Vertical blinds in our living room that we inherited from the previous owner
When we bought our flat in 2013, we inherited the blinds that the previous owner had kindly left us. They were awful. We took most of them down immediately. In the living room, we had cream vertical blinds which I have hated since the day we moved in. But I just couldn’t work out what to replace them with.
The living room window is long, offset from the centre of the room and has a radiator below. Due to the small size of the room, the furniture placement adds an extra level of complication. Also, the room is north facing so is naturally dark. When we last redecorated I decided to embrace the darkness and paint the room in a dark moss green which makes it lovely and cosy but darker still.
We needed to replace the vertical blinds with something that wouldn’t block out the little natural light that we have in this room, but that would still provide us with privacy from the road and the houses across the street.
All of these considerations were completely overwhelming and I couldn’t work out what the best option would be. When Luxaflex got in touch to ask if I would like to review their blinds and installation service I couldn’t have been happier. Having professionals help me to solve the window dressing dilemma I had lived with for way too long was such a relief.
Luxaflex has been on my radar for many years now and I have featured their wooden shutters here on the blog before. As a company, they are well known for their exceptional quality, unique design, and outstanding craftsmanship. So obviously they were top of my lust list when it comes to my own home.
My local Luxaflex dealer is Ronald Kirby & Sons in Newton Poppleford near Sidmouth, Devon
Luckily, our local Luxaflex showroom, Ronald Kirby & Son, is only an hour away, near Sidmouth. They don’t just do Luxaflex blinds, but specialise in carpets, flooring, wallpapers, paints, curtains, blinds, fabrics, trimmings, upholstery and furniture. This was very reassuring as I knew that they would be able to help me to find the perfect blinds for our living room, whilst taking the whole room into consideration.
I was able to organise a visit to the showroom of the Luxaflex dealer, where I met Simon, his wife, and their son Sam. They were all extremely friendly and put me at ease straight away. They listened while I explained my struggle to choose a new window treatment for my living room and didn’t make me feel inadequate for not knowing what to choose despite working in interiors myself.
The showroom at Ronald Kirby & Son houses a comprehensive display of all of the available Luxaflex window treatment options
They showed me the full Luxaflex blind collection that they stock and talked me through the benefits, the differences and which rooms each type is most suited to. They are so knowledgeable and straight away I knew that I could trust them to help me choose the perfect solution for our home.
I was able to see and touch a variety of Luxaflex made-to-measure window treatments including roller, Venetian, wood, vertical and twist roller blinds, plus Luxaflex’s exclusive range of Pirouette, Silhouette, Duette, and Plissé shades.
I was also able to look through the fabric book and see the huge variety of beautiful and innovative fabrics with the look of silks, linens, and satins. It was at this point that I started to feel overwhelmed again and had to tell Simon that I may need help narrowing down the fabric and the colour. He assured me he would be able to help me choose when he came to measure up during my Luxaflex home consultation.
A selection of fabrics available for the Luxaflex blinds range
Looking at all the Luxaflex blinds up close in the showroom enabled me to narrow it down to the Pirouette shades. What attracted me to them is the flexibility to control both light and privacy. The veins control how much light enters the room but even when completely open the sheer fabric provides the perfect level of privacy from outside without blocking the natural light. At this point, I was still worried that they may make the room darker but Simon assured me that they wouldn’t and I trusted his opinion. (He was right!)
Samples of the Luxaflex Pirouette Shades shown open and closed
Simon went above and beyond to help me choose the right colour for the Luxaflex Pirouette blinds I was going to order. I showed him some photographs of my living room so he was able to help me narrow it down to a few colours. He then arranged to have fabric samples sent to my home so I could see how each colour on the shortlist would look in my home.
We booked our home visit and Simon and Sam came to measure up and help me finalise the colour choice. All Luxaflex blinds are made to measure and the Luxaflex dealers can advise on whether you should have your blinds fitted inside or outside the recess.
With Simon’s expert help we settled on Tiger Eye as the colour. The fabric wasn’t quite a blackout but offered the perfect amount of opacity when closed and the perfect amount of privacy when open. It is a beautiful warm coppery shade that looks beautiful against the moss green walls and enhances the quality of light that comes into the room.
I was also impressed to learn that the beautiful and innovative fabric employs UV filtering technology that protects furniture and flooring. Luxaflex Pirouette shades block up to 81% of harmful UV rays with veins open and 99% when closed.
Once we were all measured up and the final fabric and colour choice had been made, Simon informed me that the lead time for the blinds to be produced was currently at about 18 weeks. Apparently, the blinds are made abroad and given current supply chain issues it’s no wonder that the lead time has increased. Obviously, this wasn’t an issue for me having waited far too long already to get replacement blinds.
Simon and Sam came back earlier this month to fit our new Luxaflex blinds. It was a really smooth operation and I can’t recommend Ronald Kirby & Sons highly enough. The service is super professional but being a family business, the customer service was extremely friendly and approachable. No question was too silly and they made time to show me everything I needed to know. They are a real credit to Luxaflex who should be very proud to have such fantastic local dealers.
The Luxaflex Pirouette shades came with the Luxaflex PowerView motorisation advanced operating system. This means that the blinds are actually motorised smart home blinds controlled via an innovative wireless system that lets you control the blind using an app on your smartphone or tablet. The blind is operated by built-in Li-ion batteries so no wiring is required.
Now, this is the best bit for me. Luxaflex PowerView enables you to create and schedule customised room settings that allow your blinds to open, close, or adjust automatically throughout the day or night. I’ve set mine to open automatically at sunrise and close automatically at sunset seven days a week. However, you can set scenes that allow you customise the blind for various activities such as reading, nap times or movie nights for example. You could programme it to open later at the weekend. The customisation options are really convenient.
Being able to operate the blind from your phone or tablet also means that you don’t have to worry about going on holiday as you can either leave them to open and close at set times or you can operate them remotely making it less obvious that nobody is home for a prolonged period.
If you are even more techy, you’ll be pleased to know that the PowerView Automation can be connected to leading Smart Home systems including Google assistant, Apple Homekit, and Amazon Alexa to create a personalised, whole-home smart solution.
If tech isn’t your favourite thing, it is perhaps easier and convenient to use the PowerView Pebble remote control to quickly adjust any single or group of PowerView blinds with just a push of a button. Using the Scene controller, you can create scenes using the app and then download and activate them so that you can use them on the Pebble remote.
Luxaflex blinds with PowerView can also be controlled via the Pebble remote control
There are so many benefits to the Luxaflex PowerView blinds. They can help reduce energy loss, and save on heating and cooling costs to create more energy-efficient and healthy homes. This is something that will undoubtedly be a priority for many families as the cost of energy soars.
They have also been designed with child safety in mind as the cordless control removes the potential hazard for small children.
We’ve had our Luxaflex blinds for a couple of weeks now. My only regret is not getting them much sooner. They look absolutely fantastic, both inside and from outside and provide enhanced privacy and security. They are super easy to use and the automatic function is just so convenient. I love the fact that I never have to worry about them and they simply open and close on their own at sunrise and sunset. I may need to adjust those timings throughout the year as it gets lighter earlier and darker later, but it’s so easy to do that by simply creating a summer scene.
I really can’t fault Simon and Sam from Ronald Kirby & Sons. Their expert design advice, product knowledge, and seamless installation really was second to none. If you are reading this in Devon I really can’t recommend this Luxaflex dealer highly enough. They helped me to work through all my issues to find the perfect blinds for light control, privacy, and safety.
And I am super happy with the quality and ease of use of my new Luxaflex Pirouette blinds. I’m just wondering how long it will take for the children to stop squealing with excitement each time they catch sight of them closing or opening of their own accord.
So what do you think of the Luxaflex Pirouette blinds with Powerview? I’d love to know your thoughts and whether you would consider them for your home. Leave a comment below and don’t forget to pin this post to come back to later.
Thanks for the review. What was the gifted iem?
The blinds