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July 21, 2009
Top Down/Bottom Up Shades
I'm thinking of buying top down/bottomw up shades for some privacy on the parlor floor. Love my neighbors, but I don't want constant eye contact with everyone passing by!
Any experiences (good and bad) out there with this type of shade?
Thoughts re Hunter Douglas vs Smith & Noble?
Thanks.
Comments
We put in top down / bottom up Smith & Noble in our entire house, some 15 windows. SN was by no means cheap, but they are always running sales or special offers which can save you a bit. Plus they do seem to be not as expensive as some others, such as Hunter. The shades were good quality, fairly easy to install. We had one huge solar shade that was damaged, and SN replaced the whole thing without any hassle. i would use them again.
good luck
Posted by: beatlife at July 21, 2009 10:39 PM
Whoops...kitty landed on the keyboard!!!
I was about to say, I think they're great. They allow so much more light in and you can gaze up at trees and sky. I've used SN as well as Bali via Home Depot. HD did mess up my order, which is why I actually posted a pair and a single set of top down/bottom up shades over the weekend here. Feel free to contact me if they're what you might be looking for. Either way, I think they were a great invention.
Posted by: nodnyc at July 22, 2009 12:43 AM
First of all, the shades are great and totally worth it. Make sure you are extra careful with measurements. Whatever you do DO NOT go to Home Depot. Go to Lowe's. There's a very nice and competent woman in the shades department. Home Depot completely botched my order (completely their fault), lied, told me what I ordered didn't even exist, and then gave me the hardest time about a refund--the same year I dropped 25K there.
Posted by: hoffster at July 22, 2009 12:45 AM
I used top down/bottom up in my reno exclusively, and like them so much just redid my house upstate as well. We used blinds.com and their cellular shades.
http://www.blinds.com/control/product/productID,8774
Even if you don't buy from them they have a couple of videos on measuring and installation you might want to see.
We had no problems measuring or installing.
Posted by: denton at July 22, 2009 6:39 AM
I have top-hanging wooden shades from Smith and Noble and am really happy with the quality and customer service. When I ordered last year there was also a '$100 off orders of $400 and more' code I found online.
Posted by: fawn at July 22, 2009 9:53 AM
We got this kind of shade from Greatwindows.com, I think. We got the honeycomb shades. Not cheap but easy to measure, order and install.
We also went with some really gauzy white curtains for our LR for the same reason you mention. Let in light, maintain privacy. We just tie them back when we want more light.
Posted by: slopefarm at July 22, 2009 10:32 AM
We have had Hunter Douglas honeycomb translucent shades for about 10 years now. No complaints. Work great for the use you are intending. Shop around. Prices vary greatly. We got ours from some wholesale place in Chicago. Being able to cover the bottom half of your parlor floor windows offers privacy yet allows plenty of light into dark rowhouses.
Posted by: IMBY at July 22, 2009 11:07 AM
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