Are You Inside or Outside?

Hello again everyone = )

Autumn is in full swing and Halloween is just around the corner! I hope everyone has their candy already prepared and any spooky decorations put up! I'll be sure to share my Halloween stories with you on the next episode and maybe I'll even put some pictures up! = )

Today I'd like to discuss a conversation that I had with a shopper last weekend, and our conversation about inside and outside mounted window treatments. We were looking at ordering some blinds for her, but there were issues with the depth of the window. She didn't quite have enough depth to accommodate an inside mount blind. I let her know that she could still have the blinds, but would just have to mount them differently in the window. We proceeded to look into doing the blind as an outside mount. She wasn't all too familiar with the concept, so we drew out some diagrams and looked at pictures to get the idea of how it would look. I'd like to share some of what we looked at so that hopefully it can be of help to other users and shoppers who may be confused about the differences as well.

• The Types of Mounts



 So you can see there are a number of different ways to mount the blinds, and these are the more traditional ways in which you'll do so. The inside mount is the most common way of mounting most blinds and shades (aside from verticals, which we'll cover later) and the flush mount is a slight variation on this style. The major difference is as the name might suggest, one will remain flush.

Flush mounts will require the largest depth of any mount; as it will require the entire blind and valance to be recessed into the window fully, so that the valance is flush with the trimwork or wall around the window frame. Doing this will require depths in excess of 3"+ which can be asking a bit much from some windows.

                                             Partially Recessed                                                   Fully Flush

                                                 (inside mount)

As you can see, there is a big difference between the finished look of the flush mount and the standard inside mount. So if you're looking to achieve the sleek look of the flush mount, be sure to measure the depth of your window along with the other dimensions, and me sure to mention it when placing an order. Certain considerations will need to be made and the blind specialist will have to asses the headrail dimension for you to make sure that it will work properly.

The outside mount is most commonly done with vertical blinds. The reason being is that a good 80% of the time I would say; vertical blinds are done for patio doors. Being that usually you don't find much recessed depth for patio doors, or at least not much that extends past the handles depth, they are usually done as an outside mount. Now that doesn't mean that you can't have this type of mounting done for other styles of blinds. In fact, most mounting hardware is made in such a way so that they are universal for either inside or outside mounting.

If you look at the picture that I provided of the outside mount above, you'll notice that the blind covers the trimwork around the window completely. Not only is this done for esthetics, but it also serves a very good purpose.

The reason that you'll want to cover the trim completely, is because this eliminates the light gap that exists when doing inside mounts. When putting blinds inside the framework, they need to be a slight bit smaller then your actual frame to frame measurement, so that you can properly fit them inside without damaging the sides. Industry standard is about 1/4" on both sides for adequate mounting room...and that's where the light finds it's way inside.

So by mounting the blinds outside and having the material extend to the trim or beyond, you eliminate this pesky light gap. Below is an example of how the material seats on the trimwork, and you can see how much the light gap has reduced.

The only problem that some people have with this look is that it it projects so far outside the window, and sometimes it can look unappealing if you're able to view the blinds from the side, where you can see the back of the material (which is a lot of times untreated.)

So that's just a quick summary of the different styles and a few examples of how they sit in the window. Hopefully that helps explain it for those who may have been curious, or helps display it to those who just can't imagine what it will look like. For more information on how to accurately measure your windows, please see our online measuring guide.

So what is your favorite mounting style? Which do you think looks best?

As always, I'd love to hear your input on this so comment below and let me know what you think!

Thanks for reading, and I'll see you all again in the next thrilling installment of Just Ask Mr. Jay!