38 
House 
& Garden 
VENETIAN BLINDS AND THEIR KIN 
An Old-Fashioned Device That Is Proving Its Worth in Modern Homes — 
Its Utility and Decorative Values 
COSTEN FITZ-GIBBON 
T HE function of any blind 
or shade is twofold. By 
day it is intended to temper 
and modify the light entering 
the window. By night its duty 
is to-afford privacy. A further 
function of all blinds or shades 
is to be pleasing to the sight, 
for there is no question that 
the aspect of our surroundings 
has more to do with our happi¬ 
ness than is generally realized. 
So far as the physical quali¬ 
fications are concerned, no 
shade more fully or more satis¬ 
factorily answers the purposes 
just noted than does the Vene¬ 
tian blind. Of all shades, it is 
altogether the most flexible and 
manageable medium we have, 
both for governing the volume 
of light entering a window, and 
also for regulating the direction 
the light shall take. It is an 
easy matter so to set the slats 
that one may completely con¬ 
trol them. When the broad 
side of the slat is let down in 
a vertical position, the light is 
Venetian blinds can be used with 
glass curtains, hangings and valance. 
Glass curtains are hung against the 
window, then the blinds, then the 
hangings 
In the room below Venetian blinds 
are used without glass curtains, be¬ 
ing set within the casing, their 
mechanism concealed by hangings 
and valance 
more effectually kept out than 
it is by almost any roller shade. 
When the blind is adjusted to 
admit light, even though it be 
drawn all the way down to the 
bottom of the window, the slant 
of the slats can be arranged 
at a convenient angle to throw 
the light in any desired direc¬ 
tion—it can be cast on the 
floor, brought horizontally into 
the room, or thrown upward to 
the ceiling. 
Then, again, in summer 
time, when the windows are 
open, although Venetian blinds 
are drawn all the way down to 
keep out the glare and heat, the 
slats can be slightly tilted so 
as to permit an absolutely un¬ 
impeded circulation of air. 
The Venetian blind is further 
physically adaptable in that it 
can be used for virtually any 
window at which a roller shade 
can be used and can, likewise, 
be employed in conjunction 
with pretty much any sort of 
curtains. 
