Choosing blinds can feel like a lot of decisions at once - type, fabric, colour, fitting - but they fall into a sensible order. Work through them one at a time and each choice narrows the next. Here is the framework, with links to the fuller guide for each step.
1. Start with the room and its job
What does the window need to do? A bedroom wants darkness; a living room wants daytime brightness with evening privacy; a kitchen or bathroom wants something that copes with steam and wipes clean. Decide the job first, because it drives everything else. We have room-by-room picks for bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens and living rooms.
2. Then the light level
Blind fabrics come in blackout, dimout, light-filtering and voile. Bedrooms want blackout; living spaces usually want light-filtering with something for the evening. Our guide to blackout, dimout and light-filtering explains what each really does and its honest limits.
3. Then the window itself
The window often decides the type. A standard window takes almost any blind; a wide patio or bi-fold door wants a vertical; a uPVC frame you would rather not drill suits perfect-fit. Check the recess depth, the frame material and the width before you fall for a style that will not fit.
4. Then the type and the look
Now choose the style. A roller is neat and affordable; a Roman is soft and dressed; a venetian tilts for adjustable light; a vertical handles big windows. Our comparisons help you decide: roller vs Roman, vertical vs roller, wooden vs faux-wood and day and night vs roller. Colour comes last, and it is where the room's scheme leads.
5. Finally, fit and budget
Decide how it attaches - see drilling vs no-drill - and measure carefully with our measuring guide. For what drives the price and how to keep it down, read how much blinds cost. And because the same blind can cost different amounts at different retailers, compare before you buy - that is what this site is for.