Blinds
are not a new feature of the home, or the office
environment for that matter. In fact blinds offer
a dimension of practicality and convenience which
isn’t present in curtains. In the traditional
British home, privacy from the street outside is
important, even if you have no immediate neighbours
and aren’t overlooked e.g. in flats. Privacy
in the family home used to be achieved using an
outer layer of net curtains, and an inner layer
of coloured / patterned curtains, often lined, and
often with a ‘drop’ much greater than
the height of the window itself. In the living room
for instance, this drop often extends right to the
floor. Older sash windows prior to the widespread
adoption of double glazing and uPVC windows traditionally
produced a draft, and curtains were often made of
heavy materials and / or lined to provide insulation.
The whole situation provided extra work and extra
concerns for the householder e.g. the trouble of
having to wash 2 sets of potentially cumbersome
curtains, and the fact that curtains hold household
smells, are prone to damp and mould stains, and
that one dirty area often meant having to wash the
whole thing.
