Window blinds: Ideal means to showcase your creativity
Window blinds are readymade designer awnings or curtains or pardahs (an Urdu term to refer to an awning). Mentionably, the word ‘awning’ refers to any sheet of canvas that is stretched or hung on a frame to shield rain, dust or sunlight.
In fact, the term ‘awn’ has its roots in an Old Norse word actually refers to the bristly head of a sheath of grasses. With time, the term has come to connote three other things, as well, viz., obstruction to sight or light; any means to shield the truth; and awning or the screen for a window.
TYPES OF WINDOW BLINDS
Window blinds come in various shapes, sizes, drawings, motifs and ranges. They can also be dovetailed to your likings.
There is a large and ever expanding market of window blinds across the globe.
Many artisans are employed in this sector nowadays. Globalization and advancement of science has also played a crucial role in metamorphosing this ancient art of manufacturing curtains to a sophisticated lucrative mercantile endeavor.
VARIOUS STAGES OF THE SECTOR
Of late, this sector has come out of its cocoons. From being a household affair, it has acquired the status of a well-organized business proposition across the world.
The extent of its reach can be gauged from the simple fact that the raw materials are culled from one part of the world; then they are transported to be processed at a unit; next, they are molded and customized to the designs; after that, they are packaged to be finally sold to the clients.
TRACING THE ROOTS
Since the days of yore, the need for privacy and the necessity of secrecy have been the main motives behind the discovery of such shields. Wedded to artistic strains of mankind and his eternal search for innovative means, this ancient art has gradually but surely evolved as an aesthetic and also economic pursuit.
In several Asian countries like Japan and India, the art of manufacturing window blinds has been a tradition zealously practiced by both the sexes. Exquisitely designed Japanese and Indian window blinds with the typical motifs of the respective cultures are some of the much sought after mementoes by tourists – both domestic and foreign.
In fact, several such units have been sponsored by the government to showcase the colorful artistry of the expert weavers and painters to the visitors.
WINDOW BLINDS: THE RAW MATERIALS
Window blinds can be prepared from varieties of items; they can be made from tough coarse cloths that are generally used for tents or sails and also from linen or even synthetic materials.
Nowadays, window blinds are manufactured from different types of natural sources. Mention may be made of processed stems of bamboo and water reeds; the fine threads spun out of the leaves and stems of pineapples, coconut, water hyacinths besides other species of grasses including barley and bamboo.
PRICE RANGE: THE DETERMINING FACTORS
The price ranges of window blinds are fixed on various factors. The primary agents determining the rates of the window blinds are the means of production, the source and nature of the raw materials, the manufacturing and transportation costs besides the transshipment and the final marketing strategies used to make the finished products accessible to the targeted clients.
Insofar as the raw materials of the window blinds are concerned it is the texture that holds importance. The price range is first pegged on the fineness of texture – natural or artificial, and also on the nature of the drawings etched on the screen – handmade or with scientific gadgets. The quality of color needs to be of rather high quality.
All in all, the fabric or the material as well as the designs (including the dyes used) must have the strength to withstand the stress of time, touch and the vagaries of nature.
