thread: Timber venetians - love or hate?

  1. #1
    Registered User

    Aug 2006
    On the other side of this screen!!!
    11,129

    Timber venetians - love or hate?

    Ok ladies, I've been having a timber venetian fantasy for a very long time! But I've noticed they're not as popular as they were about 6 years ago.

    Do you have them? Do you love them or hate them? Tell me everything you know!

    What about insulation (do they keep the warmth in during winter)? Light? Cleaning/maintenance? And do they still look great umpteen years later?
    Last edited by AnyDream; February 5th, 2009 at 09:40 AM. : add ?

  2. #2
    Registered User
    Add Aimz on Facebook

    Mar 2008
    In the darkroom
    2,208

    Personally I prefer Plantation Shutters!!

    But I do have timber venetians (white) and they look fantastic!! Mine are only fairly new (2.5 years) but I only need to give them a dust once a week. Insulation is so-so.

  3. #3
    BellyBelly Member

    Jun 2005
    Sydney
    2,121

    Hi MD.....

    We have timber venetians in our back family room - about 3yrs old.....

    I think they're the feature of the room (3 large windows....) i love them, we always have people commenting on them. We bought ours from Curtain wonderland, so DH installed them himself.

    They do get dusty, but im a slacker and rarely dust them, although recently we've extended our home yet again and the dust on these blinds were thick - so thick i did have to wipe them over......but i had to do that with everything else too.

    We have timber floorboards in our home...so i feel they work well. The particular room these blinds are in gets the morning sun, and keeps it out fine.....i dunno about the cold though. Our house is cold in winter coz we have it protected so much from the sun in the summer......so cant help you there....

    Good luck !

  4. #4
    Registered User

    Dec 2007
    Sunny Qld
    14,682

    I HATE them.

    You can have mine. We are getting rid of them to put other curtains up there.

    Nothing wrong with them, they do get dusty though, and in this humidity - they have a tendency to get mould on them (much like everything else).

    The only thing we like about them - is that we can open them for the breeze, but still not let the sun in..

    Other than that - yuck. can't stand them. take them. Please!!!!!

  5. #5
    Registered User
    Add Jakabella on Facebook

    Nov 2007
    in Love!
    2,586

    I love mine. Got them from Spotlight and they were not to exy. They do show the dust tho - but i am slack too and never dust!!

  6. #6
    Registered User

    Dec 2007
    On the edge of Crazytown
    1,178

    love the look, hate the dust. AND the tapping noise when its breezy nearly drove me insane.

    maybe one of those battery operated spinning duster thingys would make it easier...???

  7. #7
    Registered User

    Apr 2007
    in lactation land
    3,776

    They are very poor insulators in the winter if that is an issue for where you live. I think they have a thermal rating of 0.
    For summer cooling the lighter the colour of your curtains/blinds on the window side the better.

    If you are thinking about the energy savings you can make with different window furnishings etc, check out this website

  8. #8
    Registered User

    Dec 2005
    5,951

    I love mine! I have them on every window in the house except for the bay window at the front. Ours were exxy, we spent about $5k in total for the whole house, but they're very solid. I've had them for about 3 years now and never had a problem. They can get dusty, but that's never bothered me as I dust just as often as I vaccum.

  9. #9
    Registered User

    Nov 2008
    Melbourne
    2,008

    We have them through most of our house and they look great. They were installed by the people who owned it before us, we've been there 3.5 years... They do get dusty, but dusting them is easy! You just close the blind and run a dusting mitt over it, it takes no more than 30 seconds.

    I used to have a client who was a blind manufacturer and they actually told me that to keep your timber venetians looking good for ever, you should oil them once a year like you would a deck or outdoor furniture. Apparently the sun etc will dry out the wood, fade it and over time lead to them cracking. We've only done ours once since we've been there (it is a pain in the butt!), we used the spray marveer wood polish and they came up like new, but haven't bothered to do it since...

  10. #10
    Registered User

    Apr 2008
    Adelaide
    1,741

    Love the look
    hate the amount of light they let in when closed, they are poor insulators, they make an annoying tap tap sound if the window is open, they get dusty,
    dd 1 broke the ends off the middle and lower pieces when she was 18 months was 'asleep' in her cot when we heared crack, crack, crack and came in to find bits of the blinds in her cot and a sheepish look on her face, needless to say we then moved the cot
    we replaced all our blinds with cutrains bar the ones in the bathroom. The curtains are much better at keeping the light and heat out and I cant see the dust on them yet

  11. #11
    Registered User

    Dec 2005
    5,951

    Ours are held down at the bottom of the window and we've never had them swaying the wind. And ours hardly let any light in at all. Probably why my girls sleep in rather late in the mornings. But ours are very sturdy.

  12. #12
    Registered User

    Jul 2006
    Melbourne
    4,895

    The previous owner put them in & I like them but think they would be better in the 'informal' areas of the house.
    Aparently the best way to dust them is with an Ostrich Feather duster??

  13. #13
    Moderator

    Oct 2004
    In my Zombie proof fortress.
    6,449

    Like the look of them, but hate all the rest that goes with them. I found them a pain to dust no matter what I used and I also hated the banging of them when the window was open. I will never get them again.