Austrian Blinds

Austrian blinds bring shape and softness to otherwise rather austere architectural lines of a room. The gathered effect of an austrian blind is easy to achieve, and requires no lining (to retain a light and bouncy effect) of the fabric. They work perfectly in kitchens and bathrooms where you want to dress the window but need to pull the fabric out of the way. A romantic feeling can successfully be added to bedrooms with the addition of an austrian blind either as a lone window treatment, or mounted behind full length curtains for a sumptuous look.

Austrian blinds are gathered across the top of the fabric and pulled up vertically, at regular intervals across the width of the blind. The result is loosely folded swags and a sumptuous window treatment that, rather than look old-fashioned today, can add a great deal of grandeur to a room which would otherwise be rather bland.

Austrian blinds can be made using a variety of heading tape. The simplest heading tape is standard pencil pleat tape. This can be drawn up into slim, neat pleats across the width of your window. Triple pleat (also known as French pleats) are also easy to achieve and give a slightly more formal heading. Likewise goblet pleats are interesting to look at and give a glamorous look. Remember to consider how you will use your austrian blind - if it is to be placed under full length curtains, then you may prefer the simple pencil pleat heading tape, as the top of the austrian blind may not be that visible. If however, the blind is being used alone, you may want the look of a more eye-catching heading such as the triple or goblet pleat.