If you’ve reached the terrible-two stage yet, you’ll probably be fully aware of all of the challenges your little one is throwing at you. Today we’re not going to focus on the tantrums or anything else along those lines, but rather the flying paints and everything else that can make your home the definition of a mess.
To clarify the title, we’re specifically going to concentrate on how window treatments are affected by these flying objects and other sources of mess that your toddler might discover. If you haven’t already experienced a set of curtains being well and truly destroyed, hopefully the remainder of this text can prevent you from falling into this category.
Let’s start with the worst type of window treatment for households with children; you guessed it – it is actually curtains. These might be one of the more traditional options on the market, but don’t for a moment hold this in high regard when it comes to rooms that your little one will be donning on a regular basis. While curtains can bring an utterly charming feel to some rooms, for any young house they should be cast straight out of the window (there’s no pun intended here, honest). Any sort of damage that they incur results in them being hauled down, washed, dried, ironed and re-hung. It’s a long process – certainly one that any mother or father just doesn’t have the time for.
Of course, the same can occur with some types of blinds. The difference is that if you shop shrewdly, it doesn’t have to happen. Roman blinds and roller blinds are generally unsuitable, as these are constructed out of fabrics which can also react poorly to spills. With that being said, if you do shop around you will see materials that are much easier to be maintained, so don’t cast them off just yet.
However, the best options unquestionably come in the form of aluminum, wood or PVC. All of these can usually be wiped clean, meaning that the whole cleaning process has been shortened drastically. It also means that you’re not going to have your heart in your mouth every time your little one darts towards the window with messy hands.
The good thing is that all of these materials can be manipulated in a variety of styles. Some people might opt for vertical blinds, others for Venetians. Anything that doesn’t involve a huge cover of fabric been cast over your windows minimizes the chances of permanent damage significantly.
In other words, taking advantage of one of the premium blinds products isn’t something that is going to do you any favors. Wood might be the exception, as this is “wipeable” so to speak, but any fabrics, motorized systems, insulated shades or anything else bordering on the advanced should be cast aside for now. Cheap and cheerful is the way for parents, windows and toddlers to all get along – regardless of whether or not any spillages occur.
Oh goodness…I remember the terrible twos stage rather well. I keep thinking my kid’s battery is forever charged whereas mine isn’t! And you’re right about the window dressings. It’s very tricky to get those that are kid friendly…then again, if you do get the right kind you now have the walls to worry about (tip: keep the crayons, markers, or anything that causes permanent stain at bay!).
My kids at ages 5 and 8 still get stuff everywhere! I am so glad we invested in wipeable blinds. It was the best thing we could have done when we bought our house!
My nephew is in the terrible twos right now! Sending this over to my brother and SIL!
I don’t have kids but I do have a dog and can I just say thank goodness for wood blinds that are easy to keep clean??!! LOL!!
Some of the vertical blinds are really easy to clean but they don’t do a great job keeping out light. Curtains are nice but boy do they get messy with kids around.
I like vertical blinds for cleaning, but the horizontal ones for keeping the room nice and dark. I’m glad I’m past the toddler years, although my 9-year-old is just as messy!
Instead of curtains that are heavy and hard to wash, we also use blinds in our room when we were little kids. We have white/beige vertical blinds at home.
Toddlers make most things a little more challenging. lol Blinds are a good idea.
I’m a believer that the 3’s or way worse than 2’s but totally understand the struggle becasue I remember when my daughter was 2 and had a fixation with window treatments. I agree, aluminum and wood is definitely the way to go when you have young children.
Our window blinds is one of the most hard to clean in my house. I am planning of just removing it and probably get the one that is easier to clean.
I wish I would have known about this sooner, lol. My windows and blinds are horrendous!
For some reason our kiddo loves to play with our blinds- we are always trying to stop her! Thanks for this post- so true!
I hate cleaning blinds, plain and simple! If I ever have to replace the windows in our house I am going to get the kind that have the blinds built-in!
My boys are all young. I dont have to worry about cleaning the blinds though because I go through so many. My boys are obsessed with breaking blinds.
My daughter is now 7 but I remember that stage really well. Our curtains mostly have markers as well as our walls. Who can forget that?
I do not have kids yet but somehow I am looking forward to any and all stages kids go through the goal currently is to hopefully have kids in the future. I know my nephew loved pulling down curtains on a daily basis its a family disease lol