work better than curtains for the space, which is ultra modern and bright.
I like the idea of the honeycomb blind style, but would that work given my limitations? What have other cat and allergy owners done in this case?
Best answer: have you considered wood or faux wood blinds? They won't bend like the metal ones, and look much nicer too. I've endorsed SelectBlinds on AskMe before — they'll send you free samples if you ask.
posted by halogen at 10:55 AM on June 18, 2010
posted by halogen at 10:55 AM on June 18, 2010
I just bought some pleated paper shades from Kmart as a temporary window cover, but I like them so much, I may keep them for a while. Only $6 each!
posted by feste at 11:05 AM on June 18, 2010
posted by feste at 11:05 AM on June 18, 2010
By the way, we have roll-up shades in our modern space, and while they look good, I frankly wish that we had blinds instead: the shades don't block direct afternoon sunlight particularly well, and they won't let any fresh air in even if the window is open. So, in our bedroom, I have to choose between being woken up by bright light in the morning or stuffy air, since the shades totally block the open window at night. There's no in-between option like with blinds.
They don't appear to pick up any dust, on the other hand.
posted by halogen at 11:08 AM on June 18, 2010
They don't appear to pick up any dust, on the other hand.
posted by halogen at 11:08 AM on June 18, 2010
I'd second the rec for faux-wood blinds. They are a great option with pets and easy to clean. Most of them are easy to install and remarkably cheap and don't look half-bad. I've had a good experience with Home Depot. They cut the blinds to width for free and then you can alter the height yourself (which is the most difficult part requiring about ten minutes of work). I've installed dozens of blinds this way at an approximate cost of around $30 for a window of up to 46" by 72".
posted by AmitinLA at 11:24 AM on June 18, 2010
posted by AmitinLA at 11:24 AM on June 18, 2010
www.blinds.com. i have had great luck with them for weird sizes in wood 1" and 2" slats. Good prices as well.
posted by domino at 11:34 AM on June 18, 2010
posted by domino at 11:34 AM on June 18, 2010
Best answer: I'd take a look at fabric roller shades, as this example shows, they can be a modern/minimalist as you like. If you wanted to DIY, I think you could use velcro and make the shades easy to remove and wash. That example also shows a sheer and a light blocking shade both installed in the same window, which I thought was genius, home made or not.
Bonus: my parent's cats are terrified of roller shades.
posted by fontophilic at 12:32 PM on June 18, 2010
Bonus: my parent's cats are terrified of roller shades.
posted by fontophilic at 12:32 PM on June 18, 2010
Ikea has good quality wood blinds at reasonable prices and they include easy instructions for removing excess slats. You can purchase the correct width and a longer length than you need and pull out the excess slats so it doesn't have a 3 lb block of bunched up slats slamming into everything when you open the door.
posted by ijoyner at 5:39 PM on June 18, 2010
posted by ijoyner at 5:39 PM on June 18, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
It's a fairly expensive option, but over time it's probably no more expensive than having to continually repair screens and replace curtains or blinds. We used "Next Day Blinds". They measured the windows, custom-made the shutters, and installed them. The entire process went smoothly and we've been very glad we did it.
posted by rhartong at 10:54 AM on June 18, 2010