Window blinds

A window blind is a type of window covering. There are many different kinds of window blinds which use a variety of control systems. A typical window blind is made up of several long horizontal or vertical slats of various types of hard material, including wood, plastic or metal which are held together by cords that run through the blind slats. Window blinds can be maneuvered with either a manual or remote control by rotating them from an open position, with slats spaced out, to a closed position where slats overlap and block out most of the light. There are also several types of window coverings, called shades, that use a single piece of soft material instead of slats.

The term window blinds can also be used to describe window coverings generically—in this context window blinds include almost every type of window covering, i.e. shutters, roller blinds, cellular shades (also called honeycomb shades), wood blinds, roman blinds and of course, standard vertical and horizontal blinds. In the United Kingdom, awnings are sometimes called blinds or shades.

The two overall types of window blinds are ready-made blinds and made to measure. Made-to-measure blinds are made to fit a given or measured window size. Ready-made blinds are manufactured in set sizes that can be cut down to fit any window.

These blinds can be classified broadly into five different categories: roller blinds (which do not have slats but consist of a single piece of material), Roman blinds, pleated blinds, Venetian blinds, and vertical blinds.

Many window blinds are made with slats of fabric, metal, plastic, or wood that are adjusted by being rotating them from an open position (in which the slats do not overlap) to a closed position (in which they do). Metal window blinds are often used outside of a home or business to protect against theft, temperature, onlookers, glare, bad weather, or fire (in fire-prone areas); often, these blinds are machine-operated, rather than hand-operated.

Horizontal blinds use a thin woven corded "ladder" system to suspend the slats and enable them to be closed or opened via a rotating drum to which each upper end of the woven ladder is wrapped and attached. A lift cord allows the blind to be pulled up and stack tightly to top of the window when desired.

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