Sunday, April 13, 2008

Which Way Do Your Blinds Turn?


I had some friends over yesterday for a House Party. I was trying to get a picture of them sitting on the couch but the blinds were open behind them. Since it would be rude of me to lean across them to close the blinds, I asked if one on either end of the couch would do it for me.

One friend turned the blinds one direction, while the other turned them the other. When they noticed that they were opposite, one jokingly said "Hers is backwards." Unfortunately, it brought to light a question I've had in my head for quite some time. Is there a right way to close mini blinds? It may be like the "Does your toilet paper roll forwards or backwards" debate where there isn't a correct answer. I'm curious if there is.

Regardless of whether it is right or how it actually looks from the outside, I turn my blinds different directions depending on the location.

All blinds on the first floor are angled upwards with the edge closest to the window lowered towards the ground. My thought - If someone walks up to the house, I don't want them to be able to peek inside and see the kids or anything on the floor. If they peer inside, all they see is the ceiling... or they have to bend down and look upwards to see anything else.

Blinds on the second floor turn so they are angled downward - with the window edge higher. Using the same logic as the first floor, only birds would be able to peek into the house. Simply put, I don't want people to be able to see inside of the house.

So which way do you turn your blinds? And if you care to answer, you can weigh in on the toilet paper debate, too.

17 comments:

  • Anonymous

    Okay. So, my husband and I have this debate. I turn them up so that more light is blocked (especially during nap time in the baby's room). He turns them down because he thinks that, turned the other way, people can see in. Which I think is a bit ridiculous. But anyway.

    I don't think there's a right or wrong!

  • Miss Lisa

    Most of our blinds are ten years old and broke so I guess I can't weigh in here :(
    I will always side with the wife though ;)

  • Anonymous

    I kinda do it the same way Nicole does, mainly because I lived in so many apartments on the ground floor, and really didn't want people peeking in to my house. Now I've got these vertical slit blinds in San Diego, and I direct them to the "most blank" wall of the correspondent room. While good for circulation, these are a pain to keep uniform (they're always tangling up with each other), and frequently the cord jams. I hate them.

  • Sarah

    I am with you---I don't want people peering in at me. But this fear has been handed down to me from my paranoid mother (so I do not know if this is a logical fear or not.) :-)
    And toilet paper must roll over the top towards you....I have heard though that if you want people to use less, you should have it dispense from the back. That has not been scientifically proven though....:-)

  • Apryl Kuhn

    I turn ours up. It feels like they block more light that way.

  • OHmommy

    LMAO... great question. I have never thought about it. I guess I like facing down. :)

  • Tara

    Good question... like you I did the opposite downstairs than I did up. After the millionth time trying to clean them- I got tired and threw them all away. Now I just pull the curtains closed, lol. The only window that still has a shade is the bathroom but it's a pull down and will be tossed too.
    The toilet paper? well I am just happy if it's not rolling around on the floor or being shoved in the toilet by my daughter.

    I saw your beelog post and would love to know a few more WOM sites... if you don't mind sharing.

  • The Apron Queen

    Dear blogging friend,
    My meme tag response is up. You can go right here. Be there or be square. :D
    Yours truly,
    The Apron Queen

    PS We have roots in Iowa too. Love the Midwest.

  • judy

    I have no idea..down I guess.
    on a different note You guys might want to check out my most recent blog....with kids lullabies are needed. And this one is especially sweet.

    http://averyopenbook.blogspot.com/

  • Sabrina

    How funny. Well our blinds are down and the TP comes out from the back. Good Question!

  • Michele

    I do the exact same thing you do with the blinds and for the exact same reasons. I have no idea where we got those ideas but I'm glad it's not just me : ) By the way, did you see my comment or email (can't remember which one) about the Shaklee?

  • BusyDad

    Can I throw a wrench into this here dilemma? Vertical blinds. That's what I have. So... left or right? If I had to choose up or down. I'd say down because I just associate the action of "close" with down (like a car hood, a cockpit, etc.).

  • Brian and Staci

    Nicole...just noticed you commented on my blog a couple of days ago! Makes me feel sooo much better to hear your little ones are as crazy about their Wii too! Really, I don't know how they do it! I'm not a video game player...so truly, I think it's gotta be good hand-eye coordination right?? At least that's what I'm gonna keep tellin' myself! Thanks for stoppin' by! Your family is beautiful!

  • Sarah

    I could've sworn I replied to this...but here we go anyway...

    first, for toilet paper it has to come over the roll. I hate pulling from behind.

    The blinds are tricky. Unless I'm feeling particularly paranoid (which happens from time to time) - they go up. If they are pointed down, the sun has a very good chance of shining in my eyes and the room as a whole. Plus, pointed down they don't ever seem to close as fully as they do pointed up...and darker is better, so up it is.

    However, if I AM feeling paranoid, they go down at night.

  • Nicole Brady

    Ashley - I agree that you have to consider the lighting issue too. No right or wrong answer!
    Lisa - You need new blinds!
    Sonny - Yes! The apartments ARE where I established my opinions about blinds!
    Sarah - Glad to hear it's more than one generation and not just me!
    Apryl - With all the sunny days in your neck of the woods, I guess I can understand!
    ohmommy - You mean you haven't blogged about blinds yet? Oh my! :)
    Tara - We're supposed to clean the blind? Oh.
    The Apron Queen - Welcome to my blog!
    Judy - You never thought about it before, but I'm sure that you'll be noticing it now!
    Sabrina - Always nice to hear other people's opinions!
    Michele - I should have expected that from you. We think too much alike!
    Busy Dad - Vertical? I would have expected you to say that Fury built you some fancy window covering out of legos!
    Brian & Staci - We use the eye/hand coordination logic with our parents back when the Atari came out.
    Sadie - I'll check my comment moderation. You may have and I missed it. Thanks for commenting once or twice. :)

  • Anonymous

    We often get asked this by our customers, and in reality, there is no right answer. Depending on how the blinds have been fitted, we always recommend tilting the blinds in the way that blocks out the most light. For example, in our bedroom, we have a light outside, so we tilt the blinds the other way to block this light out. Everywhere else we tilt the blinds the other way to allow a small amount of light to enter in the morning.

  • gabrielpenfield

    There are several locations on the web on this topic and none of them address the most important directional issue.

    The blinds need to be turned up because they not only block the light but they also work like shingles work on a roof with cool air during the winter time. As we all know cold air moves down and warm air rises. Turning the blinds up allows the colder air between the blinds and the window to fall against the next blade of the blind and so on, keeping the air separated.
    During warm weather the opposite is true and turning the blinds down creates the shingle overlap effect for the rising warm air and the falling cool air from the air conditioner.

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