There is no easy solution. You can try to keep as much of the sand as possible from entering your house (e.g., mats at all entryways), and try to pick up as much as you can with filtration systems, but the stuff is still going to be there. For cleaning dust around windows, I prefer using a vacuum cleaner and the round brush attachment. The ideal solution would be a whole house vacuum sytem. With a whole house system, you move from room to room with the hose and wand, switching between the floor attachment and the round brush for the blinds and window sills. You can do the same with a canister vacuum. One thing that will make the work go faster is not placing furniture in front of the windows. If you have to move anything so that you can get to the window to clean it, you have added significantly to the time you spend cleaning.

djsaw - I have 1" JC Penny basswood white blinds on all my windows and I get extremely good light when in the "open" position. I feel that because they are 1" instead of the 2", there is less bulk on the windows, thus allowing more light to filter in. The clear tilt wand works great to open and close. I have had these blinds up for 4 years and they still look like new. The White Silk matched my White Dove trim paint perfectly. Ratherbesewing - Like you, I have double-hung all wood windows with very little recession, but the 1" wood mounted great. There was a little variance in the depth of some of my windows (old house, replacements made over time, etc). Some probably didn't even have a full 1" recession. On one I remember we were only able to put screws in the two back holes instead of all four on the mounted holders, but you can't tell it. If you have 1" aluminum blinds mounted inside, these definitly will work nicely. Tuesday Here is a link that might be useful: JCP 1 inch blinds

[Hi Bob. Thanks for the clarification. I'm more likely to listen to a professional painter's explanation of why Brand A paint is better than Brand X than I am to an explanation by a paid spokesman for Brand A, and the same thing goes when it comes to blinds. An independent voice with no vested interest in selling me something carries a lot more authority. Here's the cause of my misunderstanding: the link that you posted went straight to your blog's specific discussion of the real-vs-faux question & skipped the page--and I'm assuming there is such a page: if not, there ought to be--that explains that while you install blinds, that don't sell them, and that we can't order them from you. Maybe such a one-line disclaimer at the top of each secondary page would eliminate that uncertainty for people like me, who don't arrive via the main page of your blog, where that's probably all made clear. Please accept my apologies for the confusion, and my error in thinking that you were a manufacturers' rep. Actually, going by your comment today, it sounds like you & I are somewhat in a similar position, and that we offer similar sorts of service: that is, what we have to sell is not product, but expertise. Some decorators--including those shop-at-home people--offer "free" consultations, but that just means their actual costs (and, face it, none of us can afford to work for free) are hidden in jacked-up prices for the products they sell: in your case, blinds & curtains, in my case, those things as well as to-the-trade accent pieces & gussied-up throw pillows made out of discontinued fabric samples. I don't sell that stuff. All I've got to offer are my taste, my eye, my knowledge, my experience & my ability to put all the pieces together to help people create a good-looking room. Makes it much easier at inventory time. Likewise, it's probably easier for to to sell your expertise than it would be to always be dusting samples of different manufacturers' Venetian blinds. Best wishes for your own continued success. M.]

And what brands are decent. I have one room where I need to add blinds. Most of the blinds in my houses now are Hunter Douglas and they seem to have held up well. They came with the house - I didn't buy them. In my online shopping so far I haven't found HD - just offered if you work with someone in person which I don't need/want to do.