What Wood Would It Be?

May 22, 2007 |

There are a few things that are looked for in a timber for wooden venetian blinds, firstly the blind needs to be hard-wearing which means that the tendency is for hardwoods. The next criteria is it has to be naturally light in colour so that it accepts stains well without discolouring them. Finally the timber has to have a fairly consistent grain, although with it being a natural product, this is a fairly tall order.
In the not so distant past, Ramin was the timber of choice. Ramin is a hardwood that originates in south east Asia and is almost perfect as a timber for manufacture, it’s extremely strong, is naturally almost white in colour and the trees grow straight which means hardly any knots in the grain. Sounds good! Now the downside, Ramin is not a particularly quick growing tree so due to it’s popularity, it’s been over-exploited and is now on the endangered species list.
The industry looked for a new source of timber that was from a renewable source. Enter Basswood as the new timber for the discerning professional! The Basswood tree is more commonly known in the UK as the Lime tree and is found throughout Europe, North America and Asia. The benefit of Basswood is that it is supplied from properly forested sources, is light in colour, lightweight yet sturdy and grows straight so produces a consistent grain.
The majority of window blinds are now made from Basswood so how do you differentiate between the quality of the timber? It’s simple, you take a look at our previous article here.
There are a few exceptions of blinds that are not made from Basswood. We use three other timbers, chosen for their natural qualities that simply can not be recreated in Basswood;

Ash - This is an extremely elegant timber, it is used because of the very fine grain and light natural colouring. This timber has quite a contemporary appearance when utilised in a venetian blind and matched with striking light coloured timber furniture.

Cedar - The first thing that you would notice with a Cedar blind would be the sheer variance in the colour of the timber. Cedar naturally varies in colour throughout it’s grain. This results in wooden slats that range between a rich auburn to a pale, almost white colour, all within the same piece of timber! Cedar venetian blinds are stunning. They add colour and a focal point to a simply decorated room as well as blending in with furniture made from Acacia or Sheesham timber.

Oak - This is the real-deal, venetian blinds made from European Oak. The timber is a light coloured Oak with the beautiful grain emphasising the pure quality of these blinds. Oak is typically a hard-wearing timber that ages with grace meaning that in ten years time, the timber will have matured to a deeper colour. Whilst the Oak blinds are perfect for traditional and period interiors, they are just as stunning with a modern decor, adding a touch of warmth to a room.

Comments

1 Comment so far

Mark B on May 23, 2007 3:06 am
Just a quick comment on the natural ranges of wood blinds, the Ash, Oak and Cedar. They have a lot of variation in colour and grain from blind to blind and even within the same blind.

That natural look is really the main attraction, but if you are looking for a more uniform/consistent colour then the basswood stained or painted blinds are the ones to choose.

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