Aluminum Blinds
Also called metal blinds. Light, tough, and the one blind you can put in a bathroom without worrying. Hunter Douglas Modern Precious Metals, in three slat sizes and 143 colors, fitted across Boise and the Treasure Valley.
Forget What You Remember About Mini Blinds
Most people picture a thin white slat that bends if you look at it, because that is what was in every rental in the 1990s. Hunter Douglas builds these as Modern Precious Metals, and the gap between that memory and the actual product is the main thing this page is here to close.
The slats run up to .008 gauge aluminum, which is stiff enough to hold a straight line across a wide window. The finishes go well past white into brushed metallics, pearlescents, opalescents, flat mattes and textured looks. And because aluminum is so light, a big blind still raises easily, which is not true of a wide wood blind.
The other thing aluminum does that nothing else on our blinds pages does: it ignores moisture completely.
The Rooms Where Aluminum Wins Outright
Bathrooms, laundry rooms, and windows over a kitchen sink. Hunter Douglas does not recommend real wood blinds in any of those, because sustained damp warps the slats and the cut ends are unfinished. Aluminum has no such problem. It does not absorb water, so it does not swell, split or twist, however steamy the room gets.
That single fact decides a lot of jobs. If you love the look of a wood blind but the room is a bathroom, this is the product that gives you the look without the failure, and we will say so rather than sell you the one that costs more.
They also suit a very wide window better than wood, simply because of weight, and they suit a modern room where you want a fine, precise line rather than warmth and grain.
Slat Size Is the First Decision
Three sizes, and they look genuinely different on a window.
Two inch, the Macro collection. Reads closest to a wood blind, gives the widest view through when the slats are open, and it is the only size that takes full PowerView automation. 39 colors.
One inch, the classic. Two collections here. Decor is the big one at 61 colors in .008 gauge, with the widest choice of finishes. Celebrity is .006 gauge in 33 colors. This is the size most people picture and it suits almost any window.
Half inch, the Decor micro slat. 10 colors, .008 gauge, and a very fine tailored line. Good on smaller windows and in a minimal, modern room where you want the blind to almost disappear into stripes.
The trade is simple. Bigger slats mean fewer lines across the window and more view when open. Smaller slats mean a finer look and tighter control of the light.
Lightlines, the Upgrade Nobody Mentions
Every horizontal blind needs a hole in each slat for the lift cord to pass through. Normally that hole goes straight through the middle of the slat, which means that when you close the blind for privacy you get a neat vertical line of daylight pinpricks down the window. Once you notice it you cannot stop noticing it.
Lightlines and de-Light move those holes to the back of the slat. When the blind is fully closed they are not visible at all, so you get better light control and genuinely better privacy at night. It is a small thing that costs very little and it is almost never explained to a customer. Ask for it on any bedroom.
Raising and Tilting Your Aluminum Blinds
Cordlock is the standard system and it handles the widest range of window sizes, including the big ones. A pull cord raises the blind, and you tilt with either a wand or a cord, though the half inch and one inch sizes are wand tilt only.
SimpleLift is cordless. The mechanism lives in a color-matched aluminum bottom rail and you press a button on that rail to raise or lower. No cord anywhere, which is what you want in a room with children.
LiteRise is the other cordless option, available on the one inch Decor and two inch Macro collections, and it lifts with a lighter touch.
PowerView Gen 3 is available on the two inch Macro collection. There is also a pairing of SimpleLift with PowerView that automates the tilt while you raise and lower by hand, and the point of that combination is a blind with no wand and no tassel hanging on it at all. Worth knowing that our wood blinds only offer the tilt version, so if you want a genuinely motorized blind, two inch aluminum is the way to get it.
What to Expect
Aluminum is a manufactured material, so it does not carry the grain variation that real wood does. There are still three things worth knowing before you order.
Very long blinds and blinds with cloth tapes do not close quite as tightly. Anything 72 inches or longer, and any blind fitted with decorative tapes, closes slightly less tightly than a shorter blind on standard ladders. Not a defect, just physics, but it matters if the window is in a bedroom.
Slat alignment is not guaranteed across separate blinds. Two blinds sharing one headrail, or sitting side by side in a wide opening, will not line up perfectly slat for slat. Plan for it on a prominent window.
Decorative tapes crease. Where the tape folds each time the blind stacks up, it develops a soft crease, and the more often you raise the blind the more visible it gets.
A bathroom is where this product earns its place. Steam does nothing to it.
The warmer metallics sit happily with brass fittings and stone, and they shrug off a window above a sink.
Where They Work in a Boise Home
Every bathroom and laundry in the house, which is the obvious one. Kitchens, especially the window right over the sink that takes splashes and steam every day. And any wide modern opening where a wood blind would simply be too heavy to raise comfortably.
They also do something useful in a new build around Eagle or Meridian that has a lot of glass and a very clean architectural line. A fine aluminum slat continues that line instead of interrupting it, where a wood blind would soften and traditionalize the room.
Mounting is flexible too. Fully recessed inside the opening for the cleanest look, partially recessed, or outside the opening to cover a window that is out of square or to make a small one look bigger. On inside and partially recessed mounts the valance end caps screw straight into the casing so the valance fills the whole opening.
Questions People Ask About Aluminum Blinds
Are Aluminum Blinds Good for a Bathroom or Laundry Room?
Yes, and this is the main reason to choose them over wood. Aluminum does not absorb moisture, so it will not warp, swell or split in a bathroom, a laundry or over a kitchen sink. Real wood is explicitly not recommended in those rooms. If a room holds steam, this is the product.
What Slat Size Should I Pick?
Two inch reads closest to a wood blind and gives the clearest view when open, and it is the only size that offers full PowerView automation. One inch is the classic aluminum look and has the largest color range at 61 in the Decor collection. Half inch is a fine, tailored slat for smaller windows and a very modern look. Bigger slats mean fewer of them and more view; smaller slats mean finer lines and tighter light control.
Do Aluminum Blinds Still Look Cheap?
The mini blind reputation comes from thin, flimsy stock. These are not that. Slat gauge runs up to .008, and the finishes include brushed metallics, pearlescents, opalescents, matte, and textured looks like Silken, SoftWeave and Riverstone. Held against a wall in your own light they read as a deliberate design choice, which is exactly why we bring the samples.
What Are Lightlines?
The small holes that let the lift cord pass through each slat are normally punched straight through, which means pinpricks of daylight when the blind is closed. Lightlines and de-Light move those holes to the back of the slat, so when the blind is fully closed you do not see them at all. Better light control and better privacy for a very small upgrade, and most people are never told it exists.
Can Aluminum Blinds Be Motorized?
On the two inch Macro collection, yes, with PowerView Gen 3. There is also a pairing of the cordless SimpleLift with PowerView that automates the tilt while you raise and lower by hand, giving a blind with no wands or tassels on it at all. The half inch and one inch collections are manual.
See the Finishes in Person, Because Photos Flatten Them
A brushed metallic or a pearlescent looks like flat paint on a screen and completely different in a real room, because the whole point of the finish is how it catches light. Justin brings the samples to your house and holds them at the window they are going on. Our showroom at 2615 W Main St in Boise is open too if you would rather come to us. Call ahead so we can be sure to be there.
Or call (208) 808-8676
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