From plastic to bamboo: which blinds are best for the kitchen

Increasingly, for the design of the kitchen window instead of the usual curtains and curtains use blinds, as a more practical and convenient option. However, choosing blinds in the kitchen, many are guided solely by an attractive appearance and pretty coloring, completely forgetting the special microclimate of the kitchen, where high humidity prevails, there are constant temperature changes, air smells of food being prepared, splashes of water, drops of fat , juices, soot settles. Not all blinds will cope with such loads, so before buying is so important to decide on the favorites and outsiders.

Which blinds should I choose for the kitchen

Until recently, blinds could be found only in non-residential and office buildings, and the idea of ​​using them for decorating home interiors caused total perplexity. Why bring office dullness into the house? Dull white lamellas with a grayish blaze of office dust are still causing sadness to many. But as soon as the designers joined in, the boring officiality and facelessness left no trace. Fairly “prettier” blinds have become desirable in every home. Wood, textiles, leather, metal, bamboo … a variety of textures, colors and shapes delight! Considering the practicality, convenience and ease of use, safety and relatively low cost, the blinds can be considered a universal solution for almost any room.

Horizontal blinds

Ideal solution for small apartments with small window openings: they do not “eat” space, do not overload the interior with fancy decor and intricate designs. Especially fond of the decorators fabric horizontal blinds, which are completely devoid of office coldness, and even despite the very ascetic design, they always breathe home comfort and warmth.

Laconic horizontal lamellas will be an excellent addition for kitchens in the style of minimalism and high-tech. The combination of horizontal blinds with traditional textile curtains, tulle, organza or lambrequins will help to brighten austere asceticism. Special attention should be paid to inter-frame blinds, which are installed in the inter-frame space between the windows, leaving the window opening completely free, which can be very appropriate in a limited space, where every centimeter counts.

Vertical blinds

Blinds with vertical slats are more like classic curtains, it’s a kind of domesticated version of office blinds, so they are much more often used for decorating apartments and houses. Varying the position of the slats, you can not only “play” with chiaroscuro and experiment with the shape of the blinds, but also completely change the atmosphere and mood of the room. Vertical lamellas visually “pull out” the room, “raise” the ceilings, depending on the material and colors, narrow or expand the window opening, changing the geometry of the room. To give the interior of the kitchen an individuality and uniqueness, designers willingly experiment with vertical blinds, giving them the shape of a semicircle, waves, zigzag, oblique cut. Completely depart from the boring semi-officiality will help a combination of blinds with light curtains, lambrequins or classic curtains, although the latter option is more suitable for a living room or bedroom than for a kitchen.

Roller Shutters

Roller blinds are a single piece of smooth material that covers the entire light opening of the window, and if necessary rolls upward into a neat roll. They can be fixed to the ceiling or to the wall. Compact and practical roller blinds – the ideal solution for those who want to protect the room from direct sunlight, but does not burn with a desire to contemplate on its window, strict straight lines. Roll shutters can have a light-scattering, reflective effect, or be completely opaque.

Simple and concise roller blinds organically fit into a minimalist interior or oriental style, especially if the canvas is decorated with oriental motifs. Well combined roller blinds with classic curtain canvases, light tulle and organza, making the atmosphere cozier, more elegant and solemn.

Materials for roller blinds are necessarily impregnated with special compounds that give the canvas antistatic, antibacterial, dustproof properties, the fabric does not dust, does not crumble, does not burn out in the sun. Despite all its numerous pluses and special impregnations, roller blinds are very whimsical, they require careful and accurate treatment. Soot, grease and other pollution quickly deprive them of their impeccable pristine charm, which is almost impossible to return, so for the kitchen, roller blinds can not be called the optimal option.

Photo Lights

A special kind of vertical blinds, on the lamellae of which burn-resistant dyes with the help of ultra-precise digital photo printing are applied any images. Quality photo louvers are distinguished by the clarity of lines and color saturation, resistance to moisture, light, friction, chemical and mechanical effects. In the interior of the kitchen, still-lifes and images-deceptions with the illusion of space and perspective will be most beneficial.

Choose materials for kitchen blinds

• Plastic Blinds

Cheap plastic blinds are fragile, unstable to temperature changes, they heat up and burn out in the sun, acquiring unaesthetic yellowing. Blinds made of high-quality plastic do not have such drawbacks: during operation they are not deformed, do not bend, absorb odors and dirt, do not burn out in the sun. The main advantage of plastic is its ease of maintenance. To maintain cleanliness, wipe the lamellas regularly with a soft cloth or vacuum. In case of serious contamination, the lamellas can be safely placed in a warm soapy solution, thoroughly rinsed, dried and hung again on the window. Very original look plastic blinds with lamellas wrapped in a transparent tulle, but for the kitchen this is not the most successful option.

• Wooden blinds

Blinds with lamellas made of lightweight solid wood (cork, Canadian lime), will bring warmth and comfort to the interior, however, despite special impregnation, it is not recommended to install them in the kitchen. If you really want to complement the kitchen interior in the style of country or provence with original blinds made of thin wooden planochkok, take care of equipping the kitchen with a powerful hood.

• Metal blinds

For the manufacture of metal blinds, lightweight duralumin alloys of high strength with a protective layer of varnish and heat-resistant enamel are usually used. They perfectly hold the form, are resistant to moisture, high temperatures and sunlight, meet the high requirements of sterility and hygiene. To remove impurities from the surface of metal slats, it is sufficient to wipe them with a soft cloth soaked in soapy water. Pure from a practical point of view for the kitchen is the ideal option. Although there are metal blinds, there is one very specific feature that many may consider a drawback – when drafts collide with each other, metal lamellas rattle.

• Cloth blinds

The fabric in the décor of the window always looks homely, so among the vertical blinds the fabric is most popular. Woven fabric for blinds must be impregnated with special dust and water repellent compounds, which allow for dry cleaning and wet cleaning of the lamellas. To remove serious contaminants, the blinds will have to be removed from the eaves, with each lamella it will be necessary to remove the weights, twist it into a roll to keep the shape, soak in a soapy solution, wait until the dirt disappears (wipe the fabric undesirable), take it out of the water and hang it back wet, so that under the influence of weights they could straighten out. It is much easier to look after fiberglass fabric lamellas, which should be wiped with a damp cloth. Another important advantage of fiberglass is fire safety.

• Multifactor Blinds

In multifacture models, several types of materials and decorative elements are simultaneously combined: fabric with plastic, aluminum with wood, paper straw with bamboo. The game of invoices creates on the “canvas” intricate drawings and ornaments, imitates the curtain fabric, curtains with picks and drapes, expensive materials. In the kitchen, practicality comes to the fore, so the multi-factor variant is extremely rare. For a more solemnity and excitement laconic blinds are simply supplemented by light curtains, curtains or lambrequins.