Should I go for curtains or blinds? This is a question we frequently hear from our customers at Evans Curtains and Blinds. It’s important to note that many different factors come into play when deciding between curtains or blinds. At the end of the day, this decision ultimately depends on the visual appearance, functionality and purpose you want your new window furnishings to achieve.
Key factors to consider when choosing between curtains and blinds
- Design / Aesthetic
- Functionality
- Spatial requirements
- Affordability
Taking each of these key factors into account when making your decision will ensure you make the right choice when deciding whether to opt for curtains or blinds.
Choosing the right window furnishing for different rooms in the home
Wondering what the best window furnishing options are for specific rooms in your home? See our comprehensive window furnishing room guides:
Living Room Curtains and Blinds
Design / Aesthetic
Curtains offer a limitless range of fabric choices that allow you to perfectly coordinate with your personal interior style.
Blinds are available in a range of types including roller blinds, roman blinds and venetian blinds. They share similar characteristics, operating more like screens, which are controlled by either folding, rolling or tilting the fabric they are made from.
Fabric and decor
Curtains are great for dressing a window due to their soft feel and ambience. The long flowing fabric creates a more textured backdrop in a room, and more easily complements the rooms existing furnishings and decor.
Roman blinds also come in a wide range of fabrics, and add softness and layering through the folds that are created. They work well in a variety of decors including traditional and coastal style interiors.
It is important to note that roller blinds are not the best option for ‘dressing’ a window,’ however they have great functional application, and provide increased light control and privacy.
Due to the wide range of available fabrics, curtains suit most room types. Roller blinds are well suited to a modern, contemporary style home due to their no fuss nature, while Venetian blinds can be made to suit a range of environments depending on the finish (timber or aluminium) and colour.
View Evans Curtains and Blinds Guide To Choosing A Curtain Fabric
Functionality
What is the role of the curtain or blind in the space? Is it a bedroom that requires full blockout for sleeping, is it a TV room where sunlight needs to be filtered or is it a lounge room that you like to keep warm? Each room in your home will have different requirements depending on who and what the room is being used for. Think about children and pets and the role they play in the house too with durability, easy clean properties being a priority in the fabric choice.
Sheer and blockout curtains
Sheer curtains can provide some light control and privacy during the day, filtering out glare and providing a comfortable diffused light in the room. However, if privacy is a key concern or if you are seeking night time light blockout, then fully lined blackout curtains are the best option. They also provide the best insulation qualities for winter and summer.
Roller blinds
Venetian blinds
Roller Blinds are a great option if you are looking for superior light control and privacy. Available in 3 fabric types to specifically control the amount of light entering the room — Sunscreen, Light Filtering and Blockout. Roller Blinds can also be fitted with a double bracket system, to combine two different fabrics to get the best light control and privacy solutions.
Venetian Blinds offer great functionality and ease-of-use. Varying levels of light control and privacy are achieved by simply adjusting the angle of the slats. Venetian Blinds can have ‘light bleed’ around them though due to the construction, so they don’t offer the best level of night time light blockout.
Spacial requirements
Curtains always hang from a track mounted to either the wall or ceiling. Depending on the header type used, the curtain may sit proud of the wall by around 100mm or more. In a small room this may take up more floor space than desirable, particularly if a double track has to be fitted to allow for an additional lining curtain.
Blinds can be fitted either in a window recess, or onto the architrave or wall above the window. In a window recess there is no loss of floor space in the room, and even with an architrave or wall mounted blind, the loss of floor space is minimal.
Stack Back
Stack back is a term which refers to the amount of space taken up by the curtain when in its fully opened position. If there is wall space available at either, or both ends of the window, the curtain can be set back from the window to minimise the stack back, and therefore allow the full amount of light into the room.
Stack back is not an issue for blinds.
Length
Width
Curtains look their best when made to a full length, finishing either just above floor level, or being made slightly longer so that they pool on the floor. Therefore they are not ideally suited to windows which have furniture placed underneath them.
If you are looking for a window furnishing solution that doesn’t gather on the floor or hang down, blinds are always made to suit the drop of the window, so they will not interfere with any furniture that is placed underneath the window.
Curtains can be made to cover any length of window or opening. Standard track lengths run to 6 metres but these can be extended further with the correct tracking system.
Most blinds have a maximum width of 3 metres, meaning multiple blinds may have to be fitted consecutively for larger openings. This can lead to unwanted light entering between the blinds.
Affordability
We all have a level of budget that we need to work with when investing in window furnishings. Most curtain and blind products are available in a wide range of price points. By fully understanding the purpose that the curtain or blind has to achieve, it may be that a less expensive option can provide a better overall outcome.
Curtains
Roller blinds
Curtains can be made from fabrics covering a wide range of price points. The fabric cost per square metre is only one aspect though. Consideration has to be given to the type of track to be used and also the curtain header. Different types of curtain headers will require different quantities of the fabric for the curtain to be made. Even with the various options available for fabric, tracks and header types, curtains are generally a more expensive option for dressing a window.
Roller blinds are available in a range of fabric types which also offer various price points to suit all budgets.
The design of roller blinds minimises the quantity of fabric required, and they don’t require any additional hardware (tracks etc). This makes them an affordable option when there are multiple windows to be dressed in a room or house.
Roman blinds
Venetian blinds
Roman blinds are a more premium blind product, although still available in a wide range of fabrics and price points. There are options to add chain systems and cord locks to roman blinds which can increase their overall cost.
Venetian blinds are available in both VisionWood timber and aluminium. Visionwood timber venetians are a premium product whilst aluminium blinds still offer a stylish and affordable alternative.
Should you opt for Curtains or Blinds? Our Curtains Vs. Blinds blog post covers this question and more!
Still not sure ?
If you’re still not sure whether to choose curtains or blinds, let us help. Whilst the above is a quick summary of the key considerations, take advantage of our years of expereince and let us guide you with ideas and advice for your home.
Get in touch with us today to arrange a free design consultation and quote.
Recent Comments