3 DIY Blinds You Can Make Today (With Instructions & Pictures)

Blinds are great tools that help you adjust the lighting in your rooms, and they can also look quite attractive. However, purchasing commercial brands can be expensive, and you won’t always be able to find what you need. Fortunately, you can make them at home using simple items. Here’s a list of several plans that will help you do just that.

The 3 DIY Blinds

1. Cardboard Window Blind

The Cardboard Window Blind project is relatively easy and perfect for any DIYer. The finished product looks surprisingly good, and you can customize it for large and small windows or to fit the surroundings. It requires a large piece of cardboard, twine, and a few other items that aren’t hard to find, and you can complete it in a single day.

2. DIY Roman Blinds

The DIY Roman Blinds project is fun to build, and you can customize it with different types of fabric to create something that will look great in any room. The instructions are easy to follow, and each step has an illustration to accompany it, making it easy to tell if you are doing it right. Most hobbyists should be able to complete it in a single day.

3. Basement Bamboo Blinds Hack

The Basement Bamboo Blinds Hack project shows you how to make multiple blinds from one set. As the name suggests, these are especially helpful in the basement, where the windows are usually quite short. It helps you save costs while creating a uniform appearance. Plenty of illustrations make the instructions easy to follow, and there are even tips for hanging them.

How Do I Measure My Window for Blinds?

Inside Mount

Measure the height and width of the window from the inside edges where the glass meets the wood. Deduct ¼ to ½ inch from the width to prevent the blinds from scraping the sides, and deduct ¼ inch from the height to let the blind rest on the windowsill.

Outside Mount

Measure the height and width of the window, including the frame. Add at least 3 inches to the width to create an overlap on each side and add 3 inches to the height to make sure there’s room for the headrails.

What Material Should I Use for Blinds?

Most of the projects on this list call for wood, but you can use several different materials to create blinds, including plastic, aluminum, vinyl, metal, and fabric. One project even makes use of cardboard. Stronger materials, like metal and aluminum, will be harder to work with but will also produce more durable blinds than softer materials like plastic and vinyl.

What’s the Difference Between Shades and Blinds?

Blinds

Blinds and shades are popular window coverings, and many people use the terms interchangeably, but they are quite different. Blinds are usually hard window coverings with horizontal slats that you can open and close by pulling a string or twisting a stick. You can also raise and lower the entire blind by pulling the string.

Shades

Shades use a soft material that the manufacturer rolls up on a long bar that you hang above the window. As you pull the material down, it unrolls and covers the window. Shades will stop and stay in place at any point, so you can adjust how much light enters the room. Giving the shade a quick tug will cause it to roll back up, exposing the window.

Summary

If you are new to DIY projects, we recommend starting with the Cardboard Window Blind plan. You’ll be impressed with how well it works, and it will give you several insights into how blinds work, which will help improve your future projects. Another great choice is the Basement Bamboo Blinds Hack, which shows you how to modify existing blinds to cover more of a window to get more for your money. Finally, if you are a skilled woodworker, the Heisz Wood Blinds is a fun project that will produce professional-grade blinds that you can show off.

Featured Image Credit: kunmom, Shutterstock