Venetian Blinds

Venetian blinds are synonymous to horizontal blinds. Indeed, while it's common to use the term "vertical blinds" to describe the upright orientation of the slats, you rarely hear horizontal blinds being called anything else but Venetian blinds. Technically though, they aren't always the same.

Venetian blinds feature a series of horizontal and overlapping panels made of metal, vinyl, wood along with other materials. These panels are affixed together with narrow strips of fabric known as tapes or by cords. The mechanism enables the window blinds to be open and shut as a group. You can swivel and position the vanes almost 180 degrees to direct the light in or block it off totally. Another cord permits you to raise the entire blind upwards if desire.

From the name, it is easy to associate Venetian blind to the city of Venice, Italy. It is fairly safe to say that traveling Venetian merchants had popularized this sort of shades in Venice although the rest of their history remains arguable. Eventually, liberated Venetian slaves who migrated to France brought along their blind producing skills made popular the coverings in Paris, France as well.

Quite a few historians believe the Venetian traders took the idea home from Persia--now called Iran--between AD 1100-1500. This is supported linguistically by the French calling Venetian blinds as "Les Persienes" which means Persian blinds. The Persians may not even be the initial inventors as ancient Egypt and China had already created something akin to present day version of such blind.

As early as 1760, a British physicist, Gowin Knight, took out a patent on his invention of "dwarf Venetian blinds" in England. Another English designer, Edward Beran, likewise got a patent in 1769 to enclose adjustable wooden slats into a frame as a way to control the amount of light entering a room. In the U.S., the first related patent was probably granted to John Hampson of New Orleans in 1841. He developed a device to regulate the angle of individual slats in the Venetian blind which we utilize until today. If you look closely around the top of a blind, there ought to be a plastic rod that is based on the patented system.

In America, Philadelphia is among the first cities to embrace blinds in churches. The first verifiable sighting of Venetian blinds was 1761 at St. Peter’s Church. The earliest identified print advertisement on "the newest invented Venetian Sun Blinds for windows" appeared in the Pennsylvania Weekly Journal and Advertiser on August 20, 1767. It was put up by a John Webster with a shop in Philadelphia who claimed to be an upholsterer from London.

Early Venetian blinds were crafted from 2-inch wood slats suspended along cloth ribbons. Nowadays, there are an array of timber used to produce Venetians, making the task of matching the window dressings to your existing room decoration far easier. Wooden Venetian blinds in general give you a tasteful classical look, while delivering a sense of exotism to a living area. In spite of their prices, wood Venetians are still a favorite.

Thanks to the advancement of technology, an aluminum Venetian blind pioneered by Hunter Douglas was introduced into the marketplace in 1946. Aluminum is a resilient and lightweight material available in numerous metallic colors, great for a contemporary style in either offices or homes. Mass production helps make these window treatments an inexpensive replacement for draperies and wood blinds, fueling their popularity throughout the 1950s and 1960s. The 1960s were also the time when the mini blind with one-inch slats got its start. The buzz of going small continued into the 1990s with the development of half-inch micro blind.

A more recent trend is the PVC Venetian blinds. PVC is a type of durable and light plastic, so blinds made of this material is commonly used in bathing rooms and cooking area. Since they can be designed to look like wood and other fabrics, you may use them as cheaper substitutes to mimic the charms of these other materials.

No matter which material you finally choose for the Venetian blinds, the secret to using them effectively as a window covering is to get them to hang up correctly. Instead of beautifying your room, it will simply look messier if you dangle them in a jagged or haphazard manner. Additionally, the askew blinds will obstruct the strings from working properly as pulleys. So make certain your Venetian blinds are not only stylish but also properly installed.