The Landscape and Garden Blog
Dec
29
Each year growing up, the day after Christmas meant a day of cleaning and reorganizing. As a child I found that my mother seemed to enjoy this day the most, out of the entire holiday season. Many people will leave up their Christmas decorations through New Year’s Eve, but not my mother. As exciting as it was to wake up on Christmas morning, it was equally not exciting to wake up the morning after. My sister and I knew that this was going to be a crazy day filled with carefully packing away the ornaments, and then on to the rest of the house. This was a time when our mom, redecorated the entire house.
Calling Next Day Blinds one year, put her in the best of moods, as she had been wanting to update our windows for some time. We lived in a region that is extremely hot temperature wise for most of the year, and upon learning that not only would our new window treatments from Next Day Blinds be stylish and up to date, that they would also serve to lower the electric bills throughout the summer, was one of the best Christmas presents our mom could have received. It was an exciting day for all, as my sister and I got to pick out the blinds or shades that would fit in our bedrooms.
I chose the simple wooden shutters, as I had been wanting them for a while and as a kid I just preferred the simpler things in life, even in decorating.  My sister on the other hand, well, our mom let us pick the color of paint for our walls…my sister’s choice was fluorescent green. And would you believe it? Next Day Blinds had that exact shade to match her walls. She was happy, however for the rest of our childhood, I would not go into her room without my sunglasses on.
Oct
12
In a big city like Phoenix, we all deeply desire privacy. So we go to Next Day Blinds and buy beautiful blinds, shades or curtains to enhance the style as well as the privacy of our homes. Unfortunately, we realize a few days later that also because we live in a desert, there is a lot of dust. Because no one wants to spend a lot of time dusting and cleaning their blinds, here are a couple of tips to help keep them clean.
To keep up with the weekly cleaning of your Next Day Blinds, all you need is a vacuum cleaner or duster, such as a swiffer. A quick once-over every week will keep the dust from building up without taking a lot of time.
Because we have such low humidity, we don’t have to worry too much about grim or mold growing on our blinds; however, it is still a good idea to take them down and give them a good cleaning once or twice a year. If you have wood blinds, simply take a damp cloth and wipe them down thoroughly. Don’t immerse them in water. On the other hand if you have plastic or aluminum blinds you can take them down and soak them either in the bathtub or on a drop cloth outside. Spray them down with a light cleaner and let them soak for about 15 minutes before wiping them down. The important thing to remember when cleaning aluminum blinds is that they bend and dent very easily, so be careful. Once they have been wiped down, gently rinse them off with clean water. After that has been completed you can hang them outside to dry – it won’t take long in this heat—or dry them with a towel. They can be re-hung as soon as they are dry.
Although it can be a time consuming process, it is worth it for the style and privacy they provide.
Designed by Tim Sainburg from Brambling Design
