The Future of Blinds
SNEAK PEEK FROM THE BALTIMORE
WORLD OF WINDOW COVERINGS SHOW
By Jay Steinfeld, No Brainer Blinds and Shades
Our founder and Brainer-in-Chief, Jay Steinfeld, just got back from
Baltimore's World of Window Coverings Show, where he inspected and
evaluated many of the new products which will be unveiled in the coming
year. He reported that the crab cakes were as good as ever, but while
there were some interesting new products, he was not too keen on many.
Read his article, which follows:
All the major vendors were there - for a change. In recent shows I've been
disappointed that the two largest vendors, Levolor and Hunter Douglas, were
absent. It seems the competition is heating up, which is good news for
consumers as everyone tries to one-up the others. Along with the two
mentioned above, in attendance were Graber, Kirsch, Comfortex, and scores
of regional and local suppliers vying for their fair share. All are
increasing the variety of available products, and showed a commitment to
convenience and safety. There were some unique products, which I'll share
with you below, and point out some of the apparent flaws of others.
Soon you'll be seeing honeycomb shades with no pull cords - you just grab
the bottom of the shade and pull it down, like a roller shade. This will
be safer without a cord and theoretically more convenient, and with fewer
mechanical parts will decrease the likelihood of a malfunction of the cord
lock (for most vendors there is minimal incidence of failure, anyway). One
flaw I saw, however, is one's ability to reach the shade if the window is
high or if the person is short. Another potential problem is making the
shade easy to grab near the sill without soiling the fabric due to a dirty
hand. If a large handle is mounted at the bottom to mitigate the chance of
soiling the shade, then it will have to be inconspicuous. I'll wait and
see, then report back to you in future Brainwaves.
Hunter Douglas showed a remote-controlled wood blind. Nice, but there are
size restraints that will minimize its usefulness. Pricing was not
available, but we'll see if this option is cost effective.
Levolor and Comfortex showed a sheer-like blind/shade-in-one. In essence
it's a blind made out of sheer fabric- can be adjusted like a blind, and
rolled up like a shade. The Comfortex product is called Shangra-La and is
available now- it's versatile, has an attractive fabric wrapped headrail,
but reports we've heard find the headrail mechanism a but finicky, and the
fabric on the headrail seems to get soiled easily. I'd wait on this one,
and see if they work out some of the initial bugs. Levolor's version shows
great promise, but until their headrail is available to inspect, we'll wait
on recommending it.
The Verta-Sheer was one of the most promising products, and we think will
be quite popular. It is a vertical blind made out of sheer fabric. That
allows you to have all the practical advantages of a vertical blind, with
the look of a soft drapery, instead of the usual commercial look of a
vertical. The Verta-Sheer allows you to darken the room when you close the
vanes, but also allows you to adjust the amount of light in the room by
tilting the vanes. You can see out during the day, but people can't see
in. One of our customers said, "I can snoop, but can't be snooped upon!"
I'll be reporting on other products in future issues of Brainwave, our FREE Ezine.
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Jay Steinfeld is the Founder and CEO of No Brainer Blinds and
Shades, the leading on-line source for window blinds and shades. It's where
buying window blinds, shades, and plantation shutters REALLY IS a no-brainer. Visit the No Brainer Blinds web site at
jay@NoBrainerBlinds.com or call toll free 1-888-4N0-Brainer (1-888-466-2724).
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