This $14 Amazon Buy Solves Your Ugly Window Slat Blind Woes
We’re always on the lookout for smart, renter-friendly products that won’t risk your security deposit, and make your space better than the day you moved in. Slatted window blinds are one particular sore spot for a lot of folks: They look generic, have constant problems, and landlords don’t always let you remove them. Well, tenants rejoice, because we found a way to work around those ugly window coverings, and dramatically change the look of your whole room.
As renters, you only have a couple of options when it comes to slatted blinds: 1) take them down; 2) live with them; or 3) camouflage them entirely and try forget their annoying little existence. Taking them down (if you even have the option) means you’ll have to store them somewhere, then put them back up when you move out. Living with them means at least year of dealing with broken or missing slats, not to mention looking them hang at wonky, tilted angles.
We choose option three. Camouflaging and forgetting is the way to go here, and we recently discovered a good way to do it, courtesy of Amazon
These metal brackets turn existing slat blinds into curtain hardware. To install, just slide them over the blind mounts, secure with the screws, slip a curtain rod through the slots, then hang your fabric. As long as your chosen curtain rod is under one-inch diameter, it should work. These are designed for vertical slat blinds, which mount outside the window sill, and hang down to the floor. There are also different finishes, like satin nickel and plain white.
These do the same thing, but work with blinds mounted inside the window sill, which is the case with most horizontal slat blinds. There are also these plastic versions, but they look a little more flimsy and only accommodate one specific type of curtain rod.
For both of these options, know that you might need to buy a third bracket to prevent sagging if either your window is large, or your chosen curtain fabric is particularly heavy. If there’s a decorative panel covering the blind mount, you’ll have to remove that too.
Repost from Apartment Therapy article by Dabney Frake