Dumb Question For Long Time Owners

In the coming months I will be moving into my first home, been apartment living up till now. The home will be a new construction so one of the first things I will have to do after moving in is to get window blinds for the whole house.

My current apartment has horizontal running slats like the majority of homes which the cats can get into easy and put little kinks and bends into the metal slats over time. I was wondering if anyone uses blinds with vertical hanging slats and do they have an less wear and tear from the cats getting in to the blinds.

If anyone has any feedback it would be great. This is just one of the many things I get running through my mind when I think of all I will have to do moving into a new house.

Thanks.

Kitters tears up our blinds like crazy!! I am interested to hear what others have to say... Also, is there an issue with the kittys keeping the blinds open with vertical blinds? Last thing I would need is Kitters keeping the blinds open when she shouldn't be!!

We have the vertical and they do have less tear and wear on them. I think only one has a little hole in them, but nothing like horitonal blinds.. But the cats get behind them easily.

I have Roman blinds right now, which is fine for them as they either get under them if they're closed or don't have to do anything if they're open. I brush them with a fur remover wiper every once and awhile.

We had vertical blinds when I was growing up. They didn't get ruined by the cats, as the cats just go between them. You do have to brush down the blinds where the fur sticks.

I have the vertical slat blinds. They came with the apartment I rent. Ugly heavy vinyl things, horrid to clean. The cats can't damage them though and they are only attached at the top to the blind track, not at the bottom so they swing freely.

Personally if I were to buy a house and was looking for window wear I would go with a set of nice shears and a pair of heavy curtains that could be pulled at night and then tied back in the day.

I had vertical blinds in my apartment. By the time I left there, every single one of the slats had little teeth holes in them and the first slat had been ripped out of the track in such a way that the little piece that helps it turn was ripped off... so that one slat didn't move.

But some verticals fare better than others. We were in an apartment, so I'm sure it wasn't the best quality out there. Tryon just seemed to have it in for those

OTOH, if anyone is looking for indestructible horizontal blinds, I have just the ones for you! The previous owners of my house bought faux wood blinds from walmart (These: http://www.walmart.com/catalog/catalog.gsp?cat=105835 ) and none of the cats have been able to destroy them! (And believe me, Peewee has tried his hardest ) They still look brand new. Honestly, I'm impressed.

When I buy my house, I'm going with plantation shutters. I've had cats trash both horizontal AND vertical blinds. My parents have wooden blinds, which have survived several large dogs, though.

our verticle blinds were murdered by a sheltie... the cats love them tho! maybe try to start saving up for the windows that have the blinds between to pieces of glass? Or just buy cheapies that you dont have to worry about the cats messing up as much.

We have the cloth vertical ones in the family room - I like them better as they just push them aside to look out and not really mess them up. They don't seem to bother with them swinging either

The other windows have the normal solid blinds and they don't bother them if they are pulled down.

I've had mini blinds (the horizontal ones) in different places over the years, and currently have vinyl verticals... I'd say as long as they don't have that connecting chain at the bottom (I've seen those... I know they wouldn't last long with me) they should be okay...

Of course, I also have curtains up over the blinds... and in my bedroom, I have one set of curtains, and some bamboo shades... I have to leave the verticals open at night, because Jack runs at them full steam, and crashes into them at all hours... but I have a streetlight that shines right on my face with just thin curtains... so I got the bamboo shades...

You could do curtains and some sort of shade, like Roman Shades (those are really big right now... I work in a fabric store and people are buying the stuff to make them all the time... you can also buy them). Layers are good... don't think just ONE layer, i.e. blinds alone. Having layers of window treatments, especially balancing hard stuff like blinds with curtains, brings a warmth to your new home... and fabric you can just throw in the wash or take to the dry cleaners (for washability, I'd suggest cotton curtains with some sort of lining, like blackout or for whatever purpose you want, like noise reduction... or just plain old drapery lining... have any questions, just PM me, if you'd like...)

Amanda

We just bought a ton of new blinds for our house!!! We got several sets of "dust free ones" that go onto the doors/etc -the blinds are build into a little glass frame- they're AWESOME!!!!!

And we replaced the other blinds with some faux wood ones - i LOVE LOVE LOVE them!!!! My animals have yet to tear them up or mess with them (soo not the case with the old cheapo blinds! ) It's definitley a great investment!

I have (had) cloth verticals w/the connector chains on the living room picture window and the basement slider -- the cats were extremely successful at trashing both: teeth, fur, grunge and separating the weights from the blinds. I finally replaced the LR blinds w/cheap vinyl from Lowes, because I needed the blackout factor. The cats still get behind them, but at least the window is covered, and since all my cats are older, they're less likely to tear at them. They just want their patch of sun!

Wow, new construction! Would it be in your budget to get those windows w/the blinds built in? At least for light control, then you can decorate w/curtains any way you choose. . . ( I know, it's a pipe dream of mine. But my windows are now 15 yrs old, perhaps they're in need of replacement. . .)

I had vertical blinds in my old house, the tenants cats used them as climbing poles. they were totally wreaked

I have both. Verticals and horizontal blind..... they trash both
I have aluminum foil on the windows behind the blinds because I don't want people looking inside

When the batteries are charged, I'll show you... I would suggest removable window tinting. It's not too costly and keeps the heat out also

Originally Posted by Dixie_Darlin

When the batteries are charged, I'll show you... I would suggest removable window tinting. It's not too costly and keeps the heat out also

Click to expand...

That's what we did. It's awesome stuff!

Picked it up at Lowes... even splurged for the better one (70% heat blocking instead of 55%) and MAN has it made a difference!

Of course, the first window wasn't the prettiest But I got the hang of it after that one and the rest look great!

We had great luck with our one apartment that had vertical blinds; they ruined the horizontal blinds we had in other apartments.

In our new house, we've yet to purchase window coverings...having trouble deciding what to get! I'd like to get the blinds that can raise/lower from the top AND bottom, but they're more than I have budgeted for right now.

Drapes/curtains are my favorite. My kitties don't bother them, but my friend's kitten, Winslow, really tore them up. (Eh.. they were cheap... and they still look nice, anyway.)

Wooden blinds--or faux woden ones are best. Mine haven't even been able to mar them. But Chili does love to smack them over and over again, telling me I need to raise them 12 inches or so so that she can peek out. We normally leave a foot open on the bottom in the front windows so they can peek out, anyhow. That has forestalled a lot of damage.