Practical Window Coverings for the Workplace

Work and home are often the same place these days since the widespread use of IT to effectively manage the communications at employee, customer and supplier networks of many modern organisations. Most work is still based away form the home, and in the private sector, public sector and service industries generally a lot of work is based in office environments. These environments often contain several or groups of people, and in larger offices e.g. call centres, there may be hundreds of people using the office at different times, perhaps in shifts throughout the day and night. Wear and tear on fixtures and furnishings in offices like these is a serious ongoing concern. Walls and skirting boards are marked and dented, lighting and lighting fixtures get damaged, chairs are broken, and floor coverings get worn or marked. Janitorial and office cleaning services often really have their work cit out for them.

Office windows are other areas to find considerable wear and tear. Since the windows and the coverings are in a sense the ‘moving parts’ of the building, their position, status and use is often subject to the personal tastes and needs of the particular staff members near them at the time. For example in warmer weather the windows are opened to various degrees, and closed in cold weather. When it gets dark outside, blinds are closed.

Blinds offer a highly practical and durable solution to the window covering requirements of office buildings. Horizontal blinds for example often have metal based slats which are highly durable in themselves, although the operating mechanisms are often subject to wear and tear through extensive use. Also dust has a tendency to build up on the horizontal slats. This is as unwelcome in a work environment as it is at home.

Vertical blinds however offer an altogether different and more practical solution to the challenges posed by office window coverings. The vertical slats attract less dust and the operating systems are easy to use and highly durable. The vertical blind slats are very easy to clean. PVC backed vertical blind slats are strong and provide an effective layer of insulation against light at night. Vertical blinds give a clean and tidy appearance to the office window areas. This is important from the point if view of staff, customers, and visitors. Vertical blinds distribute large amounts of natural light around the office.