Window Blinds are a commodity that most people own or have owned. You move to a new house and your old windows were longer than the new ones. You bought new blinds and mistakenly got them too long. If you notice that your blinds are bunched up at window sill, you bought blinds that are too long for your window. Most people ignore this. To create a more aesthetically pleasing look with your blinds takes very little time. Wooden, vinyl or plastic horizontal window blinds can be shortened to fit your window frames. The only tools that will be required are a sharp pair of scissors, a marker and possibly a small rubber mallet.
The first step is to decide on the length that would work for the window. The most aesthetically pleasing look for fully extended blinds is about a quarter-inch above the window sill. Fully extend your blinds to make sure they are completely level. Take a marker and mark the string ladders at the height you want your new bottom slat to be.
To start, lift the bottom slat of your window blinds to reveal the bottom caps. The bottom caps should easily twist off. There are usually two or three caps on them. If you get a particularly stubborn cap, a knife can help to loosen it. After doing this, the two ladder strings will come out of the front and back of the blinds. Take the knot on the bottom of the slip cord and pull it tight. Next cut off the end and remove the slip cord from all the slats that you will be removing. Remember to pull the slip cord from both sides of the slats when removing them from the blinds.
Next, slide the slats of the window blinds to the side to remove the ones you no longer want. The bottom slat will stay as the bottom slat. Remember the extra length as you slide the bottom slat into the strings of the ladder. Feed the slip cord into the right hole of the bottom slat and retie the knot in the slip cord under the bottom slat. Make sure the slip cords are even and the bottom slat is level. It’s possible you could have to adjust the knots to get the desired look.
Finally, cut away the unused slip cord and ladder strings before snapping the bottom caps back on under the bottom slat. If you are having trouble snapping the bottom caps back on, use a small rubber mallet. The rubber mallet won’t mark up the caps. You have now successfully trimmed the length of your window blinds.
Now just draw the blinds to the top and slowly release them back down. If, done correctly the blinds should be completely level just above your window sill. If you would like them shorter, just repeat the process. This is an easy process and takes no real skill to do. Yet the length of your blinds can make all the difference aesthetically.
