Choosing Blinds or Curtains for Living Room Designs

Are you remodeling the living room? What are you doing about the window treatments? Are you going with blinds or curtains? Both have drawbacks and advantages, so which one is the better choice? Choosing blinds or curtains for living room designs can make a significant difference to the final look depending on the styling you have in mind for the room.

Choosing between them is a big decision. You'll have to consider factors like price, cleaning, and longevity when deciding on your preference. Consider the following factors before settling on your choice.

6 Considerations Between Blinds or Curtains for a Living Room

As you read through these quick six considerations, ask yourself which are the most important to you. By the time you're done reading you should have a pretty clear answer in mind as to which you'll be installing.

Curtains Offer You More Customization Options

When it comes down to the deciding factor between choosing curtains or blinds, looks and styling are what seal the deal. You'll have to be confident it's the right choice whichever you go for because you will be staring at them for a few years.

Regardless of whether you choose blinds or curtains, they need to fit in with the design of the living room and look good. The visual aesthetic is the most important consideration, and curtains offer a huge selection of orientations, styles, sizes, and shapes.

Blinds also have plenty of styling options, with materials featuring wood, aluminum, or plastic and various colors and widths. Blinds also come in options for vertical, roller, or Venetian designs, with different functions.

However, blinds don't offer you the same styling options as curtains. You have types of curtains with nearly unlimited colors, fabrics, and hanging styles to suit any living room décor. You can even manage to hang curtains over an arched window.

Curtains allow you to create any look you want, including long curtains pooling on the floor from a curtain rod, giving a visual impression of more height for a refined look, making the room appear larger. Should curtains touch the floor? They can, for sure!

Curtains are great for creating visual illusions in the living room. Apart from adding height to the ceilings, hanging curtains wider than the window frame provide the impression of bigger windows. Create more space in the room with your remodel and give the lounge an impressive and luxurious visual aesthetic.

Curtains are an Energy-Efficient Option

Curtains are the more energy-efficient option of the two. They block out light, and blackout curtains ensure no sunlight enters the room when they're closed. You can purchase blackout blinds, but they aren't as good as curtains, and you'll notice light gaps.

If you don't want light entering the room in the early morning, blackout curtains are the better option over blackout blinds. Windows have a cooling and heating effect in the lounge. During the summer, sun-facing windows increase heat in the room, causing you to turn up the air conditioning to cool the lounge just to make the living room cozy enough to stand being in.

In the winter, windows present a significant heat loss from the lounge, requiring you to turn up the thermostat. Even double-glazed windows allow some level of heat escape. Installing curtains helps to keep the sunlight off the windows in summer, cooling the room, and they keep the heat in the lounge in the winter, reducing your reliance on the thermostat.

Curtains do a great job of assisting with temperature regulation indoors, reducing your annual energy bill. You have options for specific materials and designs for this particular purpose. Microfiber and polyester curtains are particularly effective at resisting moisture in lounges where humidity is an issue. They don't get musty, and there's no chance of them developing mold.

Curtains Can Be Fairly Pricey

The primary drawback with curtains is the price. When it comes to blinds or curtains for living room designs, curtains are definitely more costly than blinds, especially those with high-end materials, premium backings, and luxurious hanging designs.

While you have loads of choices on size, design, color, and fabric, it adds to the price tag, making them a significant investment in your lounge remodel. Consider the fact that you'll be adding on and figuring out where to place curtain holdbacks as well.

Blinds offer homeowners a straightforward, cost-conscious alternative to curtains. That's not saying some blinds won't cost you a pretty penny. The price tag can also get expensive if you go with high-end materials like cedar or oak and a premium hanging fixture.

However, if cost is a concern with your remodel, blinds will give you the better option. You get better quality treatments at a more affordable price than spending thousands of dollars on curtains. Budget blinds offer homeowners decent window treatments with plenty of design options.

Self-installing inexpensive plastic blinds can save hundreds of dollars on your remodel if you have handy skills and the time to do a DIY project.

Blinds are Affordable & More Durable

While many types of blinds are less ornamental and more affordable, they present a more durable option over curtains, especially when considering the price-to-lifespan ratio. We're not referring to the cheap, thin plastic blinds here. We mean high-quality wooden blinds with decent width and thickness. These models are slightly more expensive but have a long service life.

Curtains also last for years, but considering the high cost versus their lifespan, blinds are the better option. This is where the pros and cons of these window treatment options meet and separate from each other.

Curtains offer you a more stylish and customizable option. However, it's more common for curtain designs to become outdated or retro faster than blinds. So, the higher price tag for curtains detracts from their versatility when we consider this point. Blinds are the classic method to dress windows without curtains, so you'll still have a great decor going on.

Also, some cheaper curtain fabrics may experience sun bleaching faster than premium materials and deteriorate quicker than a set of wooden blinds. While curtains have a classic look, the more modern design and visual aesthetic of blinds make them an appealing option for homeowners.

Blinds Offer Easy Cleaning

Curtains are easy to take down and replace compared to blinds. Blinds require a complex mounting system that many homeowners don't have the DIY skills to set up and deconstruct themselves. However, blinds make up for this by being easier to clean when hanging. This is a plus one to the tally for blinds in the blinds or curtains for living room designs debate.

Blinds collect dust and require constant cleaning, but all it takes is a few strokes of a magnetic duster, and you have a fresh, clean set of blinds that look great. Blinds are also less vulnerable to staining compared to curtains.

Since blinds consist of smooth, non-porous materials, they're easy to wipe down and clean, even with more robust dirt deposits. Cleaning your curtains is less straightforward. Most curtain materials aren't machine washable; some might require dry cleaning and ironing, especially decorative designs.

When you take down the curtains to clean them, you'll also have to consider that you won't have anything to cover your windows, ruining your privacy. Blinds are easier to clean without having to dismount them from the window.

Blinds are the More Practical Choice

Curtains provide homeowners with a more dramatic and stylish choice for their living room window treatments. However, the size of the room also plays a key consideration in choosing blinds or curtains. In smaller lounges, fitting curtains may make the room seem smaller.

If you have pets or children, hanging curtains may be impractical because your animals or kids might accidentally pull them off the wall. Cats like climbing curtains but don't have the same tendency to scale blinds. Felines also like tearing into curtains if they don't have a scratching post in the room.

However, there is some concern over the cords in blinds presenting a safety hazard around small kids. Consider a cordless option if you have small children in your household. The ease of operation for blinds might be attractive for some homeowners, and they're the better choice for hanging in smaller rooms.

Finally, blinds require fitment with fixtures like screws and bolts. If you rent your home, you'll have to check with the landlord before making alterations to the windows. The same applies to curtains if you don't have a curtain rail above the window frame.

Living Room Curtains or Blinds – The Verdict & Key Considerations

Keep these considerations in mind before committing to blinds or curtains for your lounge remodel.

• Curtains provide a customizable and unique treatment with a luxurious look.
• Blinds offer faster installation times and a more affordable option over curtains.
• Blinds are a permanent installation but are easier to clean than curtains.
• Curtains provide you more design choices, but blinds have better durability.

Your choice comes down to personal preference, your taste in décor, and your budget. Whatever you decide to go for, remember that you'll live with your decision for many years.

FAQs Regarding Curtains or Blinds for Living Room Designs

When this topic comes up there’s always a handful of other questions that get asked, so let’s cover those now in case you have them in mind, too.

Should I Go With Blinds or Curtains for My Lounge Window Treatments?

Your choice of blinds or some types of window treatments depends on your budget, décor, design, and style requirements for the room. If you want an affordable option and more light in the room, blinds offer you a better option, but go with curtains for better energy efficiency and a wider range of styling choices.

Is it Outdated to Hang Curtains in the Living Room?

Curtains will always be in style, but how you hang them and the materials and patterns used in the curtains change constantly. Ensure you're confident in your choice. You're going to have to live with them for many years.

What are the Best Types of Blinds to Hang in the Living Room?

We recommend going with more expensive blinds if you have the budget. Materials like wood give a classic look that stands the test of time while remaining aesthetically pleasing. If you don't have the budget or can't put holes in the wall in an apartment, consider no-drill blinds or other ways to hang curtains in an apartment.

Blinds or Curtains for Living Room Designs? The Choice is Yours!

We’ve provided all of the pros and cons regarding curtains or blinds in your living room. All you need to do is consider which of those are most important to you and the answer that is hiding inside of you should become clear. Make sure to have fun with it, too. No stress!

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