What Are The Best Blinds For a Kitchen?
The average person spends more time in their kitchen than they probably realise. From daily activities such as meal prep, cooking, and doing the dishes to making regular cups of tea or coffee and procuring those little snacks (that everybody enjoys, yet few admit to), the kitchen is a busy and oft-used space.
Curtains are not always advisable for covering kitchen windows. In addition to posing a potential fire hazard (depending on the placement and length of the curtains in relation to the stove), they can also easily become watermarked, as well as stained and greasy and require regular cleaning. This is to say nothing of their fabrics absorbing all manner of kitchen odours.
Blinds, on the other hand, take up less space, are easier to clean, and pose almost no fire risk. For this reason, blinds are the best window coverings for most kitchens.
But which style blinds are best for your kitchen, and why?
Blinds intended for use in the kitchen should be made from a fabric that is water-resistant, and easy to clean. A kitchen blind should also be easy to operate (we all know how hectic things can get in the kitchen!). In addition, they should compliment the overall style and décor of the kitchen (and, by extension, the living space as a whole).
We also recommend seeking out blinds that are flame-retardant (PVC is an ideal material) just in case.
Roller blinds and vertical blinds are both designs that are ideally suited to the kitchen. Vertical blinds are a good choice because they don’t take up much space (space is often at a premium in kitchens, especially for those who live in a flat or apartment), and are easy to repair in case of a mishap. Roller blinds are easy to wipe clean and, like vertical blinds, are simple to operate.
Aluminium Venetian blinds, which can be easily operated and wiped clean, are also a passable choice. Aluminium does not rust or corrode in most situations, so they should be fine for use in the kitchen.
If you are interested in purchasing wooden blinds (for example, to fix to a doorway), we recommend buying faux, as opposed to real, wood. This is because wood can warp when it becomes wet, and the kitchen is a room that can be wet at times, as well as producing a lot of steam and vapour.
Faux wood is a good choice if your kitchen features a lot of wood (such as those with a ‘rural’ or ‘rustic’ aesthetic). This way, the wood effect is still preserved, but the potential pitfalls of using real wood can be avoided.
Even if you have a large, well-ventilated kitchen, you will still want to seek out moisture-resistant materials, such as PVC and faux wood. Blinds fashioned from wood and other fabrics are going to suffer from many of the same issues as kitchen curtains, and these problems are definitely best avoided.
Privacy is also a concern in some kitchens. If, for example, your kitchen faces out into the garden, it is conceivable that an intruder could gain access to the garden and peer into the kitchen window. Likewise, if your kitchen window faces the street, you might wish to have privacy from the prying eyes of passers-by. As a result, it is desirable that your blinds shut tightly and cover as much of the window as possible.
If we had to pick an ideal blind for most kitchens, we’d opt for a set of PVC roller blinds, ideally with blackout lining. These blinds are the easiest to clean and use, as well as the most practical. They don’t take up much space, and they offer the best privacy, functionality, and light control options, without becoming easily stained or absorbing any funky smells. PVC will attract less dust and dirt, as well, while synthetic materials will resist warping or water damage.
While kitchen curtains become stained, wrinkled and even mouldy over time, kitchen blinds can keep going year after year. Affordable, effective, and very low maintenance; a set of kitchen blinds is definitely the right choice.
