Everything You Need to Know to Choose the Best Bamboo Shades
Choosing bamboo blinds is not an easy task, so I’m breaking down everything you need to know to choose the best bamboo shades! From the texture and color to the mount and cord, I’m sharing it all! Even the part about how to make sure to keep the neighbors from being able to see you running around in your pj’s!
I feel like I am qualified to talk about choosing the best bamboo shades because it took me no less than 100 years to choose them for my home. Just kidding. It was about 7 months, but still a crazy long time to choose some blinds. But I get the apprehension. It’s a big deal and not an inexpensive change, so I didn’t want to mess it up! Truth be told I’m a bit of a scaredy cat sometimes when it comes to decorating decisions and get analysis paralysis just like errrr-body else.
And a little bit more truth telling – I’m a teeny bit of a perfectionist, so the thought of changing something and not liking it after I change it terrifies me. (Hello recent rug purchase that didn’t work out the first time … eek!}
Well, the I’ll jump to the ending first. All of my hesitation was for nothing! I love these bamboo shades and am thrilled with how they look and how they work in my home, but I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s start at the beginning.
I have wanted bamboo shades in my home since shortly after we moved in. I’ve talked about it for years whenever I share about my eat-in kitchen. I knew they would look so good in there with the wall of windows. And I knew they would look fabulous on my living room windows, too, flanking my fireplace and mantel. And I was right!
So, let’s chat about all the things bamboo shades so that you can feel more confident when choosing them for your home!
Everything There is to Know About Choosing the Best Bamboo Shades
Quality: First of all, quality matters. I got my blinds from SelectBlinds.com and I can tell you right now that these are high quality blinds. I have some that aren’t from SelectBlinds and I can tell a huge difference! So, don’t think you can skimp on this if you want a quality product.
Texture and Colors: The materials, textures and colors used to make a bamboo shade run the gamut. There is every texture and color that you can imagine and which they are all beautiful, they may not all work well in your home. So, it’s important to decide which style of a blind you want in your home. The good news is that with all of the variety, there is something for every decor style!
Get Samples: The wonderful thing about SelectBlinds.com is that they offer free samples! This is an amazing service and I utilized it twice! 😬 I selected a bunch of styles and colors from the Designer Series collection. I literally sat with all of those samples for 4 months. I just couldn’t decide. Well, I would think I had made a decision, but then I would waver back and forth. I thought that maybe bamboo shades just weren’t for me.
But I overcame my analysis paralysis and went back to the drawing board to order some new samples. And this time there was a clear winner!
Don’t just settle for something because it’s the best of what you got. Order some more samples and keep trying until you get the best fit for your home!
I knew I wanted a wood tone that was a medium tone and would compliment both browns and grays. I settled on Jute Wheat, because the texture is just so pretty with the coastal farmhouse style that I love. And the color complimented the wood tones I already have.
P.S. I see a lot of people asking about how to match your blinds to your floor color. I’m not a professions designer, so take my advice with a grain of salt. But when it comes to matching wood tones and shades, I just choose something that will compliment. It’s so hard to get them exactly right. The same with cabinet color. You don’t want to match, just compliment. And for us, we’re planning to change our flooring very soon, so I was thinking about that new color, not the current flooring color.
Inside vs. Outside Mount: This is a fun little decision you need to make when purchasing bamboo shades. This is another reason why it took me so long to finally choose my shades. You can choose whether you want your blinds to sit inside the window frame or outside the window frame.
It was a no-brainer in my kitchen area because it would look a little funny to put all of those shades outside the window frame in there. Just too much. Of course with the back door there is no window frame, so I had to choose an outside mount for that.
But then when it came to deciding for my living room, well, it was a little more tricky. If you see the old faux wood blinds, they were hung inside the window frames. Our ceilings in our living room are 11 or 12 feet tall. And so, because I adhere to the “high and wide” method when it comes to hanging curtains, our curtains are so much higher than the tops of the window frames. I’m not sure why the builder didn’t just take the windows all the way up the wall, but he didn’t.
The old blinds mounted inside the window frame.
So, I had to decide if I wanted the new shades to fit like the old blinds or if I wanted to mount them outside of the window frame and up next to the curtains. In the end I decided to hang them high and wide as well.
And when I got the blinds up in the kitchen, I was sooooo thankful I made that decision for the living room. See, the bamboo blinds take up several inches of the top of the window, which is fine. But this way, in the living room, I can pull the shades down to the top of the window frame and it not only makes it look like the window is larger, but it doesn’t block any of the light.
Here’s the deal. I don’t even close the bamboo shades in the living room at night. I just pull the curtains closed and call it a day. They are so long that they are a little heavy, so I don’t want to risk them pulling out of the wall at the top by pulling on them every day. It works for us!
Liner vs. No Liner: In case you didn’t know, bamboo shades are almost completely see through at night. As in someone standing outside your home at night while you have the lights on inside will be able to see what you are doing. That sounds so creepy, and it would be. If you don’t have close neighbors and don’t have a lot of peeping toms 😬, then it shouldn’t be an issue.
But, you can always add a privacy liner to the back of your blinds. Even though our windows are in our backyard, we still have pretty close neighbors that could be able to see in, so I just felt more comfortable adding the privacy liners.
SelectBlinds also has a blackout liner option, which I think would be awesome for a bedroom! I’m thinking about ordering some for both of my girls’ bedrooms.
One downside to the privacy liner is that you don’t get much light coming in when the shades are pulled down. Just wanted you to be aware!
OK, I think that is all of the points you need to know about when it comes to choosing your blinds. Let’s now talk about the pros and (very few) cons of owning bamboo shades.
The Pros and Cons of Choosing Bamboo Shades
Let’s start with the pros because there are quite a few and they far outweigh any cons!
Half up, Half down: One of my favorite features of bamboo shades is that they can be pulled halfway down. Our eat-in kitchen faces east, so the morning sun is bright in there! But I can pull down one blind halfway to block the sun while leaving the others open. It’s so nice for the blocking feature.
Openness: Our old wood slat blinds were broken, so they didn’t pull up. So, they were always down whether the blinds were open or not. Even when they were open and the light was coming through, it still felt like there was a barrier between the backyard and the inside. Now it’s all open! And I love how much larger the room feels with the old blinds gone and the new shades on the windows. We’ve said so many times since we got them that we can’t wait to put them on the rest of the house!
Size: This is going to seem funny, but I love how thin the shades are when they are pulled down. I’m guessing we gained a few inches around the perimeter of our kitchen now that they are installed. I love how much room they leave in a room that already felt small. Now it feels so much bigger even when the shades are closed!
Cordless: This might be my absolute favorite feature! All of the blinds and shades at SelectBlinds.com have a cordless option, which is AWESOME when you have kids. You never have to worry about them hurting themselves in the cords!
On my shades, there’s a little ring on the back at the bottom of the shade and you just use it to pull them up and down. It gives me such a peace of mind that my kiddos aren’t going to get hurt!
Feel & Texture: For me, one of the biggest design reasons for wanting bamboo shades is that it gives the room the so much needed depth and texture to balance out the flooring and all of the white and bright colors. In the same way that a basket or a rug offers another level of interest to the room, the blinds do the same thing. I knew it would complete the look in my eat-in kitchen and living room. And it did exactly that! They are the perfect compliment to the rooms and finish them off!
Cleaning: I’m not a huge fan of cleaning, so I didn’t clean my old wood slat blinds very often. So, that meant they were often dusty. But with bamboo shades, it’s easy to wipe them off with a dusting cloth or dusting wand. And if you lower them daily, it pretty much takes care of itself!
Light filtering: The bamboo shades will allow light to pass through if they don’t have the privacy liner in them. This is great if you want the light to come in, but have some level of privacy. But again, like I said before you won’t get privacy at night without the privacy liners. They are pretty much see through. But the privacy liners don’t allow much light to pass through.
Easy Installation: Y’all. These are seriously the easiest blinds I’ve ever installed! So easy that I thought I’d show you in this short video …
I can’t really think of any cons other than one. And to me it’s not even a big deal, so to me there aren’t any cons, but I thought I’d share this one thing in case it bothers you.
Shedding: My particular blind style {jute wheat} “sheds” some, in that the natural fibers come out. It doesn’t fall out enough to notice on the blinds at ALL, but I just sweep the ones on the floor up when I’m vacuuming or sweeping, which I have to do anyway every night because of my kids. I think the other shades with slats probably don’t shed at all, just the “wheat” ones.
Alrighty. That is a lot of information about bamboo blinds. Hopefully it has been helpful to know about the mounting styles, the liner selections, cordless options and quality you want to have! If you have any questions, please leave me a comment below or e-mail me at Laura @ TheTurquoiseHome . com (no spaces).
If you’ve made it this far, thank you for reading!! 😊
Laura
This was great information, thanks for being so detailed! As a side question, where did you get the “Puckett’s Grocery” (I think is what it says?) sign hanging in the kitchen? My dog’s name is Puckett and you never see it anywhere, I’d love something like that!
Hi Emily! I make that sign many years ago. I have a few sign tutorial posts around here. But it’s the name of a restaurant where I grew up, so that’s why I made it! xo, Laura
Confused here… did you keep the blinds in the inside mount or did you remove them? I have blinds and I can’t decide if I want to mount over them or not.
Thank u soo much for the info! I am sooo glad I read this. U r absolutely correct about the inside or outside of the window. I kept thinking, am I gonna have to lower my curtains? Thank u!!!!
I can certainly relate to the “analysis paralysis.” Your piece was practical, informative and well written. Some blogs are long on babble and short on information. I’m still deciding! I take lots of time to make a decision. As a result, I seldom regret my choice.
Can you up tell me where you got the navy/off white striped curtain panels? All so pretty!
Hi there,
Here is a link to the curtains: https://rstyle.me/+mb5okdkqL-wcgjEcXxifNg
Hope this helps!
I would love to know the exact blinds you got from Select Blinds… I love yours and want to make sure they are the exact style.
Hi Heather,
Laura has the Designer Series Woven Wood Shades in Jute Wheat. Unfortunately, Jute Wheat is no longer available. But there are still plenty of other colors that you might like. Hope this helps!
Hello!
I am considering buying bamboo blinds without a liner. What does the backside of the blind look like when down? Are a lot of strings showing? I will have them on a French door and bay windows coming In fro. my deck. Thank you, Cindy D
Thank you so much for the post! The information was great and definitely helps when looking into different products. Now I have some information when picking out samples !
Thanks
Hi Laura, Thanks for posting this. I have been looking everywhere for just the right woven wood shades for my beach house. I love one of the samples you posted, but can’t find it anywhere on Select Blinds site. On the very first photo you posted, it is the one on the top left. It looks like it says ??? Natural. I can’t figure out what the ??? is. LOL Help please?
Thanks so much!
I remember when these bamboo shades were considered “low end” decor and you could purchase them for about $5.00 per shade at the local K-Mart or Fred’s Dollar Store. I was shocked at how expensive they are now that everybody and their mama wants them in their homes…..
Would you tell me the shades that are in your house … the ones pictured above. I like the style and the color but don’t see them on the Select Blinds website.
Thanks for the great info!
Love these and your house is beautiful! Can I ask how high above the window you hung the shades and curtains in the living room? We have a 2 story living room so I have a ton of space above. It’s hard to decide how high is too high and how high is just right 😉
Absolutely brilliant! I’ve been looking at blinds/shades for about a year, I’m not sure why it’s such a hard decision to make! This really helped my thoughts on what I want. I just love your taste in decorating. Thank you and Cheers!!
I don’t see the jute wheat on the select blinds website anymore! Am I missing something or was this color discontinued?
I just looked on their website too and couldn’t find it either…I’m guessing discontinued but I would call and ask. I still love my shades, it makes my rooms. But I also think I would have been happy with any of the natural wovens/grasses. It’s the natural look that I love. Get lots of samples because the colors really vary in person vs. online and also how sheer some of them are. Best of luck:)
Hi! We are in the process of building our house and I am wanting to put bamboo shades basically everywhere. This post was super super helpful! My question is, do they fade from the sun?
Hi Tori, I haven’t noticed mine fading. I have the privacy liner on the backs of mine, which would probably protect the backs from the sun, but they are always pulled up during the day, so I’m just not sure! A year later, they still look as gorgeous as they did the first day. Soooo happy with them! Hope this helps! xo, Laura
Your new bamboo blinds are lovely and your post on choosing blinds was very informative. Like you, I’ve always believed in the “high and wide” window treatment placement, it can turn a ho-hum window into a wow window. In a previous home I purchased, the owners had recently installed custom Levolor blinds inside the casings of two very narrow, long (almost to the floor) windows that were on either side of where the bed sat, topped with thick black metal curtain rods. I moved the rods up to almost ceiling height and hung heavy white cotton tab topped curtain panels extending out from the window casing onto the wall. I bought 2 inexpensive bamboo blinds from Lowes just wider than the window opening (in the the shortest length I could find as I never intended to let them down). These were hung level with the curtain top, just under the tab and rolled down only far enough to cover to top of the Levolor blind when it was completely raised to expose the window. For light control and privacy when needed, I simply lowered the blinds. This treatment turned a pencil thin window window into something impressive. Since the blinds were brand new I couldn’t justify replacing them with another custom one – this solution gave me the look I wanted with the bamboo blinds and curtain panels. When I later extended my privacy fence to shield the bedroom windows I kept the original blind up all the time. I plan to do the same thing in the bedroom of my recently completed new home. I really enjoyed your post and am working my way through your archives and looking forward to new posts.
Hi Laura,Love your home! Where did you get the basket for the fiddle free?
Hi Tammie! I got that basket from Michael’s! I tried to find it online, but didn’t have any luck. Hopefully it’s easy to find in the stores! xo, Laura
Hi Laura! Do you have a direct link for the curtain panels with the stripes on them?
Yes, I would love to know where you found the curtains in your dining room as well?!!!!
So what did you order exactly? If you go to their website, there are still a zillion options.
Thank you! I wanted to put these in my bathroom for so long. Now i feel comfortable ordering now. I love how they look on your windows. Now I just need to put in my order.
I am also a fan of bamboo blinds! There were some in our house when we moved in and I loved the natural and casual look, with my big fern sitting in the corner. But they will need replacing before summer as well – the threads holding them together are disintegrating:( I would definitely go for some more bamboo. I put a roman bamboo blind in my kitchen window a couple of years ago, and I agree with you that it is a shame that it covers a third of the window. I think I have seen some romans that fold up all the way under the valance portion. The style I have in my kitchen also is a very tight weave, almost like board and batten, so that it keeps out quite a bit of light and has a tiny bit of insulating value – a plus for the Canadian prairie winters and hot summers. Thanks for the timely shopping tips!
Thank you so much for the detailed information about bamboo blinds. I just received samples of different styles of bamboo blinds. Your information will help me decide which ones to buy for my home. Love your blog.
Hi Laura,
I too have bamboo shades in my house after my sweet mother n law said “you know I think bamboo blinds would look great in your house”. She was so right! I love the look of them especially at night when they are down. However, I do not have blackout or privacy liners on ours, but that is alright they do and look exactly what I wanted. I purchased ours at Lowe’s.
Love your blog,
Beth in Birmingham AL
Hello Beth. I am considering buying bamboo blinds without a liner. What does the backside of the blind look like when down? Are a lot of strings showing? I will have them on a French door and bay windows coming In fro. my deck. Thank you, Cindy D
Cost per window?
Hi Lorie, it depends on the size of your window. SelectBlinds (and every other blind company I’ve used) makes the blind per your window specifications, so the price depends on the size. It also depends on whether you want a privacy liner or blackout liner. There are so many variables that I can’t give a price per window. 🙂 But I would recommend just going to their Web site and putting in your specs and see what it says! It’ll be a great price right now with their 45% off sale + 10% more! https://www.selectblinds.com/bambooblinds/designer-series-woven-woods-shades.html
How high are your ceilings? I have 8 ft ceilings and I am not sure if woven wood shades will look good on lower ceilings. I have white wood blinds in the bedrooms but was looking for something for both family room and living room.
Hi Daisy! We have these shades in our kitchen, which is an 8 foot ceiling. And then they are in our living room as well, which has 10 foot ceilings. I think they are beautiful in any room!!
Are the privacy liners moveable?
Hi Laura, I don’t think they are removable, if that is what you meant. They do move up and down with the shades. But I can’t take them off. 🙂 – Laura