Window coverings - what do you think is best for an IP?

[Whozat]

Hi.

What do you think is the best window covering for the living areas and bedroooms of an IP, and any particular pros and cons for your choice?

Just had three different quotes for covering the windows of my house (IP) and each sales rep seemed to have a different idea of what was best, even though they sell both curtains and blinds. Price for the whole house is coming in around the $3000 mark for about 12 windows and four sliding glass doors. The house is having a complete reno. Lots of white or off-white.

Options so far:

1. White Vertical Blinds
I like these for practical reasons (light control and privacy) but they don't seem to be that popular at the moment. Also concerned that they are easy to damage.

2. Chain pull blinds (mostly blockout) on windows with curtains on the sliding doors.

3. Curtains on all except a blind for kitchen and bathroom.

I'm keen for what is practical, long lasting (for an IP) and economical, and hopefully will appeal to tenants.

I have considered 'timber look' venetians (in white with the 'plastic' blades) but wonder if they aren't too heavy to raise and therefore not very practical for tenant use.

Any and all suggestions and advice for doing the window coverings is welcome.

Thanks,
Whozat

 

[marg4000]

I detest vertical blinds.

They bang and flap and are very easily broken. Also, they need to be closed to (try to) keep out light, but if there is the slightest breeze they flap about. We stayed in a unit with a west facing sliding door - verticals HAD to be closed or the glare was incredible, but then there were kids wanting to go in and out..... Overall a recipe for disaster.

I would go for curtains - surely there are cheaper options if you look at ready-mades in places like Spotlight.
Marg

 

[Bolero]

Hello Whozat

I am choosing now window coverings for our IP as well. Here are my thoughts.

1. Defenetely not verticals. Look quite cheap, flopping in the wind and make a bit of shuffling sound which can be irritating at night.
2. Have you concidered roman blinds made of thick tissue? Easy to operate, cleanable. Can get ready ones in Bunnings, Spotlight, Ikea for a good price.
3. Curtains are good but can be expensive if you dont sew yourself of dont buy ready ones smwre like Spotlight.
4. Timber or timber look venetians are good. You can use two sets for the sliding doors so you have one up for walking thru the door and one down. It is also make them lighter this way.

For me $3000 sounds a bit too much. But it only imo.

Hope it helps

 

[Bargain Hunter]

It depends on the quality of the area and tenant you are trying to attract. There is no point having a new property for lease and then decking it out with cheap curtains however, if your properties are in low socio-economic areas then ready made curtains may be acceptable.

Our properties are located in low socio-economic areas and often the curtains are nowhere to be seen at the end of the tenancy so spending big up front would be pointless.

 

[units4me]

I like the white or cream colored wooden venetians, they don't fade like the real wooden venetians do, so they still look good in 5 years time.

 

[RumpledElf]

We're doing ours in blockout holland blinds (about $150 each custom made) and Ikea curtains (about $60 a pair, strangely they are cheaper on ebay, even with postage included). Holland blinds only work for the smaller windows on older houses, not the full length wide ones on modern houses.

 

[Alabex]

1. White Vertical Blinds
I would avoid these.. they need professional cleaning and you will be forever fixing the little cords at the bottomthat hold them together, you will also probably end up having the tenants putting curtains up or sheets or newspaper over the top to completely block the light

2. Chain pull blinds (mostly blockout) on windows with curtains on the sliding doors.
these are good put depends on the quality of tenant.. the can tear and if they mark again are not easy to clean

3. Curtains on all except a blind for kitchen and bathroom.

curtains will look dated, they are rarely used these days in my experience. they get dusty and faded..

4. I have considered 'timber look' venetians (in white with the 'plastic' blades)

White timber venetians are great... they can be wiped down with a cloth, dont fade and are difficult to break. You can get some great wood look that are actually plastic and a lot lighter. The professional ones will be better that the off the rack because they are generally strung with stronger/more cords to help the weight issue.

 

[Buzz]

Go to Spotlight check out their wooden wide venetians - I have even used the slim line aluminium ones in white kitchens - they go with the appliances.

Every 6 weeks Spotlight has a special on one colour or the other. They are easy to instal - having said that I was running behind schedule and had Hire a Hubby put a few up last reno. Cheap to replace and durable. Never had any issue with any of my tenanted rentals - some are 8 years old.

Good luck.

Jane

 

[Jacque]

I'd go for sunblock roller blinds. Cheap and cheerful, and long lasting, unlike stupid verticals! Did you know that verticals were actually originally designed for offices (think air con no windows open) and are practical in such situations, but provide a breeze and tap, tap, tap... is all you infernally hear!!

I've used a variety of coverings in all my IP's ranging from curtains (tab top most economical) through to more upmarket timber venetians (which I won't be doing again due to serious cleaning and tangling issues). Roller blinds come out on top for me. Cheap, easy to install and longer lasting.

 

[Carl]

Hi Whozat,

I have been on a break for the last few weeks and my gf had a similar decision she had to make. Old aluminium venetians everywhere in the house, and they were looking worse for wear, and most were broken. From what i hear/saw, replacing with venetians was too expensive, and we only wanted to use a few hundred $s as the place is old.

As she is living in the place for 6 mths-1 year (probably), we decided to go with holland blinds and lace curtains over the top. Looks great IMO (i can send pics if you are interested). Didn't take much to put them up either, once you got the hang of them.

As one of the posts above points out, the main issue was that the bedroom and one of the downstairs windows are 2.7m wide and divided in to 3. No real problem downstairs, but upstairs there is a gap between the two holland blinds, which can be a little annoying in the morning (couldnt find any wide enough, so just used two blinds). Probably should have got a custom one upstairs and just used cheap ones for rest, but oh well.

Cost around $500 to do blinds and lace curtains(using valance rods) for a small 3 bedroom unit.

 

[MissHoney]

I detest vertical blinds.

They bang and flap and are very easily broken. Also, they need to be closed to (try to) keep out light, but if there is the slightest breeze they flap about. We stayed in a unit with a west facing sliding door - verticals HAD to be closed or the glare was incredible, but then there were kids wanting to go in and out..... Overall a recipe for disaster.

I would go for curtains - surely there are cheaper options if you look at ready-mades in places like Spotlight.
Marg

I totally agree Marg. I have just spent $500 on some curtains from Spotlight for one IP. They are a modern coffee colour and look great. Tenant is very happy!! Just one issue....if you are buying curtains, make sure they are totally blockout ones. Some that spotlight sell are lined but don't block the light.

MH

 

[sue78]

It should only cost you about $1500 max.

I would go wooden venetians on all windows and sun block roller blinds on sliding doors. It's cheap and it adds value.

With wooden venetians, you never move it, all you do is open or close the blinds and just leave it hanging. It letsin enough light and breeze. For bigger windows, get 2 smaller blinds instead of one big one if you are worried it will bend in the middle.

I get mine from Kmart 30% off or if I am after white I get it from Super Amart. 50mm slats, eco wood (fake wood, no fading) and I even use it in the bathrooms and toilets. I prefer K Marfor their easy refund.

Get a handyman to install each blind for $15 and they will also cut to fit if it doesn't fit.

For sunblock roller blinds, Ikea is pretty cheap and Freedom has a sale on now which ends in a few days. Yousee it on sliding doors in most display homes these days.

It usuallu costs meless than $1k for all window furnishings for my IPs.

Don't bother with roller blinds and roman blinds. We put nice roman blinds in our last IP and they look horrid. Can never get it to align and it's such a hassle pulling them up and down but the worst thing is that we can't evenget it back into the box coz it didn't fit the window so we couldn't return it. With wood at least it can be cut to fit.

We have a couple of roman blinds in the garage waiting to be thrown out.

 

[Gatoblanco]

Get a handyman to install each blind for $15 and they will also cut to fit if it doesn't fit.

That seems quite cheap. Who did you use? Are you in BNE? I can put the blinds up myself but cutting them I reckon one needs a drop saw so I was gonna get someone to put them up but I got quoted $40 per blind from the contractor Curtain Wonderland uses.

 

[sue78]

I used hire a hubby. If you put them up yourself then just take the ones that need to be cut to bunnings. I'm pretty sure they do it for you on the spot.

 

[Chatto]

I like verticals, with weights at the bottom instead of plastic, and definately no chains on the bottom. They dont flap about too much either. I spend $600 to get the whole lot done for me in a 3 bed villa. Solarblock blinds in the laundry/toilet/bathroom/kitchen.

Get a colour that matches your paint colour, never white, but cream will do, especially if you have kids in the unit as they will get grubby.

 

[Tizzy]

Hi, it cost us $25 per ecowood blind to get the cuts done to size ( thats two even cuts per blind with a drop saw) then a handyman charged 20 per blind to hang them. He was great because he drilled into the window lintels and now they will hang forever. We also did the multiple slat blinds across a large window walls ( 5 blinds in all) and it looks great.

 

[Whozat]

Gee, there are certainly a few different opinions about what is best. Wooden/PVC venetians overall seem to be coming out on top though for the windows. However, isn’t there an issue with opening the window if people don’t lift them up and down and only tilt the slats? Won’t the tenants reach through the blind to open the (sliding glass) window, causing damage to the blind?

This quote from another post
I went to the Reno Kings Seminar in May last year and they recommended installing 25mm white plastic venetians. They are cheap (apparently, I havent priced them). They said that they are good for keeping light out for the tenants (fully closed) and excellent in showing off the house when empty ie open them up and let the light in.

Paul and Geoff - Smart guys.
Does anyone know what they mean by 25mm white plastic blinds? Is it just what is commonly referred to as venetians blinds, or aluminium venetians?

My quotes of around $3000+ were quite a surprise to me as prior to getting the quotes I had only been looking at the junk mail at ready made curtains and blinds etc and didn’t expect such high costs for ‘custom made’. I have yet to check out Kmart, Spotlight, Freedom etc (but will shortly), though I have had an inhouse quote from Spotlight. Their agent recommended the verticals, as did the last two blind shops that I called, even though I was calling for a price on white wooden(pvc) venetians. There must be something to be said for verticals, especially on double sliding glass doors when so many in the trade continue to recommend them above their more expensive products.

Still pondering what’s best for the sliding doors though. Have only looked in Bunnings at ready made curtains, but saw the tab top ones and wondered why these might be better than ones on a ring, or pleated ones? Is it the look or the cost, or their use? I can’t imagine they would slide as well as some of the other styles?

Except for the kitchen and bathroom and possibly the sliding glass doors, I don't think I'll use holland blinds.

With a visit or two to somewhere like Spotlight, I imagine I will know better what is suitable. All the opinions are very useful. Thanks.

Whozat

 

[sue78]

umm u don't damage wooden blinds if you reach in to slide the windows open. We have them on every window of our house except the sliding door. We use it on all our IPs. The only times we didn't use it, the property took ages to get sold.It does add value, is cheap and really easy to replace.

For a 42sq house, we used a mixed of very expensive curtains and roman blinds. After 4mths on the market, the agent suggested we took it down and left all the windows clear and it sold quickly after that! If ppl can afford that house, they can afford their own window fusnishings to match their furniture.

Holland blinds are ok when up but look cheap when downand gets dirty easily.

 

[Whozat]

Finally sorted out the windows and door coverings. Went for white eco-blinds in the bedrooms, white aluminium venetians for the other windows and ready made neutral curtains for the double sliding doors, and I am happy with the final look, and suitability for each position in the house. Cost around $2000 including installation. Was able to pick up most of the products on special at one location or another. Learned a lot about window furnishings along the way too........
In the end I believe I made the best choices for this property, though it was pretty time consuming, but will be much easier 'next time'.... if ever.
Thanks again for all the advice.
Whozat