Wood Blinds (Part 2)

Wood Blinds (part 2)

There are many choices today-more than ever-in products made of wood, engineered wood and wood-like products. As manufacturers incorporate technological advances, continual improvements in the wood-like products have made them viable choices in many circumstances. There is much talk these days about products made of solid wood versus faux wood in all its many forms. Let's take a look at the advantages of real wood and wood imitations.

While some retailers will feel very strongly about a particular product, it's also great to be open-minded and realize that your interiors may benefit from a different product in different circumstances. What is best may change according to the budget, the environment, the desire for value versus resale, and the amount of use a product will receive.

Also keep in mind that even in a single home, some rooms may call for a product that varies from those in another area of the same home. For example, real wood products may be most appealing in a formal living room and in a guest room a vinyl product may be just the thing. In another area sliding woven wood panels or shades can provide a change of pace while still offering the warm look of wood.

Generally most people agree that the wood shutters of a generation ago fueled the popularity of wood blinds, which tended to be less expensive and more versatile while still adding the look and warmth of wood to an interior.

Real wood proponents maintain that wood products are stronger and often lighter in weight than many faux products allowing larger panels to be installed in some applications. They claim the real wood finish, either stained or painted, is unmatched in quality. There also is a constituency that believes that real is always better than imitation.

Real wood products may be more expensive, but, the perceived value of real wood is literal; even realtors agree that real wood blinds increase the resell value of a home.

Faux Wood Blinds
Faux means false or fake, but those words are inadequate in describing the real look of these products, which include wall coverings and custom technique painting. Perhaps a better word would be trompe l'oeil faux, meaning fool-the-eye imitations.

Vinyl faux wood blinds and shutters have come a long way in the last 10 years. No longer do vinyl products have a plastic stigma. In fact, from even a short distance it's very hard to tell real wood from faux wood products. Faux wood materials include vinyl and composite materials.

Faux wood proponents say these window treatment products are often more versatile because they can be used in high-heat and high-humidity installations without chipping, cracking or warping. They also are available for custom coloration. It might be noted, however, that most homeowners who opt for painted shutters will nearly always want white, as white is a universal color that is handsome from the street and can be used with nearly any color scheme inside or out.

A big plus for faux wood products is that they often are less costly.

Woven Wood Blinds
Another example of wood in interiors is woven woods, originally introduced as roller or Roman shades during the 1970s and losing popularity for over the next 20 years. They are back now as high-quality offerings in alternative window coverings.

Bamboo and other natural fiber products also are appealing in interiors where a less constructed or less perfected look is desirable. These light-diffusing products, either real or faux bamboo, and the varieties of woven woods offer a quality of light that is so beautiful as to be even somewhat mystical. And no wonder, bamboo shades originated about 2,000 years B.C. in China.

Some woven wood shades can be ordered with a privacy backing. This solves an age-old problem of providing privacy when the preferred treatment is light filtering. This is a functional and innovative solution.

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