Vertical vs. Horizontal Blinds

[success_ny]

I need to buy blinds for my living room. I have never done it so I am looking for an advice.

I live in a high-rise apartment building in New York. The window frame is made of metal so the blinds will have to be mounted to the ceiling. Horizontally, the window stretches across the whole width of the room (except for a few inches on both sides to account for the metal frame).

- The Left side has a window sill, there's room heater/air continioner under the sill

- The Right side has a sliding glass balcony door and the ajacent tall window, so that right half stretches from floor to the ceiling all the way vertically

I have an option of installing 2 vertical blinds where the left blind will be shorter (stops where the still/heater is) and the right blind would be larger and would cover the sliding balcony door and the adjacent window.

Or, I can install 2 horizontal blinds.

What would be the best choice for my situation? What kind of blinds would you recommend? Do you recommend the cellular honeycomb shades?

Many thanks in advance.

[Doug Kanter]

You didn't mention whether the windows can be opened, and whether they slide up & down vertically, or sideways like the patio door. If they move sideways, and you intend to open them for ventilation, you're better off with vertical blinds because you can open those blinds the same amount as the window, affording some privacy. On a very windy day, the horizontal blinds will need to be raised all the way, or they'll be tossed by the wind and make noise, or be damaged.

If I were you, I'd pay a visit to a JC Penney store. Window coverings are one of the few departments where they have personnel who are usually quite knowledgable about these things. The store deals in quite a few brands, and they run sales quite often. They're running one now - you might have to paste this long link back together:

|MP

[Colbyt]

They don't have to be attached to the ceiling. Installing on metal framed windows is no big deal. Drilling holes in a concrete ceiling is a lot harder.

We aren't doing a lot of vertical blinds right now. Even so they might be a good choice for this situation. Let me just ramble a bit a maybe that will help you decide.

The current "in" thing is two wood or faux wood blinds. Anything much wider than 4 foot is very heavy to lift which you would need to do for the patio door. One inch metal blinds over about 7 foot suffer the same problem if there is much height to them. So you may be looking at two or more for the door.

Custom vertical blinds traverse pretty easy to clear the door but some would consider it a "dated" look.

Either of the above will rattle in the breeze with an open window or door. Both of the above offer you the option to block direct sunlight while admitting light or maintaining a view.

Cellular or pleated shades are either open or closed. They filter the light but block the view. Like looking through dense sheer curtains. They almost dis-appear when pulled up.

Thinking about it as I rattled on. I most likely would do the verticals.

Colbyt