Although woven shades may sound a bit old-fashioned, when they are made of natural materials such as reeds, grass or bamboo, they can have a special charm and a warm way of filtering the light, that such window treatments are often preferred by interior designers who want their creations to be in harmony with nature. Bamboo is warm, flexible and a rapidly renewable resource, therefore it quickly became a popular material for window blinds, shades or curtains. Most important window coverings manufacturers have at leas one line of bamboo blinds in their portfolio.

Levolor Blinds, Care for Your Comfort and Safety

Today we are going to take a look at Levolor’s Natural Woven Shades, which are among the most beautiful and innovative of their kind. Levolor has patented a shade control system that allows choosing whether or not to use the liner of the shade. This makes it possible to enjoy sheer bamboo shades during daytime, half sheer shades when you just want to darken your room more and all room-darkening shades for night-time, when you want full privacy. The system that makes this possible is based on the top down bottom up shades operating principle, and thanks to its versatility it’s an excellent choice for bedrooms or bathrooms, where light is nice, but also privacy is required at times. The Levolor exclusive cordless lift system is very simple to operate and very discrete, so it doesn’t interfere with the look of your windows. The absence of dangling cords adds a plus of safety for children and pets, so it’s good to consider it even if you don’t care too much about the looks. Another convenience feature offered by Levolor is the possibility of installing multiple shades on the same headrail. If you have wide windows, then you surely know how difficult wide shades are to raise or lower, so you probably appreciate this possibility at its real value.

Levolor Woven Bamboo Shades Colors and Finishes

Levolor woven bamboo shades are available in a wide range of colors. Free ordering of up to ten samples is also possible. This is a great idea, because nothing compares to the real look an touch, computer screens being sometimes far from showing the real colors. If bamboo is your favorite out of all woven woods, here are your possible options if you want to go for Levolor: Bamboo Essence Origami, Bamboo Essence Saatchi, Bamboo Essence Shibori and Bamboo Essence Tatami. There are also a few interesting choices of sisal and rattan, in case you’re undecided with the material. Depending on your home interior style, you may wand to make use of some added touches like valances or tailored edges. Valances are available in either wood or decorative scallops with various trim colors such as chestnut, carmel, natural or white. The classic wood valance is available in five finishes: black, white, chestnut, golden oak and sand n beach. Specialty shapes such as arched windows, angled tops or cutouts are possible, but for those you’ll have to visit a Levolor retailer because they can’t be ordered online like the classic bamboo blinds and shades.

Bamboo blinds and shades are not only beautiful but also environmentally friendly. Generally speaking, woven woods are better than classic wood because they are considered renewable resources. Indeed, a bamboo tree grows hundreds of times faster than an oak tree. This is what determined manufacturers of window coverings to take advantage of bamboo, reeds and grasses in creating special lines of eco-friendly products.

Hunter Douglas is one of the major players in the window treatments industry who take pride in protecting the environment while not giving up on quality and comfort. The Provenance woven wood shades offer a natural look, the warmth of nature inside your home, combined with excellent durability and with the latest technology available, in order to maximize the comfort.

The Hunter Douglas Provenance woven wood shades are eco-friendly in more than one way. Not only are they manufactured from renewable resources, but they also feature excellent thermal insulation properties and an outstanding solar heat control which lead to reduced energy consumption for heating or cooling the house. These insulating qualities are emphasized by adding the optional liner provided by Hunter Douglas with this line of window shades.

Hunter Douglas designers pay attention to details and this shows very well in the color-coordinated hardware which makes these shades look much better than cheaper ones that use only brass hardware or unfinished headrails. Edge banding is an other cool option that leaves room for creativity in matching all decor elements in a room. You can make your shades unique by combining fabrics and textures of your choice. Privacy and light filtering control are in the middle range, but these bamboo blinds can become almost opaque if doubled by liners.

Comfort is also one of the Hunter Douglas priorities, which is translated into the many options of operating systems, from the standard cord lock and clutch operated shades to the continuous cord loop systems and the motorized options which allow operating the shades by remote control. If you consider buying such blinds, the best you can do is to find a Hunter Douglas dealer close to you, pay them a visit and see what are the options available, so you can make the best purchasing decision. Beware that Hunter Douglas is anything but cheap, so be prepared to pay for the quality you’re asking for. Nonetheless, such high quality results in a much longer life of the blinds, so on long term it surely pays off nicely.

The Looped Roman shades are part of the Natural Shades line of Bali Blinds and they are designed for indoor use only, although the materials they are made of could easily stand bad weather as well. As Bali takes pride in being a “green” company, they make their Natural Shades window treatments from renewable sources: bamboo, grass, jute or rattan reeds are used. These window shades have 28.5% green content in their composition. All fabrics used are stained by boiling, then air dried, therefore saving energy in the manufacturing process. Eco-friendly raw materials that go into the Bali Natural Shades line of products are 100% recyclable, including the headrail which is made of reclaimed wood. Moreover, the packaging material is also recyclable, so if going green is one of your main concerns, by buying Bali bamboo blinds and shades you’re on the right track.

Although woven wood blinds aren’t usually total light blockers, they can be turned into blackout window treatments by adding a liner. The liner will also contribute to improving the energy efficiency of the window treatment. With or without the liner, these bamboo blinds are quite spectacular, because when they are folded they for soft, billowing loops which add some dimension to the windows, creating a dramatic effect. Colors are all natural and beautiful, and for many of them Bali provides free samples which can be ordered directly online from their website or by visiting a window blinds retailer.

The lift controls on these bamboo shades can be standard cord, continuous-loop lift or continuous chain-loop lift system. Continuous loop systems are a bit more expensive than the standard cord ones, but they are much safer for kids and for pets, because there are not dangling cords that present a strangling hazard.

The Looped Roman bamboo shades feature various types of hems and trims. If you don’t want your window treatments to attract attention, you can go for the classic, standard hem, which is barely noticeable. Other options are the deco-trim hem and the deco-pocket hem, which are cut to the shade width and which can be finished with French gimps.

In case a liner is needed, Bali offers two options: the privacy liner, available in four neutral colors, and the blackout liner, which is neutral to the street side, thus providing a unified appearance from the outside of the building. The blackout liner is available in three color options: Blackout Buff, Blackout Chestnut and Blackout Espresso.

The mounting brackets choice:

• Standard-mount, suitable for inside-mount or outside-mount window treatments
• Projection brackets, which are basically similar to the standard brackets, but they can have an extra depth which provides additional space for window molding or for operating hardware.
• Ceiling-mount brackets, which need to be used in case the window casing is too narrow to allow an inside-mount of the window treatments.
• Hold-down brackets have the role of securing the bottomrail of the bamboo blinds to the window sill.

Top down bottom up shades are among the most special window treatments, their versatility and beauty making them suitable for practically any room in a house. Top down bottom up bamboo shades can successfully replace cafe curtains in a kitchen or in a bathroom. Usually, the duofold or the top down bottom up facilities are upgrades which can be ordered with some shades models at various manufacturers. The point of interest in this type of window shades is that one can either raise them from the bottom or lower them from the top, depending on the privacy needs of the moment. Such bamboo shades form accordion pleats when raised or lowered, just like Roman shades do. As woven wood allows quite a significant amount of light to pass through, a liner is needed to double the shades in case total darkness is required.

Now that we agreed on what we’d like to buy, let’s see what are some available options:

Tropical Isle Bamboo Shades

We found the Tropical Isle Top-Down Bottom-Up Basic bamboo shades at Blinds Chalet and we were impressed with what they have to offer. Not only these shades come with limited lifetime warranty, but they also include a 6” valance free of charge. Tropical Isle bamboo shades are safe for children and pets, because they feature a continuous cord loop, which is a real cord and not a beaded chain as it happens in some cheaper models. When folded, the bamboo shades form those Roman shade-style pleats which can give so much elegance to any classic interior decor. These bamboo shades are available in a wide choice of colors: Bermuda, Cocoa, Dusk Reed, Jamaica, Natural Palm, New Guinea Amber and New Guinea Caramel. If you can’t decide which one fits best your interiors, you can order free samples. Blackout and privacy liner are available on request. Tropical Isle Basic bamboo shades are made to measure, which is a great option in case your windows aren’t typical.

Levolor Providence

Levolor is not a cheap window treatments manufacturer. However, they offer good quality for money, so they are one of the best options when ordering blinds and shades for windows. Levolor Providence bamboo shades feature light and dark reeds and either a classic wood or a waterfall valance. Besides the top down bottom up option, they are also suitable for installing multiple shades on a single headrail, thus being able to cover even extremely large windows. The shade style can be Roman, Classic Roman or Waterfall. For the Waterfall style, it’s mandatory to order either cordless operating system or continuous cord loop. The top down bottom up feature adds an extra $45 to the final bill.

Just Blinds - Economy Bamboo Shades

Woven wood shades aren’t necessarily expensive, economy options being available for those on a tight budget. While it’s true that they may not last as long as some expensive ones, economy bamboo shades are ideal to cover your windows when you either don’t have too much money, or you’re just renting on shorter term and you don’t want to spend huge amounts on improvements you’re going to leave behind anyway. These top down bottom up cheap bamboo shades from Just Blinds are available in more than 20 color combinations and finishes, and if you want, you can even order free samples. The 6” valance that comes with your shades order is free on charge. Optional liners are available for extra cost.

Sliding glass doors and French doors are among the most used solutions for the patio entrance of a house. Sometimes, such doors may be used for creating a temporary separation between two rooms, so they can be fully opened for allowing the two rooms merge into a bigger one. This can be a good idea for people who like to organize festivities and celebrations in their home, thus needing to occasionally set up a big dinner table to accommodate all those guests.

Because of their large glass areas, sliding glass doors don’t offer too much privacy if the glass is clear. This is where bamboo shades for sliding doors come into play: they can provide this privacy when needed, but they can also be completely open in order to allow daylight in at times when we don’t care if people in the street are staring at us through the glass of our doors. Bamboo has a natural look which helps creating an exotic and Earth-friendly atmosphere, while passing almost unnoticed. This is a nice feature, especially when it’s not desirable to have one decor element which focuses the attention, making people ignore other elements we’d like them to see and admire.

Styles of Bamboo Shades for Sliding Doors

Bamboo sliding panels: such window treatments can add a dramatic look to your room, offer you privacy, while allowing enough filtered light to pass through. They are usually multiple panels installed on a double track, so they can overlap when opened. The number of panels may vary depending on the opening size, but the most usual numbers are 4 or 6. This has to be an even number, because symmetry is nice to have when you slide the panels to the sides. Of course, you can opt for a one-way draw to open, case in which the number of panels doesn’t matter anymore. Bamboo is very good for such installations because it’s lightweight, therefore there’s no need for a sturdy track that could be hard to install and to secure in place, especially if the door opening is very large. Thanks to the liners that can be added to the shades, the light filtering degree can be chosen from very light to total blackout. Bamboo sliding panel curtains can be paired with matching valances, for more sophisticated interiors.

Bamboo Roman shades: this is another option for covering sliding door glass panes. Compared to sliding panels, Roman shades offer the advantage of not needing to open them each time you want to use the door. This is important when you have kids, because they might not be careful enough with curtains, drapes, shades or other window treatments, so they may damage the bamboo slats of the sliding panels if they use a lot those patio doors. After all, we can’t expect kids to slide open those panels when they have so many things on their mind, do we?

Be it we talk about sliding panels or Roman shades, bamboo slats are available in many color choices, from the darkest Black Cherry finish, to the warm Colonial shade or Maple Kauai and even to the unevenly looking Pecan color.

Blinds, shades and curtains are usually indoor window treatments, so they don’t have to be weatherproof. Yet, there are situations in which blinds need to be installed outdoor, like in case of sunrooms or patio shadings. This means that the blinds will be exposed to direct sunlight, to wind and rains, therefore they need to made of something that can resist all those, yet preserve their appearance for a long time. What else could be better than bamboo for making such outdoor blinds? Bamboo is natural and flexible, it grows in wet climate areas, with lots of heavy rains and hot sunny days, with storms and many other weather challenges. This is why choosing outdoor bamboo blinds can save a homeowner a lot of future trouble with frequent replacements or repairs.

If you have a sunroom or a patio and you think of shading it with outdoor bamboo blinds, here are a couple of cheap and beautiful options:

Radiance Laguna Bamboo Roll-Up Blinds

These outdoor blinds are made 100% of hand-selected bamboo featuring plain weave type and rollup shade lift system. They are ready-made window treatments, with a height of 72” and a width of 60” or 48”. If needed, they can be cut shorter at home, but beware that you may lose the 1 year warranty if you do that. Radiance Laguna bamboo blinds are delivered with all required mounting hardware included, so they can be installed easily. They provide a medium light filtering and some thermal insulation, but you shouldn’t count on that to heat your sunroom during the cold season. These blinds are available in several stores such as Target or Sears, as well as in online window treatments and home improvement shops.

Lewis Hyman Reed Natural Blinds

These blinds are made of reed and bamboo and they are suitable for both indoor and outdoor use. They are available in natural tones of wood, which may feature slight variations of color which make them look even more natural. The roll-up system is easy to install and to use, the only required maintenance being periodical dusting or vacuuming. These blinds are ready-made in the size of 72” x 48” and they are available in many online window blinds stores.

When buying outdoor bamboo blinds, keep in mind that all metal parts should be made of non-rusting materials, otherwise the blinds won’t serve you for too long, especially if you live in a front beach house, exposed to salty water drops which can easily eat up your metal during one single year. See if you can get some additional warranty for the hardware, so you can enjoy your blinds for a very long time.

Installing window blinds is an easy DIY project that even ladies can do, at least in case of bamboo blinds or other very simple types of window treatments which only require a few holes in the window frame to get the job done. Actually, the easiest DIY blinds installation is the inside mount, or ceiling mount as it is also called. The outside mount needs holes to be made in the walls, and that could be problematic in case you don’t have the adequate power tools and accessories. For instance, in case of concrete walls, you’ll need a percussion drilling machine, some carbide drills and plugs, otherwise you won’t be able to get those screws tightly fixed in the wall.

When buying your bamboo blinds, your purchase should include the installation brackets and some mounting screws. The type of the screw is usually specified with your purchase. If they are for wood but you need to screw them in plastic, you may need to buy other screws that are suitable for the type of material you want to use them on. If you don’t know what to buy, either ask the shop assistant for help, explaining her what type of walls you have, or hire somebody to install your bamboo blinds. It can’t be that expensive, after all, and anyway it’s cheaper than damaging the blinds and having to get new ones. However, if you’re keen on doing the installation yourself, keep in mind the following:

The headrail must be level. This is very important, otherwise your blinds won’t operate properly. Even if your window frame is not even, you need to use a level and properly install the headrail. In case of an outside mount you’ll need to do the leveling anyway and mark the correct position for the screws with a pencil. When performing an inside mount, it’s still good to use the level to check on the window frame. If it’s not even, you’ll have to use shims for making sure your headrail will be in the correct operating position.

Basically, bamboo blinds installation resumes to drilling holes and mounting the installation brackets in them with the help of screws. Although the brackets have four holes in them, it’s usually enough to use only two diagonal holes. Those are the ones for which you’ll have to mark the positioning with a pencil, before starting the drilling operation. After the brackets are in position, it’s enough to push the headrail up onto them in such a way that the threaded posts fit through the headrail slots. Finally, don’t forget to secure the headrail by tightening the wing nuts. Instead of wing nuts, some bracket models may have some levers which you have to push towards the headrail in order to secure it to the brackets.

This DIY installation procedure is suitable for bamboo blinds as well as for any other kind of Venetian blinds or Roman shades, provided that they have the same type of headrail and mounting brackets.

Bay windows are undoubtedly some of the most beautiful window styles, because they help creating a nice and cozy relaxation area inside a room. They just make rooms seem larger, thanks to the huge amount of light they allow in. Yet, there are situations which demand a higher level of privacy, therefore choosing the right coverings for bay windows is an important step in home decorating. The difference between bay windows and common ones is that bay windows must have an unified look and so should their treatments. Some people prefer sheer curtains, while others choose to add a second layer of fabric, so they can better control the light filtering. The second layer is usually a thick drape that can also serve as thermal insulation. However, for modern, minimalist home interiors, curtains and drapes may not be the perfect match. Some simple, inside mount mini blinds, or bamboo blinds, or bamboo Roman shades may be much better, because of their simplicity. While most bamboo blinds and shades are no-name, there are also brand ones available, as you can see from the following reviews.

Bali Premium Woven Bamboo Shades

Bali bamboo shades belong to the Bali Natural Shades collection and they are made of bamboo reeds and bamboo slats, woven together with sisal, jute and straws. Basically, all items in the Natural Shades collection are suitable for bay windows, as they allow easy customization thanks to their mitered corners. Controls may be situated on either side of the blind you wish, but Bali’s recommendation is to place them opposite the corner. Bali is one of the window treatments manufacturers who are concerned with using renewable sources and energy-saving technologies for their products. For example, in the Natural Shades series of woven bamboo blinds the renewable content accounts for 20.9% of the total product weight, the pre-consumer recycled content is 1% and the post-consumer recycled content is 6.7%, which leads to a total of 28.5% green content.

Hillarys Woodweave Blinds

Hillarys Woodweave blinds are also made from renewable sources such as bamboo, sea grass or jute, proving once more that there’s no need to destroy the forests for bringing a bit of nature into our homes. These blinds come with a matching valance and they diffuse the light in a gentle way, which makes them one of the best choices for bay windows, conservatories or skylights. The controls can be placed either left or right, thus making these bamboo blinds a good idea for decorating and protecting your bay windows.

Levolor Natural Woven Shades

Levolor Natural Woven shades are ideal for sunrooms and for bay windows, as they feature an impressive style which helps creating the cozy sensation we all want to get from designing such relaxation areas in our homes. These bamboo blinds from Levolor are available in a wide array of colors such as Bamboo Essence Origami, Bamboo Essence Saatchi, Bamboo Essence Shibori, Bamboo Essence Tatami, Beads Brown, Beads White, Bei Shan Myths Amber, Bei Shan Myths Merlot, Classic Caramel, Cordon Tan and many others which one can see sampled on the Levolor website. These bamboo shades allow for adding a lining, if a higher level of privacy or light filtration is needed. They can also be doubled by blackout drapes, if needed. Such bamboo blinds may be equipped with the Levolor cordless lift system, thus eliminating those dangling cords that can be so dangerous for pets and children.

No matter your home decoration budget, remember that window blinds should not be an impulse purchase, because they are items with a relatively long lifetime, therefore cutting costs shouldn’t start with them. Better quality leads to longer usage, while offering you the privilege of enjoying excellent materials and finishes. If you’re as lucky as to have bay windows in your home, why not enjoy them to the full and choose some really exquisite bamboo blinds for them?

Bamboo Roman shades belong to the category of elegant yet affordable window treatments. The classic Roman shades design gives them a very natural look and also helps keeping their price low, because no fancy mechanisms are involved in operating Roman blinds. All they need to move are the strings. This makes them extremely easy to install, too. Although they can’t be used as total blackout window treatments, bamboo Roman shades can provide various degrees of light filtering, depending on how they are woven or if other materials such as wood or matchsticks are alternating with the bamboo slats.

How To Measure For Bamboo Roman Shades

Measuring for bamboo Roman shades depends on the installation type. For inside mount installation, shades need to measure 1/2" less in width than the glass pane. The 1/2" difference will be distributed evenly between the two edges, so the shade will fit well into the window frame. If the difference is bigger, the shades will still fit, but they will allow too much light to pass through the edges, and that could be bothering and not very appealing, esthetically speaking. A smaller difference will cause the shade to fit too tight inside the frame, therefore being exposed to premature wear in case of frequent manipulation.

Inside mount is a bit tricky, because some windows don’t offer enough depth for making it possible, so that’s the first measurement that needs to be taken in order to make sure the windows are appropriate for this type of mount. Typically, the minimum depth for an inside mount should be 1/2" and the depth for a flush fit should be minimum 2”.

When taking the measurements for inside mount installs, it’s always wiser to take three such sets: one at the top, one at the middle and one at the bottom of the window. For measuring the height, three sets are also required: left side, middle and right side. It happens sometimes that windows are not even, therefore the smallest measurements should be taken into consideration in order to avoid surprises.

For outside mount, the exact area to be covered by the shade needs to be measured. It should include also the headrail (this needs to be clearly specified to the shop assistant, as some stores may require different ways of measuring).

When buying made-to-measure Roman shades, measurements should be done with extreme care, because such shades can’t usually be returned to the shop in case they don’t fit. Their custom nature makes them unique, so the probability for the vendor to be able to find another buyer for those custom bamboo Roman shades is very small.

Bamboo blinds and shades have the advantage of looking great even when they get old. Nonetheless, preserving them as new for a long time asks for periodical cleaning. If dusting is done regularly, at 4-5 days intervals, washing the blinds more often than once a year won’t be necessary if you live in a dry weather climate. Dusting can be done with a clean, soft cloth or with a special duster which attracts the dust and dirt particles even from between the slats, where a simple cloth can’t reach. Vacuuming them once a week is also good for preventing dirt accumulation, but this should be done carefully, using the brush head, so you avoid scratching the window blinds.

Is It Safe To Wash Bamboo Blinds?

Unlike regular wood blinds, which can’t be washed, bamboo blinds can be safely washed. Bamboo, rattan and wicker are wood essences that love water, therefore furniture and home accessories made of them are easy to maintain and to clean. Bamboo rugs and window treatments are easy to get cleaned by immersing them in warm water with soap and gently rubbing them with a sponge. Before rubbing, let the blinds sit in water for several minutes, so dirt gets soaked and becomes easy to remove. Rinsing is a very important operation, so it should be performed thoroughly, for multiple times, until the water runs clean. If dirt residues and soap aren’t washed away, the bamboo blinds will soon start to develop a funny smell, so you’ll have to wash them again. The best method for rinsing the blinds is to press them against a tile wall and use the shower set on high pressure, starting from the top of the blind to the bottom, until you see the water coming out clear, with no dirt or soap bubbles. Repeat the procedure on both sides of the blinds. When you’re done, hang the blinds in a well-ventilated place to get dry. During hot, sunny days, drying shouldn’t take more than 30-45 minutes. If there’s also some wind blowing, it could take even less.

Removing Mold From Bamboo Blinds

People who live in humid areas should pay a special attention, as woven blinds and shades may easily develop mold and mildew, which are dangerous for health, therefore should be removed as soon as they are spotted. This applies also for bamboo blinds that are installed in wet rooms such as bathroom or kitchen. Washing mold and mildew away from the blinds can be done with soap and water, just as described above. In case of stubborn molds, bicarbonate soda or vinegar added in the water may increase cleaning efficiency. Additionally, treating the blinds with a fungicide will help preventing re-apparition of mold.