Cats are adorable and many homeowners love having some around in the house. These cute little pets have the habit of breaking things though. Your window treatment ideas may just be one of those things. Especially when you have windows blinds or curtains that don’t let cats access windows easily, you are in for damage.
Also, some window coverings are more likely to collect cat hair than others. If you also have kids in the house, it’s for the best to choose your window treatment ideas carefully. After all, you don’t want to spend too many days replacing your window coverings right! If you have cat(s) in the house, you can surely relate to more than one of these:
- My cat just won’t stop trying to access windows and she will do anything to get there.
- My cat loves playing with windows blind’s cords and won’t leave them alone.
- My cat loves to claw and climb up the window curtains and keeps pulling fabrics out of them.
- My cat loves to peak through the slats of my aluminum blinds. Keeps bending them.
- My cat keeps scratching my fabric blinds making them look damaged.
Here are 5 of the best window treatment ideas and 5 worst for homes with cats:
Best: Vertical Blinds
For most horizontal slat windows blinds, the most common cat problem is bending of slats. Since aluminum slats on metal Venetians are pretty thin and light, they can be bent easily. Vertical window blinds on the other hand have none of that. Cats can even fit inside two slats of vertical blinds. Their soft and flexible materials don’t get bent as well. Vertical blinds look great for many room designs too.
Worst: Aluminum Blinds
Cats bending slats of aluminum blinds is one of the most common problems. Cats just love to peak outside and know what is going on. To achieve this, they often try to get through the small gaps inside aluminum slats of windows blinds. Aluminum slats being very light and thin, are bent easily. Most of the times, bent slats come out of their holding strings. And yes, strings become another problem.
Best: Roller Blinds
Most likely, cats attach windows blinds as they hinder their access to windows. Provide easy access blinds and your problem will be half sorted. This is just what roller window blinds can do for your window treatment ideas. Cats can easily go behind roller blinds sparing them for damage of any kind. Lift their bottom slightly above windowpane floor to let cats know where to enter from.
Worst: Long Corded Blinds
Cats like to play with strings and cords. While doing so, they often get tangled up. Usually, tangling up can also cause choking or other injuries for cats. When you have cats, you simply don’t want long corded blinds. Make sure to keep cords tidied up and away from cat access. Attach them at the top side of your blinds or get blinds without cords. Integral blinds are a great example.
Best: Integral Blinds
Integral blinds are tightest window glass huggers. These also don’t have any cords moving them up or down. Magnetic functionality is taken advantage of with integral blinds. Since, these basically add another layer on your window glass, cats think of them as part of the actual windows. You can also slide them open for most part of the day keeping safe from cat interest.
Worst: Fabric Shades (most)
Most fabric shades including Roman blinds are definitely not recommended for homes with cats. For starters, cats will be able to destroy fabrics on Roman shades. Also, they would catch so many cat hairs that children and allergic people can get affected in a big way. Unless you want to keep cleaning and washing your window treatment ideas often, you want to stay away from fabric shades.
Best: Faux Wood Blinds
Wood window blinds are expensive and can be chewed on by cats. Faux window blinds on the other hand are very affordable and cats often don’t like to chew on their materials. Most faux wood blinds can also have replaceable slats. This feature makes these window treatment ideas very efficient for all homes. Replacing couple of damaged slats is much more inexpensive than replacing the whole thing.
Worst: Bulky Puddled Drapes
If you have that large floor reaching puddled style drapes on windows, they are automatic attention pullers for cats. These window treatment ideas might suit your room finish but can always be damaged by cats easily. Drapes that drag on the floor also are likely to collect germs, dust and even cat hair as well. None of that is what you need for your window treatment ideas.
Best: Smart Curtains
Curtains come in many different shapes and designs for windows. When you get nice and smart ones that fit windows nicely, they can allow cat window access easily. Cats can easily move behind light curtains. Whatever they can pass through without having to damage, doesn’t often get damaged as well. Make sure to have them elevated from the floor just that bit.
Worst: Woven Wood Blinds
Cats love surfaces with a lot of texture. This is just what they get with woven wood blinds. These woven wood blinds look great for obvious reasons but don’t suit homes with cats. Unless you want window treatment ideas in the shape of woven blinds scratched up all the time, these should be avoided. Go for something more robust and attention diverting rather than all attention-seeking for cats.