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Home Decorating

Wide Windows and Top Down, Bottom Up Shades

12 years ago

I have two triple windows in my four season room. They are nine feet wide and I want to put cellular shades on them. Has anyone used the top down/botum up shades on windows this wide? If so, do they work well? The brand I was looking at is Next Day Blinds, if that makes a difference.

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Comments (7)

brenda_md
Original Author
12 years ago
Just bumping this message up as I know it was Labor Day weekend and people were busy. I would really love to know if anyone has used this type of shade on wider windows and it if worked well enough to consider purchasing.
emagineer
12 years ago
I loved the idea, but they only lasted for little over a year. The strings used on the blind portion broke on most of them. Look for quality and perhaps a warranty, perhaps reviews. I'd do it again, but after the cost am a bit leary.
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Comments (19)
You might want to look at Steve's Blinds. I learned of the website long ago here on GW and ordered several TDBU cellular shades. Steve's carries several manufacturers' products but we purchased "Steve's own" brand. I believe they are made by a subsidiary of Hunter Douglas but this may be incorrect. We already have several similar blinds in the Hunter Douglas brand and have found the Steve's product to be comparable in quality. Would definitely order from the company again. I am linking the results of a quick search on the website using made-up dimensions and specifying "Steve's own" brand. Please note that there are many other options available on the website, and you will need to carefully enter the particulars for your windows instead of relying on the numbers I used. There is an up-charge for the TDBU feature as well. The website is kind of junky and confusing but you can call and get some customer service assistance. Here is a link that might be useful: Steve's Blinds
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Top-Down/Bottom-up Shades - anyone have them?
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Comments (10)
Yes, we have them in DR, one bath, and new Den. As others have said, they are great. You should know that you can get these from Hunter Douglass in a cordless version, you just raise or lower (top or bottom) by grasping the tabs at the top or bottom. Of course these are more expensive. We got ours online for a pretty good price. For the den that we just finished, we went with top-down/bottom-up cellular from Next Day Blinds. These have cords, which do not bother us in this room. None of ours are room-darkening as we wanted to let in some light; all provide privacy. They won't interfere with window hardware as long as you have enough depth in the window to provide clearance for the shades. Talk to your dealer, or have them measure, if you have doubts.
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And squirrels look so cute.... You Tube is your friend, check it out for step by step instruction videos for restringing roman shades. ML
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My window is too big for a top down bottom up cellshade!
Q
Comments (3)
Have you looked at Hunter Douglas honeycomb shades? I just checked the price list. Your length is too long to do top-down/bottom-up cordless at that width. But, you can do top-down/bottom-up with UltraGlide, which is a tension wand system. I also wouldn't recommend cordless on that height because you would have a very hard time reaching the top of the shade to lower it from the top. The other option would be to do two separate shades on each side of the door (one on the stationary side and one on the side that slides). That way, if you want to go in and out, you don't have to raise the shade completely and have the entire glass exposed. I see that you don't like the vertical option, but honeycomb shades do come in verticals. Usually at doors that size, we would do the Duette with VertiGlide.
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susanka
12 years ago
We have top down bottom up, but not that wide. However, I'd recommend Hunter Douglas. We bought HD through Direct Buy, and on one of our large windows HD replaced a mechanism with no whining and not even any postage after 3 years (of my misuse, DH says; he says I don't pull on the cord the "right" way.) HD has a lifetime guarantee which they honor.
mzdee
12 years ago
O.K. I went the cheapie route and got mine at JC Penny's. Not that wide though.
I use them in my bathroom and I love love love those blinds. They are beautiful and incredibly functional. I'm in the process of hanging some in my family room now.
Good luck on getting the width that you want. If you do, I'm sure that you'll love them.
brenda_md
Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks everyone for your input. Your comments give me enough thought for pause as to whether it would really be wise to purchase this option for such a wide window. The idea of its function would be nice, but I guess not necessary. I will have an honest talk with the store about this when I go to purchase.
WendyB 5A/MA
12 years ago
The manufacturer will have a maximum width that they will make which may very well be less than 9'.

When I was getting my wood blinds for my 5' window, I think I just came in under the wire for max width. Otherwise, I would have had to get 3 separate sections.

Cell shades don't weigh so much, so that helps, but I suspect 9' may not be available.

The mechanism -- top-down-bottom-up or just bottom-up -- may limit your choices as well at that width. I think my 5' limit was also because I wanted cordless.
justme48
12 years ago
WARNING:
Cell shades don't weigh much, but the bottom rails have weights in them (Bali) so beware. Our windows are 48w x 72h, the blinds were very hard to lift open, and the mechanism failed to operate correctly from day one. JCPenney gave us a hard time, but finally agreed to a complete refund.

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