annz- the reason i was not leaning towards White blinds was b/c we only have trim on the bottom- no trim around the windows.... and the curtain place said soft white/ivory will be easier to match up with panels (and she felt stark white will draw attn to the blinds the second you walk in the room) i would prefer they just blend into the room.

I usually just lurk, but wanted to chime in here. It has been fun to see your new home evolve, and it is beautiful. Even though you don't have trim around the windows, you have the arches above the 2 windows and the fireplace mantel nearby. You really want the blinds to blend in, and matching it to the trim is really the only way they won't stick out. A creamy color is going to be adding another color, even if it is a lighter version of the walls, and this "new" color is what will make it stick out. Don't worry about blending with future drapery; any future drapery will have to look okay with rest of the trim anyway. Try picturing all the mullions on your windows being cream instead of white; I don't think it would look nearly as cohesive as it does now. Hope this helps; I know these decisions are stressful.

I agree that your blinds should match the white of your trim as best you can. If you go with the creamy ivory, I think they're going to look yellow or dingy next to the trim.

I really don't think white blinds are going to draw your eye to look at them any more than an off white would.

also, I think you'd be happier with the faux blinds vs. opaque duettes - which I think would block your view more and make you feel more closed in. As far as the faux vs. real, I have both, and you really can't tell the difference.

I ordered my blinds from blinds.com - their house brand faux and I have one window that is 96" and did one blind. That blind is heavy and I think it would be a problem to raise and lower it every day. But, to be honest, why would you raise and lower the blinds? Other than to clean them, I just shut or open them, and the size has no affect on that functionality.

Wood blinds have that heavy bottom panel, and really don't look nice raise half way etc. You can't really raise them out of the way anyways because all the slats take up headroom.

So, in a long winded response - go with faux, check out the pricing on blinds.com(great customer service and excellent pricing), and 72" shouldn't be a problem for a single blind across both windows.

One last thing, if you are worried about 72", you can order two blinds on a single head rail, so it's one blind across the top for the mounting and the header bar, but there's two independently controlled blinds underneath. You would measure them so that the blinds are separated right at your center divider between the two windows. I did this in my son's room - on his 96" window because I was afraid he'd break them if he didn't raise them carefully. The problem here is you need to adjust each blind separately and it's a pain to get them exactly in alignment if you open and close them alot.

Hope this helps!

I agree with caroleoh. Just from appearance you cannot tell the difference between woods and faux woods. But Faux woods are much heavier the real woods. To draw them up you will need two hands. There will be holes in the slats to accommadate the cords unless they offer the routless option. But I have only seen that option for real woods. If you decide on two blinds . It will be easier on your arms and you will be able to control light and your view better. The drawback is more cords and a choppier look.On two then I would put both controls on one side. Left blind both controls on left and the same for the right.

Bob said "There will be holes in the slats to accommadate the cords unless they offer the routless option. But I have only seen that option for real woods. "

Faux wood offers the option of routeless. My Comfortex shutter blinds are routeless.

ty-- so has anyone ordered faux blinds from Home Depot? Any success? Is there a brand you like best there? Someone said levlour ....

We had Levolor Faux Wood in our last house and really liked them. We got them from Lowes.

I just checked some old paperwork and realized that we did wind up using levolor wood blinds in our old house- not Hunter Douglas.

We had no issues with the warping despite lots of sun and although they were heavy, you could move them. To be honest though, there really wasn't a need to- just opening them created a beautiful clear view.
I never felt like they closed the room in.

I also liked that the blinds had a wood texture rather than a flat painted surface. We wound up going with white to match the trim of windows/room because I was worried that the cream/soft white just looked dirty against the trim.

We ordered our blinds from the Home Depot Super Store in Springfield- next to the Home Decorator Store. They came to measure and the installation took about an hour for 2 large windows.