Choosing the best bespoke blinds for your home or business involves careful planning and research. It's essential to consider how much light and heat enters your home or business and how much you need to control it. How your bespoke blinds look is also important, as is their compatibility with your windows. Finally, price may be a deciding factor in your decision.
When choosing window coverings, custom blinds are one of the best choices for controlling light. Most every type of blind from venetian to roller is effective. Varying amounts of light enter different windows at different latitudes throughout the year, and how much control you'll need will depend on where your home or business is located. Some rooms, such as bedrooms, home theaters, and conference rooms need to be dark, so it's important to determine which blinds will be adequately effective at blocking light in every room.
With light, comes heat. Even windows that are treated to block heat will allow some heat to pass through. The right blinds can block or allow this, helping you to save on power bills. In hotter parts of the world, you might wish to block heat most of the time. Whereas in temperate climates, you might wish to allow heat in the winter, while blocking it only in the summer. Most bespoke blinds give you lots of freedom, but some will control heat better than others.
It's crucial that your blinds work well with all your windows, and certain window types such as bay or bow windows might need unique blinds. If you need bespoke blinds for skylights or very large windows, you might want to look at motorized blinds that can be operated by remote control. Look up special windows online to see what blinds will work best.
Each type of blind has a different system for opening and closing. Basic venetian blinds can be raised or lowered, and their slats can be opened to various degrees. They can be made of almost any type of material, but the heavier the material, the harder they can be to keep completely closed. Vertical blinds have similar properties and their own unique advantages and disadvantages depending upon use.
Similar to venetian and vertical blinds are plantation shutters, which operate on a louvered system. These blinds work well for bay windows and other unique shapes, and they come in many different materials. They can lend a classic or country look to windows and are likely to more expensive than most bespoke blinds.
Roller blinds can be made of a number of materials and weaves, as can facette blinds and cellular shades. Each of these options allows for a wide variety of control and energy saving options depending on material choice. Almost every type of bespoke blind can be found online, in almost every imaginable color, allowing you to easily comparison shop. To see how a given type of blinds will look, search for pictures of blinds already affixed to windows similar to your own.
Of final consideration are questions of price, ease of cleaning, durability, and warranty. Prices can vary widely within each category of blind. Some companies will provide samples, and the more descriptive literature you can find about your prospective bespoke blinds, the better.