Modern Venetian Blinds

Blinds have been around since the days of ancient times. They were used in Egypt and in ancient China during the Ming dynasty. Venetian blinds themselves came along in the late 1700s. Modern Venetian blinds have come a long way since then.

The first Venetian blinds were made of wood slats. They were held in place by a decorative ribbon. Although the design was similar, this type of blinds was not the same as today’s Venetian blinds until the 1940s. It was in 1946 that the blinds became the Venetian blinds as they are known today.

This was the year that Hunter Douglas came out with light weight aluminum slats for his blinds. Since then, this type of slats has been used for Venetian blinds almost exclusively. The widths of the slats have varied with the years, but the general concept has remained the same.

The slats lie in a horizontal direction. When the blind is closed, the slats are sandwiched together in a solid stack. Tapes go through the blinds to hold them together and to allow them to be positioned. When they are pulled down they can go into three basic positions. They can be set so that they are overlapping facing inward, open, or overlapping facing outward.

Traditionally, a cord has been used for the positioning of the Venetian blinds. This makes it easy for the user to raise, lower, and open or shut the blinds. However, children were getting caught up in the cords, so something had to be changed for safety’s sake.

New Venetian blinds were made without cords. These can be raised by pushing up on the bottom and lowered by pulling down. These Venetian blinds made it possible for parents to breathe a sigh of relief while enjoying privacy or light. Some people wanted things even easier, though.