Big things are happening at SelectBlinds! We’re kicking off our rebranding campaign today by debuting our new commercial!
When our team brainstormed how to make shopping and installing window coverings easier (and more fun, honestly), we realized buying blinds is kind of like dating. We’ll let the commercial explain the rest.
(A big “thank you” to Raindrop Agency for the transformation!)
What does this mean for our customers? Don’t worry, it’s not a catfish situation.
We’re still empowering people to create spaces they can be proud of. Even though we are a DIY company, we are there for you every step of the way when you need us!
You may have noticed our new color palette and refreshed logo have appeared on our website and packaging. What you can expect in the coming months are new brand initiatives, more eye-catching visuals and some flirtatious content.
We look forward to satisfying more customers with our exceptional customer experience, diverse selection and helpful resources. You’ll love us because we’re easy.
Call or chat with one of our Design Consultants to learn more! Call (888) 257-1840. They’re easy to talk to!
We’re 19 now! And our relationship with our customers is stronger than ever.
We were thrilled recently to celebrate our 19th birthday in August!
Since our inception in 2003, when our dynamic founder, Rick Steele launched our company, it’s been quite a ride! Several years ago, Rick was on the hunt for blackout shades for his daughter to help her sleep better when he discovered only hassle and high costs in his search to find custom window treatments. He decided to create a company for people like himself who like to DIY-design their homes, and are in need of customized solutions. SelectBlinds.com (back then we were known as “Select Shops”) was born. Since then, our dedicated Customer Care Team has served well over 9 million happy customers (that’s a lot of windows covered!) as a proud Arizona-based company, with nearly 200 employees.
We couldn’t do any of this without such an amazing team, that offers one-on-one assistance and guidance to help make our customers’ journey as seamless as possible. Together, we’re bound and determined to make the world a better place. One window at a time. Our relationship with our customers is stronger than ever, and we’ve never been more excited to help people with their window covering and interior design project needs.
In the spirit of bragging about ourselves (just a little bit), here are some more stories, landmarks, and information about our company that we like to share to help you get to know us a little better.
SELECTBLINDS.COM: Custom-Crafted, Not Pre-Fabricated
All our custom solutions are carefully designed and crafted.
Since 2003, we’ve focused on one thing: making online custom window décor shopping as smooth as possible. We’ve helped millions of happy customers save tons of money by letting us help them become DIY designers! We’ve become window covering and interior design experts ourselves, and love nothing more than helping you turn your house into your dream home.
We offer an expansive and diverse selection of quality hand-crafted window treatments (over 170 customizable, carefully crafted products, in over 1,800 different colors and patterns) that can add dimension and depth in your windows, and bring out the allure for any interior. All personalized to your unique needs and specifications. To sweeten the deal for you we offer free samples shipped free to your door, free shipping on all orders (up to 15 free shipped samples daily), plenty of helpful resources along your project’s journey (including free design consultation for any size project), and Kid-friendly options for all our products. We’ll help you find the perfect “blinds you’ll love.”
“To create an exceptional customer experience that builds confidence with the most diverse selection and helpful resources.”
SELECTBLINDS.COM: Our Vision
“Empower people to create spaces they can be proud of.”
We love helping our customers save money by tapping into their inner DIY Diva.
SELECTBLINDS.COM: Sustainability & Top-Shelf Materials You Can Feel Good About
SelectBlinds.com window treatments are crafted with care. We ensure that the best quality materials go into crafting each individual product you buy. They’re not just long-lasting, they’re also easy to care for, so you can keep them looking crisp and new for as long as you own them. Customize and reframe your home with confidence to make it all yours. See below how we make our products.
SELECTBLINDS.COM: We’re All In
Our SelectBlinds CEO, Satya, spending some time coaching our A-team.
SelectBlinds.com was the first window treatments company to make ALL of its products available with Kid-friendly cordless lift. A few years back we announced a “free cord cleats” initiative, for customers and non-customers alike. In turn, the company donated more than 82,000 window blind/shade cord cleats to families with children (Cord cleats are metal or plastic safety devices that attach to the inside of a window frame. They allow a user to wrap/tie down a loose window covering cord to prevent its being left dangling and accessible to children or pets).
SelectBlinds.com is also considered one of the pioneers in popularizing the use of online customer reviewsas a marketing driver.
The SelectBlinds.com Guarantee
We offer you all the custom solutions you’ll need for your unique space and sense of style.
We stand behind the quality of all our products, and offer a free 3-year limited warranty on each one that we sell – with always the option to upgrade to a 3-year unlimited or a 5-year unlimited warranty.
We also offer you with our F.I.T. Guarantee. If you happen to submit an incorrect measurement by mistake and your product doesn’t fit your window, your first replacement per order is on us!
We’re that certain you’re going to love our products, and that they’ll be a lovely addition to your home for a long time to come.
SELECTBLINDS.COM: The Talk of the Town
We’re proud to have been featured and highly acclaimed in many widely known publications and TV shows, including:
See what David Ragan has to say about his experience installing his own SelectBlinds.com window coverings:
The SelectBlinds team takes an opportunity to unwind and bond over some friendly bowling.
DIY You’ll Love
In addition to our vast knowledge of interior design, we’re problem solvers first and foremost. We want you to have the most seamless experience possible throughout your home DIY projects, so we’ve created a library full of tutorials and guides to show you how to effectively measure your windows for the custom size you need, then install your beautiful new window treatments so you can enjoy them as quickly as possible. We also offer you a top-shelf group of specialists who are excited about helping you succeed, including our A-team of design consultants who are ready to assist you (for free!) with everything from quick questions to larger, more involved design projects.
Meet our A-team of customer care!
Many Thanks to Our Customer Care Team, and to Each of Our Customers!
Thank you so much for 19 wonderful years! We’re looking forward to the next 19 years together!
Nothing warms up an empty space like beautiful, quality window treatments. Bring your dream home to fruition, make it all yours, and save plenty in the process. DIY doesn’t have to mean “all by yourself.” We’ll be with you every step of the way.
A contemporary TV room with arch-topped windows.
Free Samples. Free Shipping. Free Design Consulting. Every Day. At SELECTBLINDS.COM.
¡Vaya! ¡Abra las persianas para ver! (Open your blinds to look!)
SelectBlinds.com has recently added a version of our website in Español for our valued Spanish-speaking customers. Our Spanish speaking experience was the culmination of hard work by native speakers from several Hispanophone cultures.
SelectBlinds.com is now fully available in Spanish!
Just about anything you can do in English on our site, is now accessible in Spanish. Some elements of our site may still appear in English, and as we continue to fine-tune and perfect our Spanish language experience, we ask that our visitors be patient. We always have Spanish speaking representatives standing by to help with phone calls, online chats, and email inquiries, so don’t worry. We won’t leave anyone hanging!
Head to the best online store for custom blinds in English, or send your Spanish-speaking friends to our website to check it out, shop, register for discounts and updates via email, etc. Select Blinds is your one-stop shop (now in English AND in Spanish) for custom window coverings: blinds, shades, shutters, drapery/curtains, designer fabrics by the yard, etc. Let us help you find your perfect designer style to add that extra touch of flair to your home.
Find the English/Spanish language toggle button just to the right of the top search bar on the SelectBlinds.com website
To access the Spanish version of the website, just look on our homepage. Just to the right of the search bar, there’s a new “Language toggle” button where you can switch easily between the English and Spanish versions of our streamlined online custom blinds experience.
COMING FOR EASTER:
Get EGG-cited about EGG-cellent savings for our upcoming tiered sale for Easter! Pick out what you might like, and order some free samples!
Select Blinds’ window treatments complement your sense of interior décor perfectly and can make your home more comfortable and welcoming! Photos from Queer Eye’s Bobby Berk’s Childhood Home Makeover
We’d love to hear your feedback, too! How can we serve you better? We are looking forward to continuing to better serve our customers in both languages!
We’re about to time travel forward! Well, sort of. Just an hour ahead. In MOST of the country.
Daylight saving time (not “savings time”) 2021, begins at 2 a.m. (your local time) on Sunday morning, March 14, 2021. This is the annual time change when we “spring forward” an hour and you “lose” an hour of sleep. Be sure to retire an hour earlier on Saturday the 13th, unless you want to be dragging all the next day!
Getting a good night’s sleep consistently is considered healthy (there’s even a term for it: sleep hygiene), and is a key component of a solid self-care regimen.
Sleep Awareness Week, 2021 – Are you getting enough sleep?
According to the NSF, as many as 40 million Americans have trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or with waking up earlier than they would like. Common distractions from adequate sleep include disruptive noises and natural light coming in through the windows, especially early the morning.
How are you sleeping these days? Getting a good night’s sleep (maintaining solid sleep hygiene) contributes to boosting your brain’s activity, increasing your energy level throughout the day, bolstering your immune system, improving your overall mood, and increasing your productivity.
Let’s talk blackout shades vs. room-darkening shades. Room-darkening shades reduce up to 95-99 percent of incoming light that enters a room through the window(s). Then there are blackout styles that can eliminate glare up to 100 percent. They may not necessarily make a space completely pitch black, but these shades can come pretty close to darkening your room any time of the day.
A good blackout shade can help ease your transition from night to daytime (or vice versa), thus helping improve your overall sleep quality. Blackout shades are also energy-efficient to help you cut the cost of energy spending in your home.
Select Blinds Blackout shades to help you get a solid night’s sleep.
What Are the Best Blackout Shades?
Customers love our products! Read up on our customer reviews. Speaking of improved sleep hygiene, consider the fact that from a 2020 review of the “best blackout shades,” TheNew York Times review considers Classic Cordless Blackout Shades its favorite out of its top three picks.
The review panel “unanimously agreed that the Select Blinds Classic Cordless [Blackout Shades are] the [ones] they’d most like in their homes,” citing the quality polyester custom shades’ look and feel as being “noticeably better in quality than other shades [they] considered.” In addition to top-notch look and feel, the NYT review also cited the shades’ wide color and customizable size selection, and the longest warranty of any other shades they reviewed.
Maybe you’re interested in a recommendation that offers additional insulation and durability, you might consider getting the Select Blackout Cellulars.
If you’re looking for a shade that combines traditional and blackout shade functionality, consider the Top down, Bottom up style Modern Light Filtering / Blackout TriShades.
For our most complete blackout effect, try our Designer Sleep Shades, which features unique side tracks. They are very effective at blocking out 99 percent of incoming light.
If you need any more help in choosing a room darkening or blackout shade, check out our Select Blinds guides for properly equipping bedroom and nursery windows.
For more on getting good blackout shades to get better sleep, see NASCAR driver David Ragan discussing success and how to win that advantage over your day with a good night’s sleep. He does it with effective Select Blinds blackout shades for his RV:
NASCAR’s David Ragan discusses winning that advantage over your day with a solid night’s sleep, thanks to Select Blinds blackout shades.
Don’t forget to celebrate Sleep Awareness Week with us this year by getting into the habit of getting regular, great Zzzzz’s.
Gamers and home theater buffs: Does your gaming or media room have windows? When you’re online, on a roll playing your favorite RPG, or relaxing with your favorite film, you want nothing to do with the sun’s harsh glare. You might be considering window blinds or shades for your room’s windows to block out exterior light and glare, as well as to help insulate and soundproof your room. More fabric-style window treatments, like blackout cellular shades or Roman shades, also assist with dampening background noise and improving your gaming / media audio quality, too!
Gaming and media rooms with windows should have good lighting control for the best entertainment experiences.
If your gaming/media room windows face the north, there’s a good chance you’ll rarely, if ever, have to worry about direct sunlight coming in. If your room’s windows face any other direction, you’ll likely get some direct sunlight coming in at some point during the day. Window treatments are specifically designed to control incoming light, but keep in mind there are different degrees of light blockage.
What Is the Difference Between Blackout and Room Darkening Shades?
Blackout shades, or room darkening blinds? Blackout shades are made with an opaque fabric intended to block out ALL incoming light. “Room darkening” window treatments typically block out between 95 to 99 percent of the outdoor light. Window coverings that block less than 95 percent of incoming light are commonly known as “light filtering” blinds or shades.
Maybe you prefer a total blackout effect. Maybe you like the incoming light most of the time, but just want to block out the setting sun’s glare for movie night. Knowing what you need and prefer can help you in your selection.
Window coverings can protect your interior from harmful UV rays and annoying glare.
Consider some of these options for blackout or room darkening effects for your entertainment room:
We take pride in all our products and customer service, and stand by them all. Consider the fact that from a 2020 review of the “best blackout shades,” TheNew York Times review considers Classic Cordless Blackout Shades among its top three picks.
The review panel “unanimously agreed that the Select Blinds Classic Cordless [Blackout Shades are] the [ones] they’d most like in their homes,” citing the quality polyester shades’ look and feel being “noticeably better in quality than other shades [they] considered.” In addition to top-notch look and feel, the NYT review also cited the shades’ wide color and customizable size selection, and the longest warranty of any other shades they reviewed.
Regardless of what kind of window treatments you go with, keep in mind that your entertainment space is yours and should meet your needs, while reflecting your personal sense of style.
March is Women’s History Month and March 8, International Women’s Day. Let’s celebrate!
Do you know these women? You can scroll through to find their names at the bottom while learning a little about the history of Women’s History Month along the way. Image credit: www.aacpl.net/women
They behaved badly and became innovators. Inventors. Engineers. Activists. Advocates. Soldiers. Scientists. Doctors. Politicians. Leaders of movements. Leaders of governments. Leaders of families.
With a list of achievements and accomplishments from the ordinary to the extraordinary.
Talk about the mother of invention. Did you know you can thank women for being the brains behind almost everything from the plain brown paper bag to coffee filters to today’s disposable diapers? Not to mention rocket fuel and the foundation for GPS, WiFi and Bluetooth technologies? (Check out this list for more.)
That’s what Women’s History Month is all about: remembering and reminding us about the contributions of notable and ordinary women, in hopes that the day will soon come when it’s impossible to teach or learn history without them.
It’s remembering the historic heroines of the past, like Susan B. Anthony. Irena Sendler (the female counterpart to Oskar Schindler). Clara Barton. Harriet Tubman. Margaret Meade. Marie Curie. Ada Lovelace. Katherine Johnson. Miep Gies and Anne Frank. Rosa Parks. Dr. Virginia Apgar. Eleanor Roosevelt. Heddy Lamarr. Margaret Sanger.
And those still making history and a difference: Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Greta Thunberg. Malala Yousafzai. The first female captain in the New York Fire Department (now retired) Brenda Berkman. And Alice Lockridge, creator of Women4Women, an initiative to attract and train women in the male-dominated construction industry.
Image credit: A Mighty Girl
A little history on Women’s History Month
Since the beginning of history, women have shaped it. But recognition of their innumerous contributions has taken a little more time.
Women’s History Month has its roots in the socialist and labor movements. The first Women’s Day took place on February 28, 1909, in New York City, as a national observance organized by the Socialist Party. It honored the one-year anniversary of the garment worker’s strikes in New York when thousands of women marched for economic rights.
Within two years, Women’s Day had grown into an international observance that spread through Europe on the heels of socialism. The first International Women’s Day (IWD) was observed in 1911 to raise awareness of bias against and equality for women worldwide. The United Nations officially began marking IWD in 1975.
According to the National Women’s History Project, because history books largely left out the story or contributions of women in America, the Education Task Force of the Sonoma County (California) Commission on the Status of Women initiated a “Women’s History Week” celebration in 1978. Timed around IWD, the celebration quickly spread to other organizations, communities and school districts, and lobbying efforts for a national Women’s History Week got under way.
Former President Jimmy Carter proclaimed the first national Women’s History Week for March 2-8, 1980, as did his successor, President Reagan, until Congress passed a proclamation establishing Women’s History Month in 1987.
And the rest, as they say, is history. (For a more complete history lesson, read this.)
All of us here at SelectBlinds.com invite you to get inspired and celebrate Women’s History Month. Keep up with past, present and future history makers on two of our favorite blogs and women-focused websites:
— A Mighty Girl is dedicated to inspiring stories, books, toys and movies about women and girls to help parents raise smart, confident and courageous daughters (and to help boys learn about them, too)
— Women You Should Know features profiles of courageous women from history and all walks of life who have made a difference in the past and those who are shaping our future
Tell us, too, how you’re making history in a comment below.
A little more history: Internationally, the color purple, which signifies justice and dignity, is the color for symbolizing women. The combination of purple, green and white to symbolize women’s equality originated from the Women’s Social and Political Union in the U.K. in 1908.
And for the curious, here are the identities of the women at the top of the page who helped and are helping to rewrite history:
Top row: Representative Shirley Chisholm, Anne Frank, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Katherine Johnson, Jane Goodall, Delores Huerta, Maya Lin, and Margaret Mead Bottom row: Rigoberta Menchú, Rosa Parks, Sacagawea, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Junko Tabei, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, and Malala Yousafzai.
Where in the world isn’t the real question. Why in the world anyone would run 7 marathons in 7 days on each of the world’s 7 continents, is.
Seriously. Do you know how many miles that is?
183.
And how long you have to finish all seven marathons (26.2 miles each)?
168 hours, or seven consecutive days.
And how much travel time it takes to get to each race site in between?
Overall, about 68 hours on a plane between February 6 and February 12, starting in Antarctica, ending in North America (in Miami, FL) with five other races in Africa, Australia, Asia, Europe and South America along the way.
So I ask again: Why on earth would anyone put themselves through that?
The answer is simple.
It’s all for a good cause.
That’s why SelectBlinds.com co-founder, philanthropist, extreme adventurer and adrenaline addict Rick Steele is undertaking perhaps the biggest challenge (besides starting a $1 billion business in 30 days, but that’s another story) of his life.
So far.
Rick is always looking for ways to marry his passion for philanthropy and giving back to his pursuit of personal excellence through extreme physical challenges like the 2020 World Marathon Challenge. And this event, which he learned about through a friend who completed it a few years ago, was a natural fit to go along with a personal goal he set last year of raising $1 billion (yes, that’s billion with a “B”) for charities during his lifetime.
“I always look for the next impossible thing to see if I can do it,” explains the 12-time Iron Man finisher. And while he’s run many marathons as part of those events, along with other ultra endurance runs, he’s never run “just a marathon.”
12-time Iron Man Rick Steele
Well, this isn’t exactly “just a marathon” either. This is seven marathons. In a row. Some starting with only a mere 18 hours between them. Rick’s goal? To finish each one in under four hours. “Under five, definitely,” he says with confidence. Besides running in temperatures ranging from -10 to over 80 degrees, he anticipates his biggest challenge will be “not knowing how sore I’ll be from race to race.”
If completing all seven marathons doesn’t seem impossible enough, he’s also challenging himself to raise $20,000 for 20,000 pairs of shoes for Soles4Souls, his philanthropic partner in the race and the inspiration for Rick’s fundraising effort.
Soles4Souls is a non-profit social enterprise based in Nashville, Tennessee. It’s mission? To disrupt the cycle of poverty for people worldwide. Founded by partners who share Rick’s own entrepreneurial spirit, it started with the simple philosophy that everyone deserves a good pair of shoes and now provides shoes, clothing, jobs and most of all, hope, to help millions in need get back on their feet.
“While I’m really looking forward to experiencing the race itself, I’m even more excited about the opportunity to support and have an impact on the work done by this amazing group,” Rick says. “They’re literally improving and changing lives every day. It’s kinda crazy what a difference a simple pair of shoes can make in someone’s life.”
“It’s serendipitous, really. I mean, I couldn’t be competing in this worldwide event without running shoes, and I’m running for an international organization that has so far provided 35 million pairs of shoes throughout 127 countries to those who have none. And, unfortunately, the need keeps growing greater. So that’s a pretty powerful reason to do this and an awesome cause to contribute to.”
Those of us at Select Blinds think so, too. That’s why for every order we get from February 6-12, we’re donating two new pairs of shoes to Soles4Souls. If you have a pair to spare, find out how you can donate, too. And if you’re still wondering where in the world Rick is, follow him here during the World Marathon Challenge.
Maybe you were one of the the 100 million CapitalOne customers whose records were stolen in a data breach in July 2019. Or in the 2017 Equifax data breach, which exposed the personal information of 145.5 million Americans, including their Social Security numbers.
With so much of our lives and personal information now literally on (the) line, many states in the U.S. are adopting data privacy laws to help consumers protect their privacy and control how their personal data is used online.
With the enactment of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) earlier this month, for example, customers in that state now have the right to request a record of the personal information (name, address, credit cards, etc.) a company collects on them online, and to know how that information is tracked and used by the company.
New York, Washington, Vermont, Colorado and Massachusetts also have similar laws in the works this year.
At Select Blinds, protecting the personal information of our customers is paramount. We thought it would be a good time to remind you just how we do that. We recently updated our Privacy Policy in compliance with the new CCPA. In addition, here are other ways we work to ensure your identity and information is protected any time you’re shopping for custom window coverings on SelectBlinds.com.
Our site is secure (we’ve earned the McAfee SECURE certification);
We don’t store your payment information after your order is complete; and
We NEVER sell your information to anyone.
We protect your online info off line, too. Servers used to store any personally identifiable information needed during the sales process are housed in a secure environment. In our offices, that information is restricted to and accessible by only those employees who need it to perform a specific job (for example, a billing clerk or a customer care representative). Every one of our employees must lock their computers whenever they leave their desk and use password-protected screen savers to log back on. Every six months, as well as any time new privacy policies are added, our employees are reminded about the importance we place on privacy, and what they can do to ensure our users’ information is protected.
Go ahead. You can now breathe a collective sigh of relief knowing your information is as safe as possible while you’re on our site. And whether you’re shopping for beautiful new custom window blinds and shades here or for anything else online, check out these 10 tips to make your shopping experience even safer and more secure.
Happy shopping!
Looking to protect your privacy at home, too? Motorized blackout shades like these Fashion Color Blackout Rollers (in Iron) help keep prying eyes from seeing into your home. Easily schedule them to open and close automatically with the tap of an app on your smartphone, or just ask Alexa to do it, whether you’re there or not.
#sorrynotsorry, but we just have to brag a bit here. Found out the other day that we made Newsweek magazine’s list of Best Online Shops 2020!
#2, in fact, in the Home Living category and one of the Top 10 best shops overall.
Here’s how we made it.
Working with Statista (an online portal for statistics) and other online databases, directories and price comparison websites, Newsweek created a list of more than 9,500 online retailers in the United States where shoppers go for the best products, prices and service. After passing a number of tests based on 48 objective criteria and surveying more than 8,000 online shoppers on seven subjective criteria (e.g., “The homepage is very clear and well structured”), they narrowed the list down and ranked the top 1,000 shops across eight industries and 39 categories. The 1,000 online shops with the highest scores out of 10 (we got an 8.58!) were then awarded “Best Online Shops 2020.”
“Making the Newsweek list is a massive win for our company,” an elated Rick Steele, Select Blinds’ Master of Marketing and company co-founder, said. “Our goal is to make our customers happy, whatever it takes. Being rated one of the best online shops means we’re meeting — and surpassing — that goal.
Most people think buying new blinds is hard, but using our site it’s easy!” he continued. “We love that it gives our customers the confidence to do it themselves and create a home they’re proud of while saving time and money. And we love that Newsweek thinks so, too.”
Recognition by Newsweek and other independent third-parties is always exciting, but we get the biggest thrill from hearing directly from the customers who use our site. See for yourself why we’re rated one of the best online shops. Read some of their stories right here in our blog, or check out a few of the more than 300,000 5-star reviews we’ve gotten from happy customers to find out why you would be one, too.
Injuries and death from window blind cords send two kids to the ER each day.*
That’s why, in January of this year, the Window Covering Manufacturers Association announced the approval of a new industry standard to require all “stock” window blinds and shades be cordless or have inaccessible cords. The new mandate, which goes into effect in the U.S. and Canada on December 15, applies to pre-made blinds purchased in stores or online. (Corded blinds will still be available in custom products.)
Select Blinds has been ahead of the cordless curve since 2014 when it became the first retailer to offer a cordless version of every product it sold. Today, over half of all window treatments purchased by our customers are cordless. As a major proponent and supporter of the #gocordless movement, child safety is at the forefront of everything we do. As you shop on Selectblinds.com, if you select a corded or non-compliant product, you’ll be prompted with the following message:
Warning! Corded lift features are not covered under or deemed Best For Kids. Any accessible cords pose strangulation hazards to children and pets. Please choose cordless lift systems in homes where children and pets will be present.
Are you doing everything you can to protect them from the danger of strangulation and other injuries inherent in loose and exposed cords? October is National Window Covering Safety month, and we’re encouraging anyone with young children (2- to 4-year olds are most at risk) and pets in the home to take our Cordless Challenge. Here’s how:
