“I never get tired of the blue sky.”
-Vincent van Gogh
*****
We installed cordless shades in Sweet P’s bedroom this morning. It was time. We’ve been sporting paper privacy shades on all of our windows since we moved in almost a year and half ago, so it was fun to finally put up something a little more durable less paper-y on two of them. 😀
I gathered up tools while Kevin tried to make sense of Ikea’s not-incredibly-descriptive instructions.
They go by the name Bruddans, and I *think* they’re only available in Ikea stores…not online. They were $29.99 each for the 30″ wide size we needed, and they did have narrower and wider sizes that were priced a little less and a little more.
Luckily, they went up pretty quickly. Just a couple of brackets, and then POP! In goes the shade…
…and if you’re anything like Kevin, POP! Out goes the tongue! 😛
I grew up in a two-story house, but somewhere along the way I forgot how much sky you can see through the windows of a second-story bedroom like this. I love daydreaming out these windows on days it’s especially blue, and I’ve been on the hunt for something affordable, cordless, and that would stack all the way up (and completely out of the way!) ever since we moved in.
We’re using white, bi-fold plantation shutters on the bottom half of these (and eventually all of our) windows, but the Bruddans will be great for full, pull-down privacy on the upper halves at night.
The shade part on these is made of some kind of “cellular” material and I love the way it diffuses light.
We’ll finish dressing Sweet P’s windows with matching pairs of light-blocking drapes later this month.
And for those who are wondering why we’re not just using the Bruddans to cover the whole window from top to bottom- our house sits up pretty high off the street (especially the second floor), so we really only need privacy on the lower halves of our windows.
It’s only every once in a while that we feel like we need to cover up the upper halves of our windows, so these pull-down shades will do just the trick when (and if) we decide to pull them down. Also, I just wanted to mention that although the package says they’ll extend down 64″, we found that you reeeeally have to pull on them to get them to go down that far. It almost felt like they weren’t meant to go down quite that far. They sort of worked themselves back up to about 53″ and stayed at that height til we pushed them back up. I hope that makes sense.
I shot this super short video that shows how they move up and down yesterday because I’m completely fascinated by how they work, and thought you might be, too- ha! 😀 #homies
Before I sign off, I wanted to also mention how touched we were by all the responses to Monday’s post. Y’all were so kind to leave us so much Love! Thank you!!! 😀
Did you install the brackets directly against the upper sash?
Hi Merlyn! They’re attached to the window. Check out the second photo in this post…that’ll show you where Kevin screwed them in. 🙂
Since they attach to the window itself, could they be used on vinyl replacement windows?
Hmmm…I’m not sure what those are, but if they’ll hold a screw, then I don’t see why not! 🙂
I may be too late in responding, but we have these blinds too and replacement windows; however, we screwed the brackets into the window frame not directly to the window using the hole on the top of the bracket rather than the holes at the back of the bracket, so you could go that route…
We were just looking at these shades at ikea but we were unsure of which size to buy. So, I have a technical (kind of dumb) question. Our windows measure exactly 30″. Would this blind fit? Or would we need a window 30″+?
Wow I just bought 3 of these for my living room this weekend! They installed super easy and give me exactly what I needed. My 3 living room windows actually open to an indoor/outdoor atrium in the middle of my house and I wanted something to open all the way during the day but close a little at night (I need covered windows in the dark). I love Ikea.
I love love the exterior of your house!! oh,,,and the blinds are pretty awesome as well!
Ikea Canada doesn’t sell Bruddans apparently … : (
Hi Lynda, I’m in Canada as well….I’m gonna try Lowes ..I’m at work right now so I’m thinking googling will be helpful on my break. ..all the best,
Linda your neighbour !
Thanks for sharing this! I searched high and low for cordless shades that didn’t cost an arm and a leg for our nursery… and then I gave up and we just have the light blocking curtain panels. I did not come across these. I’m not sure if that’s because they are new or because they are only in the store and I just didn’t look there. I will have to check them out next time I go. Thanks for the details about how long they really are too. That’s useful info.
HI Cat,
We are a family owned business that sells blinds and shades, we have a great quality cheap cordless cellular shade you may be interested in. We also will be happy to send out free samples 😉
http://hotblinds.com/cellular_pleated/single_honeycomb_cellular/hotblinds_quick_ship_cordless_cellular_shade_blackout_room_darkening_single_cell_honeycomb_fabric.html
Blackout: http://hotblinds.com/product.php?ID=512
Maybe it’s just my mac but all the ads are in the middle on top. Have to scroll way down to see your post. This only has been since the change over.
Just was wondering if anyone else had that issue.
Yeah, something’s going on with it today. Trying to get it fixed now. Hopefully it’ll be back to normal, lickety split! 😀
I have something very similar from Lowe’s. I think they’re Levolor, and if you need a custom size, the staff will cut them to size for free.
I immediately saw Kevin’s tongue out in that photo. My grandma did the same thing. Anytime she was working on something and concentrating – her tongue would be out. Nice memory.
Never seen shades like this but I’m intrigued!! Hate shades with strings and don’t even get me started on the rolling kind!
Jessica, I’m just really curious…what do you hate so much about roller shades? We have cordless black-out rollers in our living room and they are so great. They are so practical and easy to use plus they have such a simple clean look. You can hardly even tell they are there.
These look great! I’ve been looking for something similar. Has anyone had any luck finding these? I’m in the US (Indiana) and don’t see them on the iKea website…..
Well now I see that Layla said they are only available in the store…..I guess I will have to make the two hour trek to my nearest iKea to see if they have them. 🙂
I love this look and idea! Super crisp and clean. But I just wanted to share that in a nursery it is ideal, if not a live-saver, to have something that gets the room pitch dark when you want it–like at every single nap time and bed time. Before parenthood, I never would have thought of this. We adopted from Thailand (congrats to you by the way!) and after being home for awhile I started hanging dark towels over the white curtains and she started sleeping better! I felt like I discovered gold and quickly went to a fabric store to buy room darkening liner to sew being curtains. Just sharing my experience!
Best wishes to you!
Kelly
Hi Kelly!
I agree and am definitely excited to finish these windows off with a pair of light-blocking drapes. (I mentioned that in my post, but it was kind of buried there in the middle, so you may not have seen it!) 😀
oops! you are right! sometimes i miss those details and appear a fool. great plan! 🙂
I wish I would’ve know about those! Upstairs we don’t use blinds. We just bought that frost film and put it over the bottoms. You can’t see us through the upper part. Sometimes you have to watch lighting at night to avoid any nude shadows but we’re just careful to change in the dark or in the attached bathroom. TMI eh?! LOL
I was SO excited to read this post! We bought a tiny fishing cabin a year ago that we gutted and “fixed up”, (…with LOTS of inspiration coming from you and your Tybee Island makeovers!). We have six small bedroom windows that face the river, and I had left them window-treatment-less because I loved waking up to the sunshine, water, and the birds. We found out that there are lots of folks out there that like to take midnight pontoon rides, and I decided we needed something to cover the windows for night privacy. I just didn’t want something that would take away from our fun view during the day. These shades look like the perfect solution and the price makes them even better. 🙂 Thanks for sharing! 🙂
So funny! We just bought the very same shades at Ikea last week! We bought the 24″ size for $17 I think. Just love them!
LOVE!!!! the video!! 🙂 and definitely want a T-shirt!
I got similar blinds for my sunroom at Home Depot a couple years ago; they cut them to the correct width at no charge. I use them for the top half above shutters, and love the way they look and function.
Ikea’s price sounds more attractive; gonna check those out for my kitchen next time I’m there.
Hello there! I am such a fan of your blog. Of course I love all your decorating ideas. But more, I love your spirit of generosity. You are an inspiration to so many people – even in the small things that you might do. I am always eagerly awaiting more news of your adoption progress. What a wonderful journey you are taking. Remember – there is someone here in Nashville that prays for your family, and your sweet pea. Blessings and peace. Susan
OMGosh! Love the t-shirts. So nice & look like a nice quality.
I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you offering XX large because for some reason God & Mother Nature didn’t make us all the same size 😉
I can’t wait until you are selling them. Will they just appear in the shop when they are available?
Oh my I laughed when you posted the part of your hubby with his tongue out. My boyfriend is always doing that when we are cooking or many other times. Thanks for the giggle I love the style of your house, will try to follow your blog. I live in a 1860 farm house in northern Quebec so I am a great fan of antiques. Someday hope to open a boutique in part of our house. Sorry to much blah blah I live in a French region so my English gets lost sometime. Thanks Jeffrey
Love the video 🙂 Ikea coming to St. Louis in 2015 – can’t wait!
Do these shades actually provide privacy, or would you be able to see shadows pretty clearly through them? I’d LOVE to hang them in my apartment but my windows face out over my neighbours’ backyard and there needs to be actual privacy, lest I scar their young children for life. LOL
So here is a question. Do you think you could install these up side down. I need something for downstairs windows, for the bottom half of the window. If I could install upside down and pull up half way they would be perfect.
Thank,
Cathy
Hi Cathy! I don’t think they work installed upside down. Since the shade part is fabric, I think it would just fall down onto the floor.
I saw these at the local Ikea today. I’m also wanting something that opens from the top. I’m playing with the thought of installing them upside down, to the windowsill, and maybe creating a pulley system for the top to open an close them.
Lol Layla, I thought my hubby was the only one whose tongue goes out when hes in renovation mode…thinking cap, focus, out pops tongue!
Blessings,
Retta