Furniture Buyers Guide

Historians theorize that it was probably the warm and dry Mediterranean climate of Rome, Italy, that prompted the use of roman blinds.  Long ago, before roads were even paved, people traversed dirt roads.   You could just imagine the amount of dust and dirt particles swimming in the horizon as horses and carts passed by all day long.  These dust and dirt particles eventually entered and settled inside Roman homes, public places, and other structures.

Construction of the Roman Colosseum soon began under the rule of Emperor Vespasian.  This construction would have aggravated the dust and dirt problem as stone carvers installed large stones to build the Ancient structure that was to open in 80 A.D.

People surely needed a way to protect their food from all the dust and dirt plaguing their homes.  Clean air for breathing was also a necessity they had to secure.  This, the historians believe, was the driving force behind the invention of the roman blinds.

The men and women of Ancient Rome used damp sheets to hang across their windows to ease their dust and dirt problem.  The damp sheets would lessen the amount of dust or even prevent it from getting inside their homes.  Further, the sheets of cloth served another purpose – that of shielding them from the intensity of daylight coming from the mighty sun.  After all, the average summer temperature in Rome ranges from mid- to upper-90s.  Cooling the home surely was an equally important consideration.  This is evident in the kinds of materials Romans used in their homes, from stone or tile floors to light outdoor wall paints.

There may be no available materials to illustrate how the early models of roman blinds probably looked like, but it would be easy to imagine it from the way the Romans of Old adorned their buildings, especially the upper class.  They fancied rich colors of purples, golds, and reds in high quality fabrics and they also loved pottery, glasswork, and tapestries.  The blinds would have been as decorative in each home.

The blinds have evolved as time went on and have come to utilize a drawstring that pulls it up or lowers it down with the help of fabric tiers.  Models made to withstand winter even include insulation layers to help weather the cold. You can also find a variety of blackout Roman blinds that will provide you with almost complete darkness in a room during a sunny day

At present, the blinds are made from a variety of fabrics and other materials, including wood. Bamboo Roman blinds have been gaining popularity since cloth blinds can be a chore to keep clean. But despite of the modern developments, the essence remains basically the same: they are placed over windows to adorn them, to shield against the sun, and to prevent dust from getting inside the house.

One of the most intriguing and elegant pieces of furniture (if you want to call them that – others call them window treatments) that you can add to your home are roman shades. For me, there’s nothing better than finding cheap roman shades and adding them to my home as if I paid the full retail price for them.

While you could argue that inexpensive roman shades are not hard to come by I would argue that most shades are relatively low priced, but if you ever saw cheap roman shades in a shop you’d probably be stunned! Because of this it seems that roman shades are becoming more and more popular in the home despite the fact that they’re hardly a new item (hint – the key is in the name). Perhaps this is due to the fact that you can now find cheap roman shades more and more easily today (due to the way they are mass produced) or perhaps it is down to the fact that they have come into fashion lately. Whatever it is, as more and more people buy these shades more and more will be made – again lowering the cost to manufacture and therefore the price which we are expected to pay.

As well as shades, cheap roman blinds have come into popularity since they allow you to accurately control the flow of light into a room as if it were water coming through a lock (as in the locks that control the height of a river). These are viable alternatives to cheap roman shades and should not be dismissed.

For whatever type of window you’ve got (whatever size and shape) you can always find a cheap roman shade to cover it (and to not only cover it but to give it an extra touch of class) such is the availability and range of roman shades on the market today.

Not only is there a larger selection of cheap roman shades on the market today but they are also easier to buy than ever. For the ‘traditionalists’ among us you can still go into and blind or shade shop and buy the items of your choice, but for those of us more willing to embrace new technology (and the inevitable changes that follow it) we can shop online at any of the hundreds of roman shades websites that have been set up in the past 10 years.

It’s a well known fact that fabric roman shades are a great and easy to use window treatment that can brighten up the look of any window. An added benefit of fabric roman shades is that they can be fitted in place where ordinary curtains wouldn’t be able to be realistically used (such as on high windows). The reason for this is that they’re operated by pulling on a string that can easily be extended so that it reaches the ground form a high place. While some curtains and fabric roman blinds can also do this, it inevitably works best with roman shades.

If you want fabric roman shades in your home you have two choices – you can buy them from the shop (which is the easy but costly option) or you can make them yourself (which is the cheaper but more difficult option). If you haven’t ever made blinds or shades before and don’t consider yourself a master of the sewing machine I’d stay away from trying to make these roman shades yourself since they are more difficult than they look (thanks to the use of draw strings). Getting this wrong can leave you in all sorts of mess, so if you don’t know what you’re doing it’s best just to avoid it altogether.

The great thing about using fabric roman shades is that you can make them or get them made out of any kind (and any colour) of fabric that you like. This means you can get fabric shades that match the colour and décor or the room they’re in or that compliment it through the use of a different colour (such as yellow against purple or black against white). Note also that your fabric roman shades don’t have to be one plan colour – your roman shades material can be full of patterns and designs of whatever you like. This is where they really have the advantage over curtains and blinds – in that you can really experiment and get creative with them.

When it comes to cleaning your fabric roman shade they again come up trumps over the other 2 kinds (blinds and curtains) in that they’re a lot easier to clean and to look after. To clean your roman shades you simply have to hold them flat (you can remove them from the wall/window but as long as you can reach the top of them this is unnecessary – although you may need a step ladder) and wide them down with a soap or detergent based solution mixed with water. After wiping out any stains, rinse them with clear water to remove the soap and them dry them off with a cloth. You might also want to occasionally dust your fabric roman shades – this can be done either with a duster of with a vacuum cleaner (although this takes a lot longer).

If you love the look of blinds in your house but can’t afford genuine wood window blinds (since let’s face it they are expensive!) then you might want to consider looking into faux (a fancy work for ‘fake) wood window blinds since they’re a rather cheaper alternative.

It’s certainly true wood window shades are the best thing that you can use to decorate a window and having it looking its best. The reason for this is that they give off such a natural and timeless look, since wood has been part of our evolution we react differently to it than we do other materials (such as plastics and metals, which have only been used by made for a few thousand years at most).

It’s also true that the reason these wood blinds work so well and look so nice is because of the purity of wood that is used (or at least how it looks). Kitting out a home with wood window blinds is no cheap task, and is something that you should think long and hard about before doing (unless you happen to be extremely rich, that is). As I mentioned earlier, fake wood window blinds are a genuine alternative, and are something that should be seriously considered when buying blinds. Apart from the fact they are a lot cheaper they are also a lot stronger and are less likely to get damaged or scratched (since they’re made up from a collection of toughened synthetic materials). In fact, you might say that faux wooden window blinds are more developed than the real thing, since scientists have spent years perfecting the materials that they’re made from.

In addition to this, since wood is a natural material and is essentially part of a plant it can die like any other plant can (although it is technically already dead, it can rot, bend and become unusable) if not given proper care and attention (such as cleaning and dusting). Believe it or not, the simple act of letting dust settle for too long on wood window blinds will cause them to deteriorate, since the bacteria in the dust will grow and eat away at the wood (we’re not talking termite size here – the damage done is very tiny any only noticeable over a period of time).

For these reason I have just mentioned, the next time you’re thinking about getting wooden blinds for your house why not consider fake wood window blinds instead?

If you’re looking for a great new look for your windows, look no further than bamboo roman shades. The great thing about bamboo shades is that they’re functional (in that they’re easy to use and in that they’re great at keeping out light) and cheap (which is always nice!). In addition to this, I you get the incredible natural bamboo look right in the middle of your home. There’s something soothing and almost spiritual about having a piece of beautiful bamboo in your home (especially when compared to steel blinds).

You might be interested in getting some bamboo roman shades, but you probably realize that you don’t have a bamboo forest growing in your back yard! Luckily, bamboo is imported from Asia (and other continents) extremely in bulk extremely cheaply (and fairly). It requires a very little amount of effort in order to be maintained – you really only need to make sure it’s kept clean every few weeks or so.

You might be wary about buying bamboo roman shades because they are made from wood, and some woods can quickly dry up and rot. Fortunately, bamboo is not one of those woods, and bamboo blinds are built to last for years and years. Just look at some of the places in Asia where entire communities’ furniture and homes are made solely out of bamboo.

The reason that bamboo roman blinds (and bamboo shades) are so cheap to buy is because bamboo itself is so cheap. The fact that it will grow several feet in a few months means that people can harvest enormous quantities of it in a very short time, meaning there’s always enough to go around. In fact, you might say that bamboo is God’s gift to us when it comes to furniture.

The obvious advantage of this is that it’s a 100% natural material. In this day and age where people are so concerned about being ‘green’ (and rightly so), making bamboo roman shades is just one more step to global harmony. Roman shade blinds made from bamboo give a very warm and friendly feeling to anyone that passes them, and they are a great way to make your home look like a rainforest (if that’s what you want, anyway!). They work in exactly the same way as all roman shades so, and the bamboo pieces are conveniently held together by either string or thin wire.