I like my California shutters because I can adjust the louvers to allow as much or as little light as I want, or change the angle so the light comes in but doesn't shine directly on my face, or on a dull day, I can swing the entire shutter set open to allow all the light in. Best of both worlds for me. The other posters have all made good points too, it's important to figure out what you need.
Good luck!
GEMRM

Well I know it's different for everyone. I am just asking for opinions like hundreds of other posts here. Thanks for the opinions and experiences, for those that provided them. I have a north facing window but right now I don't know what blinds are like (have never ever had them) so I wanted to find out what others thought of them. It's a new house so I can't really say exactly how much light comes in (I think the window is a bit smaller than my current one, and has no greenery around it like my current one does). We have no neighbors so privacy isn't an issue. I also have no animals in the house.

thanks again to those that shared your opinions. :)

There are so many types of blinds, from very inexpensive to super-high-end. And so many different styles ... metal, plastic, cloth, sheer, semi sheer, layered, etc.

Your best way of seeing what they are like would be to go to a retail outlet that has a good display, where you can find out the different features/options and try them out!

In my office I have one of the wooden slatted ones .... would never have one again, as with the width/height of the window it is one massive tug to get it to go up and down. Certainly not an easy thing to do!!

Then there is the challenge to get it to stay level ... a problem with all blinds, particularly the horizontals.
Unless of course, you pay for the ones that have an auto roller or power.

That's why I specified 2" fake wood blinds in my original post. Home Depot has them and I can see how they open, close, etc but the samples are only about 1' wide and no other stores here have them. I can't find out what people's opinions of them are just by looking at the displays. How is this any different from the threads where someone asked what floor to get? Or what sewing table to get? I'm just wanting opinions and experiences from people who maybe have had both blinds and curtains and can give some feedback?

thank you-that was helpful. My window is 6' wide so maybe it would be hard to get them up and down.

My other issue is that I hate making curtains. Hate it. So if I have curtains I have to buy them and it's not easy to find cute curtains for sale.

agree with her...and I prefer vertical blinds over horizontal ones....they don't collect as much dust...

Which it would seem you received in EVERY post on this thread ...... including from myself!



You seem to have become very defensive ... and yet your first post was very vague. We are not mind readers, and had very little to go on. You did get opinions based on experiences.

Perhaps if you had given the more detailed info upfront, you would have received more direct answers to your concerns and been more pleased with the responses.

No. I was just responding to what works BEST for you???? and It depends on so much more that what others are using.

I appreciate the help and recognize (and mentioned) that most were helpful. A simple reply of what you prefer and why is plenty. I can take into account the similarities and differences between my room and others' rooms based on the replies. But saying "whatever you want" or "it doesn't matter what anyone else uses" isn't really helpful. Otherwise what is the point of ever posting a question here at all if it has to do with what people have done/used/liked/experienced? This section of the board is filled with people asking what people have used in their sewing rooms and how it worked for them.

Thanks everyone. I'm still thinking about it but will probably wait a bit longer to see what my new room is like once the furniture is in there.

Waiting seems wise. You'll be able to see what light comes in at different times of the year, depending on the angle of the sun.

as much as I love blinds, they are a pain to keep clean. I have curtain panels on clip rings that are super easy to slide open/close on the rod. Also they are easy to change out if I want a different look in there.

I have blinds. I love the control of light. I hate the dust. Fixing to build a new house. I told my husband NO blinds, unless I can have both blinds and curtains. Something else to thing about. I do not have carpet in my house. This means there no place for the dust to settle. It my not be as bad if you have carpet.