Wooden Venetian Blinds

Sheddy

Has anyone bought a standard blind and cut the slats and header down ?
If so where did you buy it ?

SWMBO wants to junk the curtains and fit 3 blinds to our bay window. I wonder what my options are before I spend way too much £ on some made to measure blinds....

homers_double

Yup, Matalan.

£60 for an 1800mm which needed to be 1780 for the window recess

Header is easy to cut but go slowly through the slats as they tend to splinter. As thats the case, a sharp blade isn't always the best way to cut them.

domtyler

You will need some kind of power tool and good clamping to get a clean cut, you could do it by hand but unless you are a cabinet maker by trade don't be surprised if you make a total fuck up of it.
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homers_double

Rubbish, you're not going to see the ends anyway.

electricdave

Dare I say it, but IKEA wooden blinds are perfect for this. They're so cheap you don't mind hacking them about!

malcolm_the_badger

Chopped down some Ikea ones.All you do is clamp them together and cut using fine tooth saw.Perfect!

Stargazer

I did this a year ago with a metal blind from B&Q, and I guess that similar principles will apply to a wooden blind. Not being able to clamp the whole lot securely together in its assembled form I stripped it down so that that the header, bottom bar and slats were all separate.

I must have then trimmed these evenly from both ends so that the middle was still central and the pull cords and slat tilt adjuster were at equal distances from the ends of the header and the holes in the slats and bottom bar still lined up.

I clamped all of the slats together as one block, cut the block to size, rounded the edges and smoothed the cut faces. If you're going to do that with wood you'll probably want to use a bit of scrap on each side of the block to prevent break-out. I trimmed the header to size, packing out the "U" section with some offcuts of wood the prevent bending and vibration when cutting. Finally trimmed the bottom bar to size.

I then spent all Saturday afternoon with the thing laid out in the living room painstakingly re-lacing the cords (best to exclude pets, especially cats, from the room; they'll think its a toy for them). I wasn't painstaking enough as when I hung the blind I fould a couple of slats that were incorrectly laced so had to take it down, undo some of it, and re-lace correctly.

Eventually though, I ended up with a blind cut perfectly to size, fully working, and at last a bedroom that is dark enough to sleep in!

Kestevan

second (or third) the IKEA blinds.

Look OK and cheap enough that you dont mind too much if the first "practice" goes pear-shaped

Rigid Raider

FFS just get them made to fit! That way you'll get a perfect result in your choice of colour and thickness.

philip99a

How do you clean them? Mine seem to get very dusty.

And how do you clean metal or plastic venetian blinds for that matter?? Very fiiddly and the end result fairly unimpressive I find.

Aperitif 51

Lakeland probably have a tool for 'cleaning' venetian blinds - or look in one of the drop out supplements which cascade from the Mail /Express etc...
I'm probably (usually) wrong, but I reckon there aren't many of these things in Venice. :roll:

Got-to-get-fit

yeah also done it with the ikea cheapies

Sheddy

Blinds now up, not too hard, saved over £200 over custom fits
As MrsS is happy, I'll be expecting a shag tonight...

How do make a Venetian blind ? - poke him with a sharp stick

boris4030

Well, I need some cover for my kitchen windows. I can't decide to choose curtain or blinds for it. I thinks blinds look more stylish but quality windows blinds are very costly . Curtains on the contrary are much cheaper but get in our way. So I am in a bit of confusion now....









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ruppie

I've found this http://articlewarriors.com/home-improve ... n-blinds-2, maybe you can order some made to measure they do not seem so expensive. I mean it is kind of odd to cut them since you can ruin them.

RedJohn

Kestevan wrote:

second (or third) the IKEA blinds.

Look OK and cheap enough that you dont mind too much if the first "practice" goes pear-shaped

+1. something like £10-£30 each depending on size.

If they're plain wood, wrapping masking tape around the place to be cut, then cutting through that, helps reduce splintering. Not if they're painted though as the tape can lift off the paint!

To clean - turn them all the way closed, then vacuum with the brush attachment of your vacuum cleaner.

beverick

homers double wrote:

Rubbish, you're not going to see the ends anyway.

Don't tell me, you think they'll be hidden by the curtains......

Bob

maddog 2

I've done it too. Not a big job - like has been said, just clamp and saw.

If you're lucky you only need to trim one end.

I've done sets from B&Q and Ikea. Ikea were a lot cheaper and the same quality.