When it comes to measuring your blinds, you’re better off getting it right the first time. Once blinds have been cut, the only way to correct your mistake is by ordering a new set.
You want to avoid that by all means possible, and this is where being accurate in your measurements comes in. This starts by getting the correct lengths and widths of your window or door openings and Windows Bristol is a great place to start.
Luckily, measuring blinds isn’t that much of a difficult job. You can even do it yourself (DIY) if you’re sure you can maintain accuracy throughout. If you see your DIY route is about to go wrong, feel free to call in a professional to do the measuring for you.
Since accuracy is key for you to have blinds that are a perfect fit, let’s look at how you can get the job done. Hence, to end up with perfect-sized blinds keep the following tips in mind:
- Don’t Think That Similar Looking Windows Are The Same Size
Just because a couple of windows look similar, it doesn’t mean that you can substitute measuring both windows by measuring only one of them. Get your measuring tools out and measure all windows or glass doors.
Due to framing or your house settling over time, your windows and doors might have small variations in measurements. These variations are going to be significant when measuring the right blinds for your house’s openings.
- Don’t Do The Calculations In Advance For Professionals
When giving measurements to professionals that are going to cut your blinds for you, it’s very important to give them the exact measurements of your windows. Some people make the mistake of measuring their windows then assuming in advance that for the blinds to be a perfect fit, they’ll have to be a little smaller than the windows.
The person doing the final cutting of the blinds needs the actual measurements of the windows for them to determine with more accuracy how big or small your blinds will need to be.
If you’ve already decided to leave this job to a professional, you need to trust their judgment. After all, too many cooks can indeed ruin a pot. Leave the calculations to a seasoned professional and stick to giving accurate measurements of where the blinds are supposed to go.
- Never Use Old Blinds As A Basis
For the best results, you’re better off measuring your window openings from edge to edge. Trying to measure your old blinds by assuming it’s going to be the same as measuring your windows is a costly mistake.
The measurements are going to come out too narrow and make the job really difficult for the person cutting your blinds. The final cutting and installation of the blinds are just an end job and the tail of a series of things you should do right first. So, in essence, the results are really up to you.
- Windows Are Not Perfectly Shape
When measuring your openings, you should make sure you take measurements for the top, bottom, and middle parts. It’s a mistake to assume that your window that looks like a square is actually a perfect square in measurements.
Verify if the sides are indeed equal by measuring them one by one. This will help you give the true measurements of your openings even if it turns out the bottom part is smaller than the top part.
Use this tip to help you choose the correct measurements for your specific preference:
Height:
- For sheer shades, roller shades, solar shades, and vertical blinds, it’s best to use the shortest height.
- For any other style, use the longest height.
Width:
- For sheer shades, roller shades, solar shades, and vertical blinds, it’s best to use the top of the window measurements
- For any other style, use the narrowest measurement of the top, bottom, and middle.
- Read The Tape Measure Correctly
If you’re inexperienced in reading tape measures, you might think that those fractional tick marks can be ignored, but they can’t. For the best and most accurate results, you need to get your measurements correct down to the decimal.
When reading a tape measure, you’ll need to count the hash marks after the last big number, and use them to find the accurate fractional measurement.
Furthermore, to measure correctly toward corners, instead of folding the tape, you should instead keep the tape measure straight and let the tape measure’s housing touch the window’s corner. Take note of the correct big number and fractional measurement shown on the tape, then check the back of your tape measure housing for a number. This number is the exact measurement of the tape measure housing. If you add this to the figure you already noted, you’ll have the actual measurement of your window or door opening.
- Include The Width To Outside Blinds
When measuring for outside blinds, remember your approach should differ slightly from that of measuring for inside blinds.
While for inside blinds, you measure the size of the opening so that a professional would then determine what size the actual blinds would need to be; measuring for outside blinds is the opposite.
When measuring for outside blinds, measure the actual size you want your blinds to be. For this reason, your measurements will need to be wider and taller than your window’s opening. You may add two inches on either side for the width, then three inches above the window trim for the height, and measure all the way down to the window sill.
Bottomline
Installing new blinds is a great way to upgrade your house’s look, but measuring them can be such a taxing exercise.
Make sure you’re using the right tape measure and are measuring all your windows sides to ensure you get blinds that are a perfect fit for your windows or glass doors. Another thing you need to pay attention to is how you measure for outside blinds and learning to read your tape measure well. Do not fold that tape! Use the tip that is given in this article when you’re stretching your tape measure toward a corner.
