Blinds

Window blinds are a good way to enhance the décor of a home. Combining attractive decor and safety are paramount if you have active children in your home. Children are naturally curious, adventurous and like climbing into windows to look out at the outside world. Parents with the best of intentions cannot watch their children for 24 hours. Therefore, the safety of your children should be in mind when choosing the blinds you want to use in your windows.

Children’s bedrooms are particularly vulnerable as a child spends a large portion of their day and night there. Young children from toddlers to teens have met with fatal accidents. Choosing wisely will ensure the safety of your children.

When choosing your blinds take into consideration whether the blinds have cords.  Many manufacturers claim they have built in features for their corded blinds. Despite these safety features one has to consider the possibility that a cord no matter how small is a potential hazard to an inquisitive child.

Blinds that have cords and are potentially dangerous to young children are:

• Venetian blinds
• Roll up blinds
• Roman shades (the cords are situated at the back of the blind)

This does not have to rule out all Venetian, roll-up or Roman shades but you do need to do your homework and find the blinds that will be safe for your children.

There are cordless blinds that are perfect for children’s bedrooms. Cordless blinds are far safer for use in a child’s bedroom. It’s a simple operation to raise or lower the blinds. All that is required is a gentle push or a pull on the rail at the bottom. Cordless blinds are available with the following features:

1. a variety of fabrics
2. different styles
3. good light filtering
4. room darkening
5. blackout fabrics
6. energy efficient

If you have existing blinds that have cords you could get a guard, suitable for Roman, vertical and roller blinds. It fits securely against the wall. This will encase the cords by making them unavailable to young children.

Another choice is the Uni Wand. This is the perfect solution for Venetian blinds. The wand is designed so that the cords pass through it. They are pulled through to the bottom of the wand. The wand hooks on to the base of the blind so the cords are not left dangling for little fingers to get hold of. To lower and raise the blinds the cords operate through the wand.

A quick and cheap method of getting the blind cords out of children’s reach is to purchase two small hooks from your local hardware store. Screw the hooks into the top of the window frame well out of reach of children. Wind the blind cord tightly around the hooks and secure so that they don’t come loose.