Blinds... where to get them?

[Hobokie]

TUG Friends,

We just bought a brand new house (new construction... yay us!) Our beautiful home has THIRTY-NINE windows (yikes!) and its one of those developments where we have neighbors all around. Personally, I’d be ok with just putting blinds on “important” places, but the hubs loves his privacy so...

Anyway, we were walking through Costco and noticed they have a blinds company so we made an appt. Our quote came back at $29k “retail price”, but after all of the discounts and Costco rebates blah blah we ended up at a “reasonable” $22k.... HELP!

Any suggestions/advice for where to look? We’re not trying to be cheap, if that’s what it costs then that’s what it costs, but yikesssssss! Figured I’d ask this wise community for ideas!

- Ligy

 

[MULTIZ321]

Where is your new home?


Richard

 

[geist1223]

Re-evaluate where you really need complete coverage. How many of the windows would be ok with rods and shears?

 

[VacationForever]

I was told Lowes has the best price. A Lowes person will come out to your home.

Recently we wanted to replace the sheer blinds in our 3 bedrooms to give us both sheer and opaque options, we tried Lowes but gave up because they have only 1 person who comes out and she was not around both times when we went in. Subsequently, we went to a California company which we had used for our California home prior, and the local sales rep came out. 3 tiny windows on top of the bed, 1 balcony door (opaque only) and 6 windows, a total of 10 blinds and it came up to $6500. It was a gulp moment for us but we went ahead. Just wish we had been patient and waited for the Lowes person to become available. My husband is extremely impatient and refused to hold out for the Lowes person.

 

[geekette]

TUG Friends,

We just bought a brand new house (new construction... yay us!) Our beautiful home has THIRTY-NINE windows (yikes!) and its one of those developments where we have neighbors all around. Personally, I’d be ok with just putting blinds on “important” places, but the hubs loves his privacy so...

Anyway, we were walking through Costco and noticed they have a blinds company so we made an appt. Our quote came back at $29k “retail price”, but after all of the discounts and Costco rebates blah blah we ended up at a “reasonable” $22k.... HELP!

Any suggestions/advice for where to look? We’re not trying to be cheap, if that’s what it costs then that’s what it costs, but yikesssssss! Figured I’d ask this wise community for ideas!

- Ligy

I think you'd like to hear from cliffaith. slightly different business (drapes) but certainly knowledgeable in window coverings.

Were I you, and I'm clearly not, I would piecemeal it. Cover up the important ones immediately with small money. If you are not opposed to curtains, you can find discount rods and discount curtains and drapes and can DIY fairly quickly, replace with desired blinds later. I found a $15 set of insulated drapes (insulating blackout material) that cover my sliding glass door that is awful for heat loss. It was an accident that I found them, just browsing Marshall's.

eta By the way, Congratulations!!!

 

[Hobokie]

@clifffaith , I think @geekette meant to tag you on this... please HELP!

 

[CalGalTraveler]

I am surprised how expensive blinds have become. We found a small local business who was able to get us knock-off vinyl blinds which lowered cost by more than half. On our most important windows we bought brand name and paid more for these. After 15 years our knock-off vinyls are working great.

We had a name brand blind delaminate on a bathroom window and the manufacturer replaced the blinds with the latest no cord technology on both windows for shipping cost of $25. Before I explored the warranty we received quotes of $350 to replace these.

 

[Cornell]

One thing to consider, which a lot of people don't -- if you start picking and choosing which windows to put blinds on, think about the view of your home on the front side from the exterior. A mish-mash of window treatments is not often a good look.

 

[Hobokie]

Where is your new home?


Richard

In South San Jose

 

[Hobokie]

Re-evaluate where you really need complete coverage. How many of the windows would be ok with rods and shears?

Yeah, we are thinking, at a minimum, we could break this up into phases...

 

[Hobokie]

I was told Lowes has the best price. A Lowes person will come out to your home.

Recently we wanted to replace the sheer blinds in our 3 bedrooms to give us both sheer and opaque options, we tried Lowes but gave up because they have only 1 person who comes out and she was not around both times when we went in. Subsequently, we went to a California company which we had used for our California home prior, and the local sales rep came out. 3 tiny windows on top of the bed, 1 balcony door (opaque only) and 6 windows, a total of 10 blinds and it came up to $6500. It was a gulp moment for us but we went ahead. Just wish we had been patient and waited for the Lowes person to become available. My husband is extremely impatient and refused to hold out for the Lowes person.

I think we may need to give them a try, thanks for the suggestion! We maybe would just get "temporary blinds" to hold us over so that the construction guys building the houses right across the street don't get a free show every morning when I shower

 

[Hobokie]

I think you'd like to hear from cliffaith. slightly different business (drapes) but certainly knowledgeable in window coverings.

Were I you, and I'm clearly not, I would piecemeal it. Cover up the important ones immediately with small money. If you are not opposed to curtains, you can find discount rods and discount curtains and drapes and can DIY fairly quickly, replace with desired blinds later. I found a $15 set of insulated drapes (insulating blackout material) that cover my sliding glass door that is awful for heat loss. It was an accident that I found them, just browsing Marshall's.

eta By the way, Congratulations!!!

Thank you!!! Yeah, we might do this in phases and may need to DIY a bit. Imagine the shock of getting a $22k quote from Costco :-X

 

[Hobokie]

One thing to consider, which a lot of people don't -- if you start picking and choosing which windows to put blinds on, think about the view of your home on the front side from the exterior. A mish-mash of window treatments is not often a good look.

Yes, and the hubs is pretty picky and kinda bougie...

 

[durrod]

If it’s a DYS try jcp.com they have a good selection of windows blinds at a reasonable cost.
i have used them before. Pretty satisfied.

 

[Hobokie]

I am surprised how expensive blinds have become. We found a small local business who was able to get us knock-off vinyl blinds which lowered cost by more than half. On our most important windows we bought brand name and paid more for these. After 15 years our knock-off vinyls are working great.

We had a name brand blind delaminate on a bathroom window and the manufacturer replaced the blinds with the latest no cord technology on both windows for shipping cost of $25. Before I explored the warranty we received quotes of $350 to replace these.

We may look into going down the path of a smaller, local business. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[buzglyd]

I ordered mine on Blindster dot com and did them myself.

Super easy and if you screw up with a measurement, they'll give you another one free

 

[Hobokie]

If it’s a DYS try jcp.com they have a good selection of windows blinds at a reasonable cost.
i have used them before. Pretty satisfied.

Thanks! What is DYS?

 

[Hobokie]

If it’s a DYS try jcp.com they have a good selection of windows blinds at a reasonable cost.
i have used them before. Pretty satisfied.

Thanks! What is DYS?

 

[VacationForever]

Thanks! What is DYS?

Maybe the person meant DIY?

 

[Hobokie]

I ordered mine on Blindster dot com and did them myself.

Super easy and if you screw up with a measurement, they'll give you another one free

Oooooh I'll check this out, thanks! Any insights as to why you chose this vendor and/or why you discarded others you considered?

 

[Hobokie]

Anyone use blinds dot com? If so, any feedback on them?

 

[durrod]

I meant do it yourself proyect. DIY

 

[buzglyd]

Oooooh I'll check this out, thanks! Any insights as to why you chose this vendor and/or why you discarded others you considered?

Not really. They advertise on the radio a lot and I thought I would give it a shot and it worked out really well for me. Their customer service was also very good when I had one blind break and another where I screwed up the measurement. They'll also send out free blind swatches so you can play with the color.

 

[controller1]

Try Budget Blinds. It is a nationwide franchise. Our local franchise was great to deal with and just because "budget" is in the name the blinds are not cheap. Inexpensive yes but not cheaply made.

 

[Cornell]

Yes, and the hubs is pretty picky and kinda bougie...

I'm kind of like your husband