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Are blinds dated? No! “Blinds” is a catch-all title for a huge and diverse range of different types of window coverings; much like clothes, some styles of blinds might be dated or not in keeping with the latest trend, but that only applies to the specific blind in question, not to blinds as a whole.
You can’t then really answer a question like “are blinds dated” when “blinds” is such an umbrella term; to give a binary yes or no answer to this would be a bit like judging whether or not you and every other person who lives on your street is in style or has good taste based on the fashion sense of just one resident…
Are blinds dated compared to curtains?
Even setting aside the sheer variety and diversity of blinds types that I alluded to above for a moment, you can’t consider a thing (like blinds) to be dated unless or until it is superseded by something else that is superior or more up to date than it.
This hasn’t happened yet; nothing more modern has appeared to take up the windows-covering gauntlet from blinds, because what’s the alternative? If we were living in a world where your actual windows themselves could be dimmed, lit, and used to display colours and patterns I’d fully give you this one, but we’re not; I mean, unless you’re Elon Musk, maybe? But probably not even then.
Given that your two basic choices for window coverings as of 2022 are blinds or curtains respectively, it is reasonable to compare these two options like for like; so, are blinds dated compared to curtains? Definitely not, and if anything, it is the other way around.
While there’s a blind to suit literally any type and style of home, there are some interiors that curtains won’t work in, and they can make some rooms or homes they’re used in look a bit… Behind the times.
Why? Well, type-wise, curtains have some room for variation in terms of their pleats, headings, tie backs and so on, but curtain types are fairly generic and similar-looking, and in my opinion, curtains can easily look kind of dated.
Curtains are also somewhat dated or limited in terms of functionality; they can be opened, closed, or uh, not closed/opened fully or properly, but that’s it.
Blinds of different types can be tilted, angled, or rolled to alter their appearance and also that of the whole room, by means of adjusting how much light and from what angle they allow it in; as well as altering what you can see of outside and what outside can see of you.
Are blinds still in style in modern homes?
Yes, definitely, and far more so than curtains; blinds sales accounts for a far larger percentage of the market share than curtains do, and this lead is increasing exponentially year on year.
This largely comes down to the diversity of blinds thanks to their variety in terms of both types and styles/finishes; blinds come in a huge range of types, some of which are very different in appearance from each other.
Certain types of blinds will in fact only work stylistically in modern, on-trend, or futuristic home designs, and would look decidedly incongruous in traditional or classically-styled rooms or houses.
Those looking for a timeless or classically finished blind, however, will always find one to suit; curtains are back on the table here too, but while certain specific blinds won’t work in certain older/traditional rooms, looking at blinds as a whole, there’s something for every room.
Are blinds old fashioned?
That depends on whether or not you buy old fashioned blinds!
You can definitely get or choose potentially dated or period/era-styled blinds, or even those that scream “1970s insurance office” or “teenaged boy’s bedroom circa 1986” should you so wish.
But a blind of any of the many different types per se does not speak to any given era, nor hit a ceiling of “was no longer fashionable other than in an ironic sense past this point in time.”
If anything, blinds are moving forwards rather than backwards in terms of their functionality as well as styling; we design and manufacture our blinds rather than just buying them in and selling them on, and our R&D department is working hard on looking to the future of blinds in terms of how they fit into smart home design.
In the future this might mean encompassing remote controlled, motorised, and adaptive window blinds that would ultimately work with your Alexa/Google Home/Other smart controls in the same way that some of our tech and homewares already do.
We’re really excited to ultimately look to bringing blinds of these types to the market as soon as it’s reasonably possible (and in the interests of clarity it’s worth mentioning that some blinds companies have already launched limited/prototype ranges of these types); but we’re not looking to rush out products that are glitchy, don’t live up to expectations, or that aren’t worth the spend; which is why we’re not selling “smart blinds” per se just yet.
While we are, as mentioned, actively working on both our own product design and with tech companies/providers to incorporate smart functionality for window blinds, the industry as a whole is not quite there yet… But when it is, we will be too, with a supersonic/GPS/psychically-controllable SmartBlind to end all SmartBlinds, so watch this space!
