The Finishing Touch

Blinds.com Partners with BHG.com to Provide Decorator-Approved Blinds and Shades

We’re thrilled to partner with BHG.com to be their provider of Interior Designer-approved window treatments, perfect for that DIY home decorator. Now you can recreate your favorite looks from the mag in a few simple steps. BHG.com makes it super easy for home owners to find ideas and inspiration, then recreate their favorite looks.

We browsed BHG.com ourselves, and picked out some super helpful slideshows and articles for you to read through when considering new blinds and shades. Plus, a little quiz to test your window treatment knowledge.

Check ‘em out!

Bay and Bow Window Treatment Ideas

Ideas for Multiple Windows

Easy Cleaning Tips for Cleaning Blinds

The Ultimate Guide to Window Treatments

Solutions for Problem Windows

How to Layer Window Treatments

Quiz: Name That Window Treatment

Then, go to the BHG.com Store and shop --> Buy Blinds and Shades at Better Homes and Gardens

Blinds.com Takes Home 2009 Marketer of the Year Award

Last night, hundreds of Houston’s (country’s, really) top marketers came together for the American Marketing Association’s presentation of the Marketer of the Year. We are happy to report that we were awarded MOTY 2009!

Blinds.com is a small business. We have close to 100 employees and a marketing department of only seven. As we started putting together our application, it became clear to us that 2009 had been a successful year. In spite of the blinds business being down 30-40%, Blinds.com remained profitable. We had struggles, like many organizations did last year, but we took measures to improve. We cut costs where we could, but didn’t pull back in the areas that mattered most. We formed strategic alliances with other companies that increased our reach without adding additional costs. We improved the website, made the shopping experience better, and tested everything.

The exercise of putting it all on paper helped us appreciate how hard we worked last year, and what a tightly-knit team we have become. It didn’t take winning to understand the importance of this.

All that said, winning is a big honor. Our competition included some of the most innovative marketing teams, not just in Houston, in the world. Shell Oil. MD Anderson. Metro. Halliburton. Houston is home to many Fortune 500 companies, and their marketing departments do incredible work. We were honored just to be included on the short list.

Okay, I'm excited. Give me a break.

To quote our CEO: “I’ve been telling our investors for years, ‘We’re not a blinds company, we’re a marketing company that sells blinds.’ This proves it!”

Pantone Announces 2010 Color of the Year: Turquoise

If you’re a design fanatic like I am, then you wait with baited breath for the announcement of Pantone’s choice for Color of the Year. The color choice speaks to design and décor trends, a collective feel for the direction design will go in the year to come, and it’s also kind of fun to see what they choose. A little information about turquoise, from Jacci Howard Bear on About.com:

“This in-between color represents water, thus the names aqua and aquamarine. It's also a valuable and popular mineral often turned into jewelry. Turquoise is closely associated with the Middle East and the American Southwest.”

Turquoise is considered to be a spiritual color by modern mystics. It is a color that is said to warn off negativity and help protect property. Knowing this about turquoise, it is only fitting for it to be chosen. As we climb out of the pit of Recession, we’ll need all the help we can get.

Feng Shui tells that turquoise, though vibrant, is actually a relaxing color. Used in the home, it can help you be a better communicator. Turquoise also represents healing. If you want to create a healthier, happier, more relaxed home in 2010, make turquoise a part of your design scheme.

There are a few ways you can do this. You can either overhaul your entire home, painting walls and putting in new carpet, but who has time and money for that? Instead, choose a few key accents or furniture pieces that tie in with the colors you’re already using. Here are a few suggestions:

This Bali DiamondCell Storm Cellular Shade with 5 1/2" white Noble Cornice is perfect for your comfy kitchen. Delicate white accents, a little greenery, and a splash of turquoise wall calm you as you tidy up. Turquoise blinds and shades can make a major impact.

Hunter Douglas 1" Celebrity Aluminum Miniblinds are perfect for a playroom or child's room because they're durable, long-lasting, and can be made cordless for safety reasons. The deeper, more vibrant turquoise color is a strong color, and is gender-neutral.

 

If you'd rather choose new draperies in a beautiful turquoise hue, I recommend Tuscany Panels in Impressions Waterfall, from the Manor House Formal Solids and Sheers collection. Should you ever tire of turquoise, you can easily replace them with something else and keep the original hardware. 

 

For just a splash of muted turquoise, go with the Tuscany Panels in Rugged Mist, from the Cottage and Cabin Casual Stripes and Plaids collection.

 

Of course, you can just toss in a few well-placed accessories, like this fun, polka-dotted chair. Buy the Kid's Modern Polka Dot Chair from Target.

This is truly the greatest kitchen mixer every invented for the home baker. If you don't have one already, why not pick up the KitchenAid Stand Mixer from the Martha Stewart Blue Collection from Amazon?

 

For the completely non-committal home decorator, toss a couple of throw pillows, like this printed silk pillow from Target, into the mix. Turquoise pairs well with a variety of colors, so add a few to your decor. Once you get sick of them, donate them, or move them to a different room

Love turquoise too? How will you be experimenting with the 2010 Color of the Year? Tell me!

Blinds.com Gives Backpacks & School Supplies to Children in Need

**Plus, why SMB’s should encourage employees to participate in community service together.

We remember what it was like to go back to school. Who didn’t want that perfect backpack, plus every item on the school supply list? When we found out how many children in Houston were without these essentials, we took action. The YMCA of Greater Houston is a hub for helping children. Its fabulous and well-run community centers and programs make it a great place to get involved. Needless to say, we were delighted to learn about Operation Backpack, an organization that collects backpacks, lunchboxes, and school supplies for children in need.

We began by setting up drop-off points at both Blinds.com offices.

 

Within 1 week, we had over 60 FILLED backpacks! Yes, each one was filled with all the supplies on the list. It was time to make the drop, but not before taking a group photo.

 

Sarah, Shannon, Ana, and I piled into the car, backpacks in tow, and made our way to the YMCA Houston on Stella Link. This is an unbelievable new building, with tons of fun activities for kids and parents.

We were greeted by a wonderful volunteer, Marvin.

We were also warmly received by YMCA Houston Executive Director Brandy Perryman (who was one of the coolest names EVER). He helped us carry bags in, posed for pictures with us, and couldn’t wait for Blinds.com to participate in more community programs.

Why This Matters

A recent Watson Wyatt survey suggests that “highly engaged employees miss 20 percent fewer days of work and are almost 80 percent more likely to be top performers. About 75 percent of them exceed or far exceed expectations in their most recent performance review. These workers also tend to be more resilient to, and supportive of, organizational change initiatives.”

Having engaged employees in your organization leads to enhanced performance by the organization as whole. As employees feel more attached to the company’s mission and vision, they begin to feel loyalty. Issues like children’s education enhance attachment to the organization when staff are encouraged to get involved.

When employees participate in community causes as a group, it helps them understand that their performances are directly connected to the company’s performance. By encouraging them to work together in the name of charity, camaraderie is established and professional connectedness develops. Not every business has an extensive bankroll to donate large amounts. Instead of cutting a big check, make an impact through the workplace by getting everyone involved with an ongoing program or special project like Operation Backpack. This requires very little money or time, and makes a real impact.

Watson Wyatt calls these “engagable moments,” and they equal a win-win for the organization, and the community. We encourage you to get your company behind a great cause. It will stimulate everyone’s creativity and drive. You might even have a little fun.

P.S. - Follow Blinds.com on Twitter for more on our commitment to social action.

Blinds.com Partners with Mommy Bloggers to Promote Child Safety

Blinds.com and Amber, blogger for Miracles on Mama Street have teamed up to raise awareness for window blind safety. After a family in her community suffered the tragic loss of one of their children due to unsafe window blinds, Amber decided to take matters into her own hands. She immediately replaced all of her corded window treatments with cordless ones. She also told everyone in her network about the dangers of having out-of date blinds and shades in their homes. They also replaced all of their dangerous treatments with safe ones.

Amber realized that it still wasn’t enough, and that there were so many more people she could be reaching. She contacted us here at Blinds.com, and her cause touched our hearts.

Amber is reaching thousands of other mommy bloggers as well as parents dedicated to child safety. Please join the crusade to end senseless deaths like this by ensuring that your home is well equipped with safe window treatments, and that your neighbors’ homes are as well.

To make it financially possible for parents to replace dangerous, Blinds.com is offering 10% off our top rated and most popular product, the Blinds.com 3/8” Light Filtering Cellular Shade, when ordered with the cordless option. Simply use code “Mommy” at checkout.

To read Amber’s full account, visit her blog, Miracles on Mama Street, and support our efforts to increase awareness. Grab the button on the top left of her site, link to her post, and/or pass the 10% savings on to family and friends.  

Help us avoid heartbreak, and protect our children.

Sincerely,

Follow Amber and me on Twitter for updates and information regarding this special promotion.

The 2010 Blinds.com Drapery Line Refresh is Here!

The brand new patterns and colors for the 2010 collection of the Thomas Kinkade Drapery Line from Blinds.com are finally here! 80 new fabrics launched today, and many of the old fabrics remain (don’t worry!). The designers chose carefully to select the most gorgeous, in style fabrics; the new collection truly marries fashion with interior design.

It's Window Treatment Safety Week, How Are You Protecting Your Kids?

More than 140 children have died in the United States since 1981 by strangulation from window treatment cords, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). It is easy to make today's window treatments safer for young children with just a few simple adjustments, to prevent these tragic accidents.

Cribs and furniture should not be placed near a window.
Even if you have child guards on the windows, young children are tempted to investigate cords dangling from window treatments. Since young children climb, never put a chair or other object near a window with a dangling cord.

Q & A: Tom Rodgers, Green Team Leader at Springs Window Fashions

If you knew there was an easy, inexpensive way to shrink your carbon footprint, would you do it? That’s what Springs Window Fashions, makers of Bali and Graber blinds and shades, is helping customers do with window treatments. Tom Rodgers heads up the Green Team at SWF. Kind of sounds like the Superfriends of green living, doesn’t it? But that’s really what they call themselves; they’re a team of managers workings towards real solutions for everything from cleaner, more efficient manufacturing to helping their outside sales representatives use less fuel. SWF’s Green by Nature campaign focuses on continual examination and upgrades to eco-manufacturing practices, surpassing government standards of eco-building every year, and providing affordable, eco-friendly products to consumers.  

After reading about all of the great things SWF is doing to help the environment, I had to find out the intimate details from the man himself, Tom Rodgers. I hope you’ll find what he had to say as remarkable as I did.  

Inventive Roller Shades Create Skylines Using Natural Light

How fabulous are these? Finnish Interior Designer Elina Aalto launched A Better Blind, a line of black, perforated roller shades that resemble city skylines. Each shade is custom made by hand and reflects a unique view of a major international city. The shades are functional, blocking most light and UV rays, as all roller shades do. Below you'll see Helsinki and Tokyo:

7 Things You Need to Know NOW About Cutting Energy Costs with Window Treatments

In spite of the “greenwashing” going on these days, it is critical that we call attention to the things we can do here and now to cut energy costs and generally use less. Plus, it wouldn’t hurt to save some money, would it? Let’s face it, green terminology can be very confusing. R-value, u-factor, detrimental energy loss… it’s often difficult to decipher what all of this means. For starters, visit EcoHome Magazine . It is a wonderful resource, filled with easy-to-understand information and tips you can use to make your home more energy efficient. In regards to window treatments specifically, here are some things you absolutely have to know to make good, environmentally conscious decisions when outfitting your abode: