MyBlinds™

The Great Window Glossary

Traverse? Cord Lock? Sound Absorption? Don't get googly-eyed, all the definitions are right here.

Basswood – A popular type of wood with a smooth finish, used to make Wood Blinds.

Blackout Lining – A layer of neutral colored opaque material used to line window coverings such as Smart Roman and Woven Wood Shades.  It helps block out light and provides a neutral appearance from the outside.

Bottom Rail – The bottom part of a shade or blind.

Brackets – Mounting supports for blinds and shades.

Breakthru Safety Tassel – A tassel attached to blind cords that separates under pressure to help protect children and pets from danger.  It easily snaps together again.

Carriers – The small mechanisms that attach the vanes to the headrail on Vertical Sheers, Fabric Verticals and Vinyl Verticals.

Cord Lock – Mechanism of a shade or blind that allows the product to stop at any given point when it’s lifted or lowered.

Decorative Tapes – Strip of fabric that make up the ladders of horizontal blinds and are used as a decorative element.

Energy Efficiency – Give the AC and heater a rest. Energy efficient products will help insulate your windows and keep your home warmer in winter and cooler in the summer.

Frame – The window frame is a combination of the jambs, sill, and head, and forms the opening for the sash.

Head – The head is the top of the window frame.

Height (or Length) – The measurement of a wall, window or blind that designates the distance from the top to the bottom of the window frame or the area above and below the window you want to cover.

Honeycomb Shade – Cellular-style fabric shade available in a variety of colors and styles that provides superior insulation and energy efficiency.

Honeycombs – Also known as cells, these make up Honeycomb Shades. Usually available in three sizes, they look like pleats and provide excellent energy efficiency.

Jamb – The jambs are the sides of the window frame.

Light Control – Light control lets you choose how much, or how little, light gets in to your home.

Mullion – Mullions are the small bars that divide the glass into separate panes, or lights. Mullions are also called muntin bars, or the window's grille.

Opacity – This relates to how much, or how little, light can pass through a window covering.

Opaque – Blocks most or all incoming light. For TV rooms, nurseries or anywhere where total darkness is desired.

Pane – The pane is a framed sheet of glass within a window or door. Individual panes are also called lights.

Privacy/Security – Relates to how much people outside your home can see in. MyBlinds with high privacy ratings ensure that those on the outside won’t be able to see inside.

Recess – The window niche in which a window is fitted (inside box of a window frame created by the jamb).

Roller Shade – A shade that rolls up onto a tube above the window.

Sash – The sash is the part of the window that holds the glass and fits into the frame.

Semi-Opaque – Selective with light, the semi-opaque opacity filters the sun’s bright rays, while still letting in a pleasing radiance.

Semi-Sheer – Think wide open, practically see-through. This opacity helps filter out harmful rays, but is meant for rooms you want bathed in brightness, and where privacy is not an issue.

Sill – The sill is the bottom of the window frame.

Slats – Flat or slightly curved pieces of material in a horizontal blind that tilt open and closed; usually aluminum, wood or vinyl.

Sound Absorption – Measures the amount of reflected sound absorbed by the window treatment.  The higher the number, the more sound is absorbed.

Stack or Stacking Space – The amount of space the window treatment occupies when opened to its full extent and the material is “stacked”.

Swatch – Cuttings of actual material that illustrate the fabrics, textures, and colors available for a particular MyBlinds style.

Tilt – The mechanism of a horizontal blind, which causes the slats to tilt up and down or the vanes of verticals to open or close.

Translucent – Term used to describe any product that lets SOME light filter though.

Traverse – To draw across.  A vertical blind that opens across a window by means of the hardware on which it’s hung.

Uniform Exterior – A clean, flat backing on window coverings means no cords, wires, or folds can be seen from the outside.

UV Protection – UV protection softens the sun’s rays, and stops them from fading or damaging the things that matter to you.

Valance – A horizontal structure that is positioned across the top of window coverings, generally to cover the headrail and operating mechanism.

Vane – Think of the slats you find in blinds, but made of fabric. Featured in our Sheer Shadings, vanes can be tilted to let in, or keep out, the light.  Vertical blinds also feature vanes – in vinyl or fabric materials.

Vertical Blind – A blind with vanes that hang in a vertical orientation and are made of either vinyl, fabric or fabric inserted into vinyl.

Width – The measurement of a wall, window or blind that designates the distance from the left side to the right side; always provide the width measurement  before the height/length measurement when ordering.

Wood Blinds – Horizontal blinds with slats made of wood.

Woven Wood – Fabric made of narrow slats of natural or painted wood, bamboo, grasses, or reeds, woven together with jute or yarn.

Yardage – Lengths of material that are measured by the yard.

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