Window Blinds: Wood or White?
July 13, 2010 by Jennifer
Filed under Home Decor
I plan to offer many more details about the transformation of our sons’ bedroom in a couple weeks, but I have a huge conundrum right now: what kind of wood blinds for the window?
First, here is where we started, with those ugly metal blinds from the house’s previous owner (not to mention the toddler design scheme):
The blinds are lowered on the window to the left.
Here is the new room, with handmade quilts from Beech Spring Gifts and Quilts in Sperryville, VA (thank you Barry Dixon and Michael Schmidt for the referral) as the inspiration piece, and a coordinating rug from Dash & Albert, purchased from Red Barn Mercantile.
We are still waiting for the paint to cure on the bookcases before we can put the books back.
NOW, tell me: should I put white wood blinds on the windows, or natural wood color? Either way, they will have a Navy-blue tape running down each side. I can’t decide if the white will be too much white with the doors, or the brown will be too much brown with the walls.
I’m kinda leaning toward brown, however, because with the blue tape and white window trim — that will feature all three colors. But my husband is leaning toward the white, because he understandably doesn’t want the room too dark.
There won’t be any valances or any other window treatments. What do you think, design-minded friends? White or natural wood?
Jennifer Sergent. Native Washingtonian. Former editor at Washington Spaces magazine and HGTV. Currently searching for – and writing about – DC’s design voices. Write to me @
Hate to say it, but we kind of agree with your husband. You should really consider going white with the blinds. It will definitely keep things light and bright in the room, which is great for a kid’s space. Good luck!
I agree with your husband and Vastu- keep them white. They will blend in with the window frames and louver doors, and bringing that little bit of blue onto them will be a nice bright contrast. There’s already a lot of brown on the walls and the white will help balance that out. Those quilts are great, but I’m totally drooling over that rug! LOVE it!
Hi Jen,
I would definitely go white. If you decide against blinds a simple white roman shade from PB would be great and add dark blue ribbon (Michael’s) on sides.
I prefer white too. It picks up the white in the quilts, which by the way, are gorgeous! It will also work well with the white closet doors.
Hi Jennifer—The room is adorable. If it you didn’t have the lover closet doors, white plantation shutters would look fantastic. It appears to me that the windows do not have a lot of depth, so whatever you use would have to be outside mounted, so a treatment that lays flat on the window would be better. I think woven wood shades would look incredible. The shades would add texture, color and be a bit more masculine (and they can be lined for privacy). I always use Hunter Douglas, but you can also get then from Smith and Noble. Here’s the Hunter Douglas link: http://www.hunterdouglas.com/our-products-detail.jsp?id=8.
If you go with the white you will have four large blocks of white (including the closet doors)- dynamic with the high contrast but almost too much. I think the wood would add some nice texture and blend more with the walls. The impact of the white will be more noticeable at night with the blinds closed- the wood would be more cozy at night- a time when most kids hang in their rooms.
I agree with Jennifer about the lined woven woods. Also check http://www.HorizonShades.com
The big question would be if the room is on the front of the house and what will the wood blinds with tapes do to the outside apperance? Also do you want the windows to stand out, if so go with the wood blinds or woven shades. If you want them to not be a focal point, stay white.
Love your blog!
I am going to agree on the white vs. wood. But, I too also like the idea of simple romans so you don’t have so much wood. If you are worried about light you could do black out shades underneath or have them line and interlined. The room looks awesome, though….love what you have done so far!
Love the room, the rug AND quilts are wonderful. All sorts of great advice. I agree that if it works from the street side woven shades would be very nice option as well. Kirsch has one called Natural Filigree White that might have just enough white & brown in it (then possibly consider a tape with the blue white & brown). Kirsch also offers a cordless lift system that is eliminates the cord. If not, white blinds for my vote.
Confused yet? xo
Gotta be white, even for a wood lover like me. Go girl.
Go with the white Jennifer, it will be more harmonious with the closets. Great lecture yesteday!Thanks for your insight.
The room looks great! The rug works perfectly with the quilts. Ok. Not to throw a wrench in, but what if you painted the closet doors the wall color so they blend. We have the same doors and did that in our house. It works great. That way you could use the white shades and it won’t compete with the color and horizontal nature of the doors. I also like the idea of the woven shades to add a different texture to the room if you don’t paint the doors. But, if I had to choose between the two I think I’d do white. Good luck! Home Improvement is so much fun!!!
Definitely go with wood blinds or woven wood / bamboo shades. If you go with white, you lose an opportunity to add some warm texture to the room.
gotta be the white…the crisp navy blue tape will really make a statement and tie it all together. and, yes, the white will keep the room lighter and brighter during those long DC winters, especially. Great job…lucky boys!
for me the soft color contrasts on the bed spreads and rug are the soul of the room. I’d go with natural wood. The white louvered doors, plus base trim and then ceiling white are plenty of white. I would think the softer contrast of natural wood with a blue tape will enhance the feeling of the spread and rug. Where the white painted wood and blue tape would call out the the closet doors.
I love the idea of woven natural blinds to add some texture. I’d be concerned that white blinds might call too much attention to windows and doors, and make the room look choppy.
I will go for the white…it will enlighten the room, perfect for a child’s room.
That’s a tough one. I like the idea of matching the window with white blinds, since you may have them open at times. But, I truly think that a woven or bamboo roll up would suit the room the best with the quilt and such.
On a differnt note, have you considered a blue blind with a white stripe? I think you could definitely pull it off in that room as long as it was the right blue.
Amy, thanks for the input. We did consider blue, but the room looks out the front of the house, and blue would look odd if you are standing outside. I think at this point we are considering fabric roman shades, because wood blinds and wovens are inside-mount, and there is almost no clearance on the inside of the trim to mount them. That’s why I’m feeling kind of paralyzed right now! Thank goodness the boys can sleep through early-morning light!