Common styles of bamboo blinds are rollup blinds and Roman blinds.  Bamboo blinds are fairly inexpensive, and I have seen very tasteful use of them, both the roll up and the Roman type of bamboo blinds. They are great when you are looking for a somewhat tropical decor, and they match very well with stranded bamboo flooring too.

One thing that is great about using bamboo is that it is very ‘green friendly’ material to use as it is a very quickly growing and easy to grow plant, thus fairly large amounts of bamboo can be grown, treated and used for blinds without it being a danger to the ecological system.   So, knowing that you are helping world ecology by buying bamboo should be a great incentive to choose bamboo for at least some of your windows!

Bamboo blinds, while lovely to look at, are very see through, especially at night with the lights on inside the house.  One way around this is to add a privacy liner to the blind before putting it up. These work well on both roman and roll up style blinds, and depending on the material used can give you different levels of security and privacy.

Also, Bamboo does not do that well when exposed to moisture or dampness.  Even treated bamboo can still absorb a lot of moisture, so for that reason they are better used in rooms where you can sustain a decent temperature and that aren’t humid.  In the past I have simply varnished the blinds, and while this has helped a bit, in very humid countries such as some of the South East Asian countries I have lived in, they still only lasted a couple of years.  Still, at least in the East, it was very cheap to replace the bamboo blinds so that wasn’t really a problem. Here, bamboo blinds are a bit more expensive and not really considered disposable thus you really do want to make sure that the treatment the blind has will suit it to your particular home’s environment.

Types of Bamboo Blinds

Blinds are commonly categorized according to the way the bamboo is woven into the blind. You can buy matchstick bamboo blinds, mesh bamboo blinds, whole bamboo blinds, vertical bamboo blinds and layered bamboo.

Matchstick Bamboo Blinds: This is the most common bamboo blind on the market.  Sticks measuring 1/8 inch in diameter are sewn together with a colored yarn or thread.

Superior Matchstick Bamboo Blinds: Have more thread and patterns than the simpler matchstick blinds, although they are still made from 1/8 inch bamboo sticks. Aside from the patterns made with the interlacing thread though they are basically the same and perform the same as the matchstick bamboo blinds, but are of course a little more pricey.

Whole Bamboo Blinds: Are made from whole bamboo rods, thus they are much thicker than the matchstick variety.

Verticle Bamboo Curtains: As the name implies, the bamboo used in these blinds runs vertically.

Layered Bamboo Blinds: These  blinds have the bamboo layered, thus providing much more privacy than is normally seen with regular bamboo blinds. Usually in order to layer the bamboo they need to be made from slats, not the regular round shaped bamboo.

While bamboo blinds can be used outdoors, and often look great on a patio, or verandah, they are not really that practically suited to outdoor use mainly because the weather elements will really take its toll on your blinds. If you want to highlight an outdoor area with bamboo blinds make sure it is treated, and be prepared to replace them probably even once every year, depending on the how well they do in harsh weather conditions.