Top 5 Problems with Condo Blinds and How to Fix it

Condos today come with beautiful floor to ceiling windows that are wall-to-wall, but when it comes to actually living in the space these very same windows that you loved for the view or light can quickly become a real challenge.

Once condo owners move-in, you usually find that you are facing one or more of the following problems:

“It’s too bright in the bedrooms.”

You are being woken up way too early in the morning – or worse yet, there is a lit-up billboard, street lamp, or flood light from the pool streaming into your bedroom at night making it problematic for falling asleep

 Fix It Solution

 - Blackout shades or drapery will help darken the room for you. But be careful! Not all blinds are equal when it comes to room darkening. Roller shades are the most popular condo blind, but they leave gaps on the sides that allow light to stream in. If you are super-sensitive to light or work shifts and don’t even want to know it’s daylight out there, you can do a few things to covering up the annoying gap of light. 

- Add side panels of drapery that have a blackout liner at the back

- Ask the window covering specialist for side channels that mount on the mullion. These are about 2” wide and will allow the blind to slide it and cover the gap of light along the sides.  You will need a cassette or fascia to stop the light from coming in at the top.

“It’s too hot. My air-conditioning can’t keep up in the summer even when on full-blast. I never even need to turn on the heat in the winter because it gets so warm in here.”

Your condo unit likely faces south or west. You probably loved the sunset views but are now usually sweating inside your suite from the heat of the day by sunset-time.

 Fix It Solution

  - Putting an energy efficient blind up will definitely help you keep your cool.

- There are great two-in-one blind options so that you can still get light filtering during the day using the front blind, but when the intense sun comes around in the afternoon, you will want the blackout blind at the back lowered. You will notice the difference immediately!

“I feel like I live in a fishbowl and am on display, but I don’t want to lose the light in the living space"

- There are many blinds that offer privacy AND light filtering options, similar to a frosted window – but, the best thing is that you can raise the blinds and still enjoy the view when you want!

- For condo-owners who are high in the sky - if think you don’t need blinds – trust me, we can see you at night when stuck in rush-hour traffic or from a distance! We can see your furniture, your art, what you’re making for dinner and what you are watching on TV

“I have a bulkhead in the way which makes it hard to find the right size of window coverings. Measuring this seems tricky”

- Find a window coverings specialist who can measure this for you, as you won’t want to get it wrong & have to pay twice for your custom window coverings.

- There are lots of solutions from roller shades to drapery that can work around the bulkhead problem

"I hate having to raise and lower 8+ blinds every day – especially since some of them are hard to reach”

-  Motorize your blinds so that you can raise or lower them at a touch of a button. It doesn’t get more convenient than that!