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  Types of Wood Blinds
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  Stains and Finishes
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  Maintenance and Durability
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  Light Control
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  Manufacturers
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  Slat Sizes
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  Choosing Slat Sizes
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  Slat Designs
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  Rout Options
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  Cloth Tapes
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  Control Options
  
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  Full Grain vs Wood Stains

Light Control of Wood Blinds

The degree to which your wood blinds control light largely depends on the blind's slat width and slat design. Most homeowners choose wood blinds for their ambiance and aesthetics rather than for their ability to control light. Although these beautifully warm window treatments offer an unequalled nostalgic value, you need to consider your options when considering wood blinds as a means of light control.

Traditional wood blinds use thick, wider slats as a means to dampen light or invite more sunlight into a room when needed. These conventional window treatments are not meant to darken or blacken a room. Instead, most homeowners choose traditional wood blinds for their warm ambiance and nostalgic appeal rather than their options in light control.

Wood blinds do offer some light control, however, and it largely depends on the width of the slat. Larger slat widths mean that less slats are needed to cover the length of a window. This, in turn, means that less bands of light seep through the slats when the wood blinds are tilted shut. Although rout holes can also pose a problem, wider slats are generally better at controlling light. But keep in mind that wider slats look better on deeper or larger windows where they are in proportion to the size of the window pane.

Wood Blinds with narrow slats, on the other hand, create many more lines of light when tilted shut. This means that if you've chosen a narrow slat, like a 1” slat for example, you need to keep in mind that there may be many more bands of light escaping into the room when the slats are tilted shut than if you had chosen a wider slat.

Wood blinds do come in a few different varieties of slat shapes, too, and you'll need to consider these before making a decision if you want a wood blind that controls light. Curved blinds with thin edges control light better than those with traditional flat faces. Also, notched or thin wood blinds also help provide better light control as well as preserving views outside a window should you choose to leave your wood blinds tilted open.