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Conservatory Blinds - Part 3

21 March 2011

Today, we conclude our DIY conservatory blinds theme by continuing to look at a few other types of conservatory blinds that are available.

Roller Blinds

Roller blinds are available for your DIY conservatory and come in a range of colours, patterns and solar materials, allowing you to choose how much heat you want to block out. They are timeless, easy to use (depending on the manufacturer they can be operated either manually or electrically) and much easier to clean than other types of blinds, and give a neat finish to the conservatory windows and doors. But beware when choosing a roller blind supplier, ensure that it is good quality so that you don’t buy one where the edges of the blind will fray.
Some manufacturers will offer a cassette system which allows the blinds to be completely hidden from view when not in use but another advantage of using a cassette system is that the whole of the blind can be protected from light dis-colouring ie if the top of the blind is on view when rolled up, this may over time, change colour or fade. Some cassette roller blinds come with side channels, so that the blind is fully enclosed into the frame, completely blocking out any light that would normally come through the side of the blind (using the side channels, will probably be too much for a conservatory though!)

Venetian Blinds

Venetian blinds allow you to control the amount of light let in and come in a range of materials including wood, enabling you to have a stylish look to your conservatory. Depending on the material that you use, will depend on how much light is blocked. For example, wood blinds will block more light than plastic ones. Venetian blinds can be hard to clean though (the wooden ones are easier to clean than the plastic ones) and are also not suitable for roof windows so you may have the added problem of finding roof blinds to match.

Drapes

Although drapes do not give much protection from sun or keep the conservatory warm in the winter they can be used to give a softer, homely appearance. Drapes will give some shading to furnishing, plants and people, but will not reflect heat. For the really ambitious DIYer out there, drapes could be used in conjunction with freestanding timber shutters. These can be moved around with the sun, and would compliment a Victorian style conservatory.