American Blinds / Decorate Today - Feed That “Trading Spaces” Urge
Written: Jan 04 '06
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My old home had curtains simply because my children when they were younger destroyed the vertical blinds left by the previous owner. Curtains were just a more practical choice. However, I always had the desire to have vertical blinds instead.
With my new home I decided that the time had come to go back to the verticals I so badly wanted. A trip to Home Depot was unsuccessful. The blinds I wanted were special order - if I had to order them anyway I could do better on the Internet by myself, right?
I located the American Blinds, Wallpaper & More website through a search engine. As I compared prices of the various online blinds stores, I found that American Blinds, Wallpaper & More was competitive, if not the best price.
The site is very easy to navigate. There’s no search box on the main page, but it’s easy to go right to the decorating category you are interested in, such as Blinds & Shutters, Wallpaper & Fabric, Curtains & Drapes, Bedding, Area Rugs, or Custom Framed Art. I browsed through the Blinds & Shutters section and looked at very wide variety of verticals. I pretty much knew exactly what I was looking for in that I wanted cloth free-hanging blinds.
American Blinds, Wallpaper & More carries brand names such as Bali, Levolor, Hunter Douglas, Barrington, and others in addition to their own American Blind brand. The blinds I ended up buying were their own brand as they were the cheapest after all of my browsing.
There are color samples available online for the cloth blinds at American Blinds, Wallpaper & More. I just used the samples online to make my selections. For people who are a bit more particular and want to see how colors and/or patterns hold up against the room they’ll be going in, up to 10 swatch samples of fabric blinds can be ordered for $5. If you then order from American Blinds, Wallpaper & More, they will deduct that $5 from your order.
I found the blinds I wanted but wasn’t sure exactly how to proceed. Having never ordered blinds myself - online or otherwise - I began to read up. The instructions on the American Blinds, Wallpaper & More website are very comprehensive when it comes to ordering. They directed me exactly what to measure and how, based upon whether I wanted the blinds mounted above my windows or set in the frame.
Selecting the blinds to order is simple. Clicking on the pattern will bring up an order form. In this form I entered the size I wanted - both the height and width. Both of these can be measured to the nearest 1/8 of an inch. The type of mount (interior or outside as I mentioned above) is selected so the correct hardware will be sent. Other options can be selected here such as motorizing, the valance, trim color, free-hanging or inserted, and if you would like extension brackets. Most of the unfamiliar terms have the ability to click on so you can read about exactly what they are. The site is very user-friendly.
Once the size has been entered and all of the options selected (or not) an automated price will be generated. I found the price to be very good, especially compared to what some of the smaller home centers around my Valley wanted to charge me for blinds.
My only concern when I was ordering was that I knew I wanted blinds with weights at the bottom. I wasn’t sure if this was standard or not and trying to find out this information proved a bit difficult. In the end, I was pretty sure they did have this feature but wasn’t absolutely certain when I ordered.
I had chosen vertical blinds for four windows in my home. I also wanted a set of wood blinds for my bathroom which was going to have a tropical theme. Again, the site was very helpful, showing me how to measure for an inside mount.
If you’re really not comfortable doing it yourself, there are two other options. One is the online help of a personal shopper. The other is setting up an appointment of having someone come and do the measuring and installation. This is free on orders over $750 with a $55 deposit applied to the order.
Shipping via UPS is free on all blinds under 95 inches. American Blinds, Wallpaper & More accepts all major credit cards and also has their own credit account should you wish to apply for one with them.
My blinds arrived in five separate boxes over the course of three days. I had a friend install them for me. I have to say that following the directions provided at American Blinds, Wallpaper & More was right on target. By following it, I ordered all of the blinds absolutely perfect for each of the windows, including the interior-mounted wooden set in my bathroom.
I would order from American Blinds, Wallpaper & More again if I ever had the need. I looked at the site again recently as I have begun to think about what I am doing in my kids’ rooms and I’m looking at wallpaper borders. Their selection of borders is somewhat limited in the kids department, so I don’t think I’ll order that from them (no New York Mets border for the blue and orange
room for my son).
I would recommend the site as reliable and dependable to anyone who is looking for decorating needs for their home. The prices are great, the site is consumer-friendly and also very friendly toward the decorating novice.
© 2006 Patti Aliventi
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
AliventiAsylum
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Member: Patti Aliventi
Location: Mount Washington Valley, New Hampshire
Reviews written: 2083
Trusted by: 689 members
About Me:
Now writing reviews to pay for the "out of network" costs of our health insurance...
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