I've had pleated blinds, metal horizontal blinds, vertical blinds, and wood blinds. Even though there are pretty pictures of blinds, blinds are not my favorite, especially vertical blinds. Blinds are impersonal, not cozy imho, and pleated blinds are very difficult to clean. They attract dust and pet hair, I think, by static, and vacuuming does not get it all. Horizontal blinds, if cracked open for some light, leave a striped pattern on the window which I don't like, are a pain to dust, and are pretty much "all or nothing", and you can't leave blinds open at night if you value privacy. Vertical blinds remind me of corporate conference rooms. Sorry, I hope I'm not offending anyone. Curtains on the other hand, can be soft and flowy, let light in without compromising privacy. You can wash them or dry clean them. You don't have to open and close every single day to adjust for light/privacy conditions. Curtains are easy to change out, and you don't need a custom size if your windows are not standard sized. I haven't had the pleasure of roman shades yet, that's my next new thing to try. More than you probably wanted,mikneleh... LOL! Have fun with your decision.

The house is a lovely double-wide manufactured home with a gorgeous view of the golf course, a pond and excellent tropical vegetation close to the lanai. I want a relaxed look so I might try linen shades rather than your other ideas.

Go for Asian Paint Re-painting Process Repainting is done when your home is already painted once. It is required when you need to decorate the house afresh or old painted walls are not in good condition. Step I – Prepare Wall for Painting 1. Scrap the old paint using sand paper to remove falkes, loose particles. 2. Fill the cracks, pores, damages using putty – wherever required. Please note – putty is not required in re-painting in general, however one of coat of it can be used if walls are damaged badly. Step II - Apply Primer 1. Apply one coat of primer to smoothen the surface. 2. Let is dry for few hours. Step III – Apply Paint/ Designer Walls. 1. Apply two coat of paint successively after drying the first coat. 2. Or Get your texture/stencil/design work done Please Note- Primer is a must for Designer Walls. Fresh Painting What is Fresh Painting and when it is required? In general we do Fresh Painting in newly constructed home, apartments. In Fresh painting walls are completely rough. Some times in old houses fresh painting is also needed when its wall condition is really bad, damaged or outer layer of old paint is completely broken. Step I – Apply Primer and Putty. Primer is a preparatory coating put on materials before painting. Priming ensures better adhesion of paint to the surface, increases paint durability, and provides additional protection for the material being painted. So primer is always used in fresh painting. Putty is generally used for filling the minor cracks, wholes, damages to level the surface for painting. Putty is a generic term for a material with high plasticity, similar in texture to clay or dough, typically used in domestic construction and repair as a sealant or filler. 1. Apply One Coat of Primer, let it dry for approx 2 hours. 2. Apply One Coat of Putty on Newly Constructed Wall as base. 3. Let it dry for some time let say approx. 3-4 hours. 4. Apply Second Coat of Putty and Let it dry again for few hours. 5. Use Sand Paper for smoothening or levelling of wall surface. 6. Apply Second Coat of Primer after drying the putty. Step II - Apply Paint 1. Get the requested products which need to be used, verify the color code, pour the paint in bucket and mix some amount of water. 2. Apply first coat of paint using roller and brush. 3. Let it dry for some hours and apply the second coat of Paint. 4. Final touchup if finishing is needed. Take care of all above process

vedikaseth Bombay rains are harsh! The one thing you can do is use flexible covers that work similar to roller blinds, and are transparent which allows the light to enter. There are many companies that offer such a product. Just choose one where the installation is easy and taking down the sheets is not an issue once the rains are over. Do keep in mind however that the water will still enter the balcony, you will simply be reducing the force of rains, and will require a water outlet.