Window treatments make up most of the visual decoration in any room. When remodelling, people usually opt for new artwork on the walls, new furniture pieces, or even repaint the walls with a fresh new coat to bring a certain area of their home back to life.
The condition or age of window treatments usually gets overlooked, when, in fact, it can affect the way your place looks big time. Window shades or blinds are designed to live for no longer than 7 to 8 years. So if you had yours for a while now, it may be time to consider replacing them and changing the style of your old living room. Here are some of the signs that can help you decide if it’s time to change your window treatments or not.
When You Notice Bent or Misshaped Slats
Humidity and weather conditions can cause your blinds’ slats to bend or warp. This indicates that your blinds are either made of counterfeit wood or have suffered from heat damage. Curved slats look very noticeable on perfectly symmetrical blinds and will ruin the aesthetics of your home’s interior design. They can put your children at risk of harming themselves or become dangerous traps for house pets. Misshaped slats will also affect how you use your blinds and might prevent them from closing tightly or covering your windows properly. You can either replace a couple of bent slats by disengaging the blinds’ supporting cords and taking the slats out, or replacing the whole set for your blinds if you notice many misshaped slats.
When It’s Difficult To Use Your Window Treatments
It might be time to replace your window treatments if you find it hard to operate them when closing or opening them. While this is a big inconvenience, blinds that are too hard to pull close or open are more likely to completely fall off the wall altogether while using them. This will put your safety, and your family’s safety, at-risk and is a sign of two significant problems. It means there is damage in the lifting mechanisms of your blinds, which leads to breaking and falling, and wide slats that can’t be supported by the cords and lifting mechanisms of the blinds. Both reasons indicate that your treatments need replacing as soon as possible before they break and fall when using them with a little extra force.
When Your Window Treatment Are Old-fashioned
Most people will keep the same shades or blinds they’ve had ever since their house was built. This does not just date your place and make it look old, but most window treatments are only functional for as long as seven or eight years. This makes your shades unsafe to use after a while. If you have had the same blinds for that long, they are most probably out-dated and it may be time for you to look for new styles of Venetian blinds. The window treatment experts at https://www.blinds-2go.co.uk/venetian_blinds.htm suggest the best colours and styles can come at considerate prices, especially for Venetian blinds. Replacing your old window treatments will be a great upgrade for your living space and will ensure that your blinds are safe to use for an extra few years.
When You Notice Worn Cords
Noticing worn or frayed cords on your shades or blinds indicates a problem and is a clear sign of old age. It may be due to the age of your window treatments or due to resulting damage from the internal supporting mechanism of your blinds. In all cases, your blinds will not be the safest to use and you will need to replace them with a new set.
Discoloured Slats
While it’s completely natural for window treatments to fade in colour or turn yellowish due to sun exposure, serious discoloration to the slats of your blinds signals material deterioration and risks their structural quality. This also makes your window treatments unsafe for regular use and requires fast action. If you notice yellow slats on your blinds, make sure to replace them as soon as possible before they start breaking or falling off.
If you notice any of these signs on your window treatments, it’s the best time to start looking for new ones and replace the ones you have. Most people will change their window treatments every few years, which is the best way of preventing them from getting old, dated, frayed, or unsafe to use. On average, you should aim to change your window shades or blinds every 5 to 6 years unless you notice something wrong that requires immediate repair or replacement.