With the new year here to stay, it?s time to say hello to new styles and new trends for your home. Much like fashion, interior decorating has yearly trends, fads, and must haves. We?re going to look at some of the hottest interior decorating trends for the year ahead that are coming to a showroom near you. Sustainable Is Desirable With 2019 being the year of Marie Kondo, who taught us to de-clutter our homes and our lives, this theme played perfectly into the minimalist design trends that were all the rage of 2019. However, in 2020, we are slowly filling our homes back up again with stuff that sparks joy, it?s just made of more sustainable and responsibly sourced materials than before. When shopping for more sustainable and ecologically friendly furniture and decorations for 2020 look for the following: Furniture and decorations that are made from wood or other natural materials like acacia and rattan Pieces made in countries with good environmental and sustainability standards Things made by companies with positive sustainability standards Items with a low carbon footprint, including locally sourced furniture Materials that emit low to no volatile organic compounds and are packaged responsibly without lots of plastic and non-recyclable materials like plastic bubble wrap or styrofoam Upcycling Is On Trend To go along with being sustainable, it?s very much in vogue to have some, if not all, of your main decoration components be crafted (cleverly) from ?upcycled? materials or objects. Case in point, a dining room table or coffee table created by hand out of leftover wooden pallets or industrial spools. Wall decorations can be created by using upcycled pottery that has been painted and restored. Another popular wall decoration is to purchase a landscape painting from a 2nd hand store and then carefully paint in new items in the landscape like classic muscle cars or fantasy castles. It?s a cheap and easy project that nets you a classic piece of unique framed artwork for very little effort. Natural, Simple, Biophilia Is All The Rage Since we?re getting back to basics and back to nature with our new trends for the new year, having a house that looks less industrial and more ?nature made? is what is ?in? this year. And that means a return to wood showing up everywhere from table tops to flooring to kitchen counters. And let?s not forget our window coverings! Wood is back and we have tons of great North American hardwood blinds that would be the perfect on-trend addition to any home this year. Check out our fantastic prices and top of the line installation! While we?re in an all natural mood, house plants are coming back with a vengeance as this year?s top sustainable decoration and accessory. While they definitely take some upkeep, houseplants are worth every minute of care they take to keep healthy. They not only look fantastic by providing an organic pop of color, but they also help to keep your home?s air filtered and fresh! Want some in-design window coverings this year? Give us a call or send us an email by using our contact page . We can?t wait to hear from you!
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The most important part about any company isn?t the products they sell or the services they provide, but the people that make up the company. We are so proud to have such a wonderful group of people on our staff that truly make our family business into one big extended family. Today, we are featuring three Blind Appeal team members, Denise Van Artsdalen, Katy Aguilar, and Brooke Rooker. Meet Denise! My favorite part about working for Blind Appeal is that we are a family-owned business. I enjoy working with my brother (owner Frank Arroues) and his wife and two sons. Even my husband and son are part of the Blind Appeal team! We consider members of the Blind Appeal team as family. Most of the staff who are not directly related to us have initially been referred to us by family members. I have worked for Blind Appeal since June 1st, 2014. I oversee the Office Management and some of my other duties include Processing and Handling all Costco Member paperwork. Marketing and Management of all social media such as Instagram, Facebook, BBB, HOUZZ, and our website. I am involved in several Treasure Valley organizations, including Brokers Council of Realtors and BCA (Idaho Building Contractors Association). When I first started with Blind Appeal one of my favorite things was to watch my brother interact with potential customers. I remember the first time I went into a customer?s home with him and was amazed not only by his knowledge of the product but also by the way he related to people. One person on an Instagram post recently said, ?Frank is a legend.? I love that! Meet Katy! My favorite part about working with Blind Appeal is the family atmosphere. Not only do most of the family work within the company, Frank and Wendy make sure that all staff feel that family vibe. Although we might work in separate areas, there isn?t a day that goes by that I don?t laugh with one person or another! I have worked for Blind Appeal for just over a year as an Administrative Assistant. I am one of the first people you?ll speak to when you call in. I handle scheduling appointments, as well as taking payments and sending receipts. I also support management by assisting with newly implemented programs. I?ve known Frank for 16 or so years. Every now and then Wendy, his wife and Sales Development Coordinator, would ask me if I would want to come work with them, but before a year ago when I started, the timing was never right for one reason or another. Last year I left my position at my last job when my husband graduated with his Master?s degree and went into the workforce. I was looking for something that would be part time and would allow me to work from home, so I could stay with my daughter. I happened to see Wendy again in Costco and she asked again if I was looking for a job, which of course I was! A few months later I got a text from her, seeing if I was still interested. I had an interview the next was and was hired the night after! I?ve enjoyed every day since! Meet Brooke! My favorite thing about working at Blind Appeal is the team has welcomed me like family. I must send out a million emails a day asking questions and everyone has been completely understanding. I have only worked for the company since Nov. 1st, 2019 but I have known Wendy for years. As the Office Assistant, when you call Blind Appeal, you reach me! I schedule appointments, create invoices, take payments, and help maintain other computer programs that we use. As a new member of the team I am still learning the ropes and everyday has been an adventure for me!
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As a family-owned company, we understand the importance of staying connected to each other through the holidays. This holiday season, we wanted to connect with you, our incredible customers in the Treasure Valley and beyond. We truly wouldn?t be here without you in our lives and we will always continue to appreciate and work hard to earn your business. We appreciate all of our customers and want to take a moment to wish you all a very happy holiday season this year. What better way to celebrate family than to share some family-friendly bonding ideas with you that you can try out this year with your loved ones. Happy Holidays! Here are some ways to enjoy the holidays with your family that won?t break the bank and will hopefully help you form some fond and lasting memories together. Holiday winter hike One great way to bond with your family is to explore the great outdoors together. We recommend getting together this holiday season and planning a little nature hike together as a family. It?s a great way to get some exercise and spend quality time together without having to be out of pocket for the outing like when going out to eat or to a movie. It?s so great living in Idaho because we are surrounded by some of the best hiking trails in the world both in and around Boise. It?s also fun to pack some holiday snacks and plenty of hot cocoa! Holiday baking/cooking competition It doesn?t matter if you?re a Top Chef or a microwave chef, spending time with the family in the kitchen is a great way to create fun experiences and lasting holiday memories together. There are two ways that we like to have family fun in the kitchen. -Dinner cook-off: Split into teams until you have four evenly matched teams (either kids vs adults, or a mixed or random pair) and cook a small portioned dinner plate (typically a main protein with two sides). Then, the whole family tries all of the dishes and votes on the one they like the best by using a piece of paper. You can?t vote for your own dish so you must pick one of the other three. The winner gets bragging rights and everyone wins with a full belly of delicious food! - Cookie bake-off: This is more of an individual event. Each person in the family bakes and decorates their own choice of cookie and then they all bring them together for a ?cookie tasting.? Each cookie is scored by points on a paper ballot. You can do it like Iron Chef, or score however you?d like. The person with the most points is the winner! Although, technically we?re all winners because we get to eat a bunch of delicious cookies. Holiday themed family book club Whether you?re all still under the same roof or are in far flung states across the union, you can always find time to read a book. Books are great because they can be inexpensive, easy to ship and travel with, and don?t require batteries! Pick a holiday themed book for your whole family to read and have a fun book club party! It?s a fun way to share an activity together, especially if you are far apart during most of the year. Whatever you do with your family this holiday season, we hope that you are having fun and enjoying your time together. We are so grateful to be doing business in a community as spectacular as the Treasure Valley and we wish all of you the best holiday season this year!
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There are so many fun things to do around the holidays. It?s a joy to be out shopping during a quiet snowy day with Christmas lights lighting up storefronts and homes all around. Sipping a warm coffee or cocoa on a cold morning while lazily reading through social media or the newspaper is one of life's simple pleasures. With all the potential joy that winter brings, it also brings a good amount of hard work that must be done if you want to be able to sit back and enjoy the little moments. Let?s look at a few things that you should take care of around your home this winter so that you can get back to the things that really matter like making a Christmas list or perfecting your new cookie recipe. Inspect Your Windows And Their Seals To winterize your home, it?s a good place to start at one of the most important heat transfer centers: your windows. Inspect all of your windows, both inside and out, the first chance you get, usually in late fall or early winter. On the outside, look for cracks or gaps in the sealant around your windows at the edges. If there are signs of tearing or cracks, then it may be time to apply a new coat of waterproof silicone sealant to help keep cold air from seeping into your home. On the inside, if you notice water building up on the glass or around the edges of your windows, that is typically a sign that your window?s seal isn?t secure or that your window may just need to be replaced entirely. If you go too long with excessive moisture buildup, it can cause other problems besides just a high heating bill. It can cause mold or wood damage to the frame around the window. It?s important that you get any windows replaced or re-sealed if they are showing signs of failure. Install Insulating Window Treatments To Keep Heat In If you find that your home is hard to heat in the winter or you just want to help cut down on your heating bill, then it might be a good idea to install heavy insulated window treatments like insulated blinds and/or curtains. Since your windows are a primary culprit in heat loss in your home, it helps to have extra protection. Blind Appeal can help you with a custom quote for your winter window treatment needs. Change Furnace Filter This is an easy and cost-effective way to help winterize your home. We recommend doing it at least once every three months, but especially at the beginning of the winter. This helps keep crud out of your air in your home and helps to make sure your heater isn?t working overtime to keep you warm in the cold months. Clean Out Gutters Cleaning out your gutters can help you prevent a lot of winter headaches with just a little elbow grease. Cleaning out your gutters helps water drain properly from your roof and can help prevent the formation of dangerous ice dams as well. Inspect Your Cement Walkways And Driveway Make sure that your gutters are draining properly and not sending water across your walking paths at the entrances of your home. Clear out any dirt or debris before winter sets in, especially before the first snow. Stock up on de-icing salt and make sure that your snow shovels are in good working condition. We hope these tips were helpful and wish you the best during the upcoming winter and holiday season!
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Since October is National Window Covering Safety Awareness Month, we already wrote about some great tips for parents that can help keep their kids safe around blinds and other window coverings, but we thought we would go the extra mile and provide some tips for keeping children safe around windows in general, since even windows with safe (or safer) coverings can still present a hazard for small children. Let?s explore some quick and easy tips you can start doing today in order to help keep your children safe around the windows of your home. Safety Tip 1: Remember The ?Four Inch Rule? The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has a lot of great safety tips for parents, including tips for keeping children safe around windows. They have a quick and simple rule called the ?four inch rule? that you can implement today. What the rule means is that you shouldn?t have any windows in your house that can open more than four inches. To accomplish this, you can install window stops or locks that prevent your windows from being opened wider than four inches which will make it difficult for a young child to stick their head and body through. Take a moment to check all the windows in your home. Are they able to open more than four inches? If so, you may want to install a stop or lock that will keep them from opening all the way. Safety Tip 2: Don?t Rely On Window Screens For Safety Most window screens are meant to keep bugs out and are not necessarily designed to prevent a small child from pushing their way out of an open window. Make sure that your screens aren?t the only thing between the inside of your house and the open air outside. You can install guards or additional reinforced safety screens to help prevent your child from pushing through a flimsy bug screen. Safety Tip 3: Look To The Garden Look at the area around and directly below all of the windows in your house, especially the ones that are on the 2nd storey or above. Are there objects or plants that would hurt or otherwise add to injuries sustained from a fall from a window? If so, then consider moving them or removing them entirely from your property and instead plant soft shrubbery and mulch below windows to provide a landing area that is free from hard objects like sharp sticks or rocks. Safety Tip 4: Top Opening Windows You may want to replace all of your opening windows with ones that open from the top instead of the bottom. This will go a long way to help prevent children from accessing them and opening them in a dangerous manner. Special Graber Window Covering Promotion! Graber is offering a free cordless lift upgrade for some of their select products between October 17th and December 31st, 2019. These safety upgrades are available for the following models: Graber Cellular, Pleated, Natural, Roller, Solar, Fresco Roman, and Fabric Shades. The Fabric Shades include the looped Roman, classic flat Roman, and seamless Roman styles only. This offer is not available for commercial orders. Please contact us by clicking here or by dialing: (208) 888-1056 for more information. We?re passionate about your family?s safety and are happy to help with any and all safety or purchasing questions.
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October is the month in which we take time to spread awareness about the importance of keeping kids safe around certain types of blinds and window coverings. Kids are especially curious and will assume that things hanging and dangling are just other playthings. Blinds with long dangling strings can present an interesting challenge or pique the curiosity of a young child while also being potentially hazardous to their health. This month, why not take some time to look over your house and see if your blinds and window coverings are as safe as they could be. Safety Tip 1: Furniture Awareness You may already have your cords out of the way, but even if they are high up, a child can still access them if there is furniture nearby. Take a quick look around each room in your house and make sure that there is no furniture close to the windows. That will prevent a child from climbing up and attempting to play with cords (if any) that are nearby. While you?re at it, make sure that the furniture you do have is tip proof and won?t fall over or become unsecured if a child were to play on it. Kids are natural climbers and will want to explore areas that are ?new? or ?hidden? to them around the house so be aware of potential hazard areas! Safety Tip 2: Replace And Fix One of the best things you can do to help your child stay safe around blinds and window coverings is to remove any dangling or protruding cords by replacing all of your window coverings with cordless blinds, shades, and drapes that are certified ?Best For Kids? by the Window Covering Safety Council (WCSC). Just look for the blue and white ?Best For Kids? safety seal of approval. The WCSC also will provide a free safety first retrofit kit for your blinds. All you have to do is go to this webpage and select the blind safety product that matches the kind of window coverings you have. They will send you a free kit that you can install on your blinds to help keep your child safe from window covering related accidents. Safety Tip 3: Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind If you currently have exposed cords from your drapes or blinds and want to take action right now, you can! Go around to your windows and make sure that all exposed dangling cords are either cut short or tied up so that they are safely out of reach. If the cords are up high and tucked away and there is no furniture around the window that the child can climb upon, then that will definitely help reduce the risk of an accident for your child. Safety Tip 4: For Your Graber Blinds Graber is offering a free cordless lift upgrade for some of their select products between October 17th and December 31st, 2019. These safety upgrades are available for the following models: Graber Cellular, Pleated, Natural, Roller, Solar, Fresco Roman, and Fabric Shades. The Fabric Shades include the looped Roman, classic flat Roman, and seamless Roman styles only. This offer is not available for commercial orders. Please contact us by clicking here or by dialing: (208) 888-1056 for more information. We?re passionate about your family?s safety and are happy to help with any and all safety or purchasing questions.
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Have you ever considered adding window tint or privacy film to the outside windows of your home or office? Many people are unaware that window tinting can actually help reduce up to 85% of the heat from the sun and gives 99% rejection of ultraviolet light in addition to omitting 95% of the glare coming into a room.
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With fall just around the corner, you?ll want to start gearing up your itinerary to keep yourself distracted as the weather gets colder and wetter.
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