Source from Blinds & Shutters Magazine

Edited by Jenny Yan

Cosiflor tells Blinds & Shutters: “For as long as there have been windows, there have been ideas about how best to shade the light coming in through them!”

And at night, when rooms are lit, we might also want a little more privacy and ambiance.

Unlike curtains, which are designed to block out the light, blinds offer a much greater and more sympathetic degree of shading so you can still have light filtering into the room while keeping out the heat and the glare. Over the years different solutions have been found and we now have a wide array of different styles to choose from, including pleated, romans, venetians, verticals, rollers – each with its own place in the interior design scheme. Pleated blinds, for example, are particularly suited to conservatories where the windows can sometimes be unusual and complex shapes.

Indeed, such has been the success of the product that many of the leading conservatory manufacturers only offer pleated blinds to prospective purchasers. And, in the cut-throat conservatory market, this usually means that they have done their research and that they believe that pleated blinds are the best blinds for the job.

Cosiflor blinds, and its UK partner Arding Marketing, have been actively working with installers such as Sampson’s, AMO Blinds, and other partners to offer a simple fabrication system coupled with stylish, high performance fabrics available from near-transparent to blackout – as the situation requires, in plain and chintz-crinkle finishes.

There are over 250 colours and styles in the Cosiflor fabric range, from domestic and commercial quality, through to special coatings such as pearlising for roof blinds, and fire retardency. In the UK pearlising is very common, indeed almost obligatory for roof blinds in conservatories for both light/heat reflectivity and hygiene, and is therefore an option on all fabrics offered over here by Cosiflor. The company’s innovative Perlex coating offers a highly reflective finish that is at the same time repellent to stains and resistant to dirt, condensation and alkaline cleaning agents. This is not to say that you don’t have to look after your blinds, because nothing in life is that easy. But Cosiflor’s Perlex offers you the next best thing! Other special treatments, such as FR, are also available to order for most fabrics.

There is a growing trend in the UK towards mixing colours in a room. Blinds have traditionally been the same colour for walls and roofs in a conservatory but designers, and the more adventurous consumer, are now using contrasting colours for each. Dark solid colours with a pearlised coating work best for roof blinds, whereas a brighter, perhaps patterned fabric will look stunning for the windows blinds. Apart from creating a much more lively ambience, it allows for easier colour matching with furnishings and floors