Ok, you worked hard and your room redecorating is almost done, but you want to top it off by putting up great looking window blinds or curtains! Saving a few bucks is also a motivator for many of us to, "do it ourselves". You might wonder," What if I measure incorrectly and waste my hard earned money on blinds that don't fit?" Well the key to this not happening is to learn how to measure correctly and ask questions if you don't know or aren't sure! No guessing when measuring! There are great on-line blind suppliers that would love to help; like American Blinds, Click here, Select Blinds, Inc who offers 20 off all Blinds and Shades plus free shippingand Blinds.com, who offers Products Made In One Day! They are all more than happy to answer your measuring questions to make sure that you get a perfect fit every time, but you still must do the measuring.
There are just a few basics to cover before tackling your blinds measuring job. First of all (1.) use a metal tape measure to insure that there is no unwanted slack in your measurements. (2.)
Always measure to the nearest 1/8 inch and don't round up or down! (3.) Be careful when you write down the width and height measurements because it is easy to mix them up! Always indicate the WIDTH (W) measurement first and then the HEIGHT (H), WxH. (4.) Measure each window individually even if they all look exactly the same. In most cases they won't be! You will also want to take multiple measurements of both the width and height, but we will cover that later. (5.) Next, step back and decide if you want to install your blinds inside the window opening, not covering up the molding/trim (Inside Mount) or outside of the window opening, covering the molding/trim (Outside Mount).
If you have read this far then you are just about an expert and we are almost done! Something to consider when you are trying to decide on Inside or Outside mounting for your blinds is the depth of the window opening. Most people opt for an Inside Mount because it gives you a neater look. For Inside Mount your window frame should measure at least 2 inches. If you have a very shallow window depth then you will need to use the Outside Mount and the Outside Mount can be used to cover up things and it does make the window look larger from the inside.
When measuring for Inside Mount you need to first make sure that there are not any obstacles, like handles or cranks that would get in the way of your hanging blinds. If there are then you would be wise to opt for Outside Mount. Next, measure the width in 3 places (Top, Middle, Bottom). Always use the NARROWEST measurement. Your last step is to measure the height. Again, measure the height in 3 places and this time use the TALLEST measurement. It also would be wise to double check with your chosen blind supplier to make sure that these measuring techniques should be used for the exact type of blind that you want to install.
When measuring for Outside Mount you need to have at least two inches of flat space above the window frame to accommodate for the blind mounting brackets. When you measure you will be measuring from the wall on one side of your window frame to the wall on the other side of the window frame. The distance from the wall to the frame is called the overlap. For most applications you will want to just use a width overlap of 1 1/2 to 3 inches on each side depending on the type of blind that you have chosen. For the height you will want to use a 2 to 3 inch overlap at the top (For the Mounting Brackets) and 1 1/2 inches at the bottom.
If you understood what you just read then you have enough knowledge to successfully measure your windows for your new blinds! Once you have decided on which blind supplier you are going to use it would be best to take the information that you just learned and coordinate it with that suppliers measuring techniques for a specific type of blind to insure a perfect fit.
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