When I replaced mine, I went with real wood, and I'll tell you why. I have had to refinish (i.e. paint) my blind slats before (edited to say that I only repainted two slats - not the entire thing). I wasn't sure how to do that with the faux (plasticy) ones. The wood ones were so easy to oh so lightly sand and paint. The second reason is the faux sample I received broke so easily when I put it to the test. (I have young children, so I routinely test materials for breakage, scratches, etc.). The wood sample broke, too, but I had to really try to break it. Those are just my experiences.

This post was edited by Nerdette on Wed, May 1, 13 at 16:20

Real wood.

We have JCPenney basswood blinds on every window in our home. They are awesome. If giant kitty breaks a slat, I kept a few extra that I can switch out.

I also have real wood in bedroom and LR. Very lightweight from American Blinds.

I agree with the others. Real wood is much lighter weight than the faux wood (plastic) blinds.

I have both real and faux wood Hunter-Douglas blinds in my house. I think I am the only one who knows which is which. I have taken down all of the faux wood blinds and washed them in the shower with no problem - a great bonus! Something to consider: wooden blinds can warp if exposed to direct sunlight. I have been very happy with the faux wood blinds and would get them again.

As maryanne says, my experience with real wood is also that they can warp: I have a number of south facing windows that get extreme sun. I went with faux and no one can tell the difference.

I have real wood blinds on all my windows, also painted white. I have fake wood white blinds on one interior opening. Honestly, if they are white I don't think there is any reason NOT to go with the faux. You really can't see a difference.

If you think you may want to eventually paint them, I guess wood would be preferable but I cannot imagine painting blinds--I think the cost in time and aggravation would be far more to me than just buying new ones.

I would go with the faux if the savings are substantial. If not, or if you think you would be happier knowing you have a natural product, do the real wood.

Ann

i much prefer real wood blinds... at one point i had purchased white faux wood blinds for one of my children's bed and bathroom and i just didn't like the look as much, even though they were white- maybe different brands make a difference...
i have a shade on his bedroom window and real wood blinds on his bathroom window now- i swapped out a blind from our bedroom and had to adjust the ht, so i do have extra slats in case of warping, but after 2 years in the bathroom, the slats are holding up well... looks so much better imo than the fake wood...(like the color better too-it's cream colored instead of white...)

When we purchased our blinds and plantation shutters, we went with a hybrid, mainly so I could tell people that they were wood :-). But while installing them, the installer told us that the faux was a great product, that it never warped or yellowed, and cost a lot less than the wood. Our hybrids look just like our neighbors' who have faux as well as our other neighbors' who have wood. Good luck with your choice.