It’s Gettin Hot In Hur, So Add Some Bamboo Blinds. I am, getting so hot, I’m gonna put some blinds uuup. Picture me singing that while installing each of these four blinds. On repeat. While John rolled his eyes.
Actually it was less about heat and more about that ever-elusive p word: privacy. Just during the day (we don’t use the sunroom at night) but it’s hard to make a room with an entire wall of windows feel private and cozy. So we reasoned that bamboo blinds + the fence that we added outside for our patio (which you can see through the windows here thanks to this photography trick from Kate) just might do the trick.
We opted to go with the same bamboo blinds that we got from Home Depot for the office (they’re called Mirada if that helps anyone find them). This time we needed four 30″ bamboo blinds (which were $19 per shade) but they didn’t sell them in the store, so we ordered them online (yay for free shipping).
Once they showed up, it was on. Cue me singing and drilling until these babies were up (using the same hanging-method that we detailed here). And just like that, our sunroom was hot. Not temperature wise, attractive wise. I mean come on, if you were a sunroom looking for love, wouldn’t you want to get to know our sunroom? She’s PHAT (pretty hot and tempting).
Aaaaand now that I’ve successfully managed to out-nerd my dad (didn’t think I could and then my fingers just went rogue) I’ll just share the other after pics:
The cool thing is that the blinds + the patio fence do sort of “meet in the middle” to provide some privacy from the house next door (the fence blocks the bottom 2/3 of the window from view, and the blinds handle the top 1/3). Daytime privacy goal: achieved.
Not to mention that we love the texture and the warm tones that they bring into to the room. They balance other wood items, like the side table…
… and the wooden doily stretcher on the wall (a $4 thrift store score)…
…along with the homemade bike print frames on the other side of the room…
Hubba hubba.
In short, this was the view of the room from the sliding door in the living room before:
And now it looks like this:
And a crazy chopped-up room that looked like this when we moved in…
… now looks like this.
I’m itching to paint the dainty legs of that round table next to the egg chair a nice dark tone. Maybe chocolate or charcoal? I think it’ll set off the granite top just right. And see that orange strip of wood under the sliding door? Gotta go white with that to match the trim.
Is any window-rectifying-action going on in your house? Let’s talk about blinds bay-bee, let’s talk about you and me…
Monica says
These blinds were a great addition. Just makes the room look more… homey? Sunrooms tend to look a bit flat because of all the windows, it’s amazing how a little window treatment can change things up!
AJ says
I love your site and I’m hooked on it! Your posts and the way you write are so relatable, that I find myself reading through every word – it’s crazy! LOL! We have recently moved and want to DIY a lot of stuff in our house but it’s not as easy as things are not as readily available as they are in the US! It makes for a better challenge for us though! I’d like to believe my hubby and I are home DIY-ers to some extent so I’ll DIY vicariously through you first then see what happens next!
Cascadeis says
I’d go with chocolate
– it would make the table match the new blinds as well as the other small table, maybe bind it together even more? :)
Cassie says
I’m so glad you guys added blinds.
Whenever I drive around town and see people without curtains in their windows, I twitch because I CAN SEE RIGHT INTO THEIR HOUSE. It’s WEIRD! and then I think, “Well heck, John & Sherry have that giant sunroom… are they anti curtain weirdos as well?? and if I like you… WHAT DOES THAT MAKE ME?!”
Just playing, but that really does freak me out and I love how your blinds look in there :) And that little table would look amazing with charcoal legs.
Angel says
LOVE THEM SO MUCH
Kristine says
We just purchased our new home and will be closing in June! Woot woot! I had been contemplating doing bamboo shades or wood blinds, but after seeing this I am convinced bamboo is the way to go! I just started blogging, so I’m sure I will be coming to you for house reno advice! We are making quite a few changes before we move in and are hoping to DIY! Wish us luck!
YoungHouseLove says
Congrats! And good luck!
-John
vivere says
So cute! Love the song references, you made me laugh! Thinking of getting some shades similarly for an all white walled room or two. Wish you all the best.
Chrishena says
Hi! Just found your blog and LOVE it!! My family is currently building a house to be finished in a couple of months and we have a ton of huge windows in it, I’m at a loss of where to start to make them still look huge but to also be beautiful and let light in (I love natural light, thats the photographer in me) but we also want our privacy.
Do the bamboo blinds look good with any style, our main family room and breakfast area/kitchen are all Tuscan themed? We also have two windows in the master bath that will need covered, I was thinking Roman shades but I am definitely not a decorator. Thanks for the help!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes, that would look great!
xo
s
Coby says
Hey there! Was wanting to know if I might be able to get your opinion? My husband and I just bought a 1930’s home which has original dark wood molding and trim and its in great shape. We’re trying to choose shades for the windows, but aren’t sure what to go with since dark trim isn’t featured very often. I thought bamboo could be a nice choice, but curious to see if you guys had any suggestions? The other option we were looking as was to do a nice light fabric roman shade to lighten up the dark wood. Also, some windows have some drapes on them, but were looking for some additional privacy. Thanks so much, and love the blog.
YoungHouseLove says
That’s so funny that you mention those two options because they’re two of my favorites with wood trim! Either of them would be beautiful!
xo,
s
Nadia says
This is gong to drive me nuts so i have to ask…were these roman shade of roll-up shades? On the website they say roman but when i picked them up it says roll-up on the box.
YoungHouseLove says
I think they’re roman shades since roll up ones literally look rolled on the side (like a paper towel roll, they’re round and rolled – but ours are more like accordion folded).
xo
s
Beautiful Window Blinds says
Wow!! These bamboo blinds are looking awesome. Privacy and beauty all in one thing.
Kari says
I’m wanting to order blinds for my window, but I can’t seem to find the right length for my windows. I can find the right width, but the lengths are too long. Any tips? Can you shorten them? Thanks so much!
YoungHouseLove says
We just hang them with the too-long length (when you lower them they stop at the window ledge and look rolled and clean so the extra length doesn’t seem to be an issue).
xo
s