Our house fills with beautiful light in the afternoons, especially on the upper level where the sun hits the front of the house directly. We love those sunbeams for lounging, taking photos, and just enjoying the warmth. And Burger? He’s obsessed—napping, grooming, sniffing, and then napping some more in the bright patches of sun.
That sunlight also revealed a shortcoming we hadn’t noticed right away: we had no window blinds. We’d grown used to the bedrooms in our previous home coming equipped with white faux-wood blinds, so arriving at night in this house and realizing we had nothing for privacy (or to block early morning light) was a rude surprise.
After too many nights of undressing by dim lamp and waking at dawn, we finally bought a set of in-stock faux wood blinds from Home Depot. We opted for the “premium” upgrade: wider slats for less visual obstruction when open, improved light blocking, and a break-away cord feature for better child safety. It was a small upcharge per blind, but buying blinds for 11 windows still added up—just over $350 with a coupon—so it felt like a splurge.
Despite the sticker shock, blinds were a necessary addition for bedrooms and bathrooms where privacy is expected. Aesthetically they aren’t luxurious—faux wood won’t win design awards—but functionally they’re exactly what we needed. Once we layer in curtains, the windows look much more finished and cozy.
Installation was straightforward but time-consuming. Clear instructions made the steps easy to follow, but hanging and then fine-tuning eleven blinds took time. Spread out over two days, the whole project consumed about six hours. In the end it was worth it: bedrooms and bathrooms are now private and pleasantly dark in the early morning again.
The basic install process involved screwing two brackets into the sides of the window frame and then snapping the blind into place. Luckily our windows used standard sizes and the blinds were ready on the shelf; if a cut had been required, Home Depot offers cutting services, but we didn’t need them.
I customized each blind’s length after hanging it. To shorten a blind I removed the bottom slat, cut the cords holding the extra slats, then reattached the bottom slat to the trimmed cords and tied everything securely. That approach made each blind fit our windows precisely while keeping the overall operation smooth.
One issue we hadn’t run into before: the decorative side trim pieces included with each blind needed to be shortened to sit correctly against our window frames. To solve that I used a miter saw to trim each of the 22 pieces so they would sit flush and still connect at the corners. I used small blocks of scrap wood to stabilize the trim while cutting, which kept my fingers safely away from the blade. Shortening the end pieces didn’t interfere with how the trim snaps together, so the change was seamless.
With everything installed, the last step was simply enjoying improved privacy and light control. Most rooms still look basic because we haven’t hung curtains in every room, but the difference is noticeable. Clara’s room already has curtains and blinds, and the guest room features curtains that were sewn for us. Layering blinds and curtains creates a more polished, lived-in look.
Living through the first months in a new house always feels expensive—everything seems like a must-do—and blinds were another line item in that parade of small-to-medium purchases that add up fast. Even on the third move, it’s easy to leave a big-box store thinking, “Over $300? For blinds?” But privacy and a good night’s sleep are worth it.
P.S. With the upcoming shutdown of Google Reader we switched to Feedly and found it imported our blog subscriptions easily and offered a clean reading layout. We’ve also heard good things about Bloglovin as another alternative. If you’re using Google Reader, now’s a good time to choose a new reader and migrate your feeds.