Whenever the division of a room is desired, it has been traditionally achieved by the erection of a permanent wall which usually requires the hiring of a qualified person to construct said wall, high costs of material and labor, issuance of building permits by a governmental department and major disruptions during the building process. With the advent and popularity of vertical blinds, the desired result can be easily achieved at a much lower cost, much less hassle and moreover, as a by-product of the decision to use vertical blinds as room dividers, the option of fully opening the vertical blind reverts the room in question to its original ?wide open space? design.

Civic organizations, such as churches and government buildings, will have large meeting rooms where gatherings of all sizes will take place and where different functions could potentially be taking place simultaneously. These frequent occurrences require the flexibility to tailor the available physical space to meet specific needs. Oftentimes vertical blinds can provide the choice way to achieve these needs without the installation of expensive room dividers which occupy a large space whenever not in use and are aesthetically unacceptable. Vertical blinds provide the ability to retract in any direction ? left, right, center opening and center stacking.

In addition to the ability of vertical blinds to retract in different ways, vertical blinds can also be custom made as two unique and independently operated units thus expanding their flexibility. This added flexibility allows the user many more choices regarding the purpose of the vertical blind as it pertains to a specific function. One factor to remember is that normally the width of a vertical blind is limited to sixteen (16) feet and whenever ?butted? to a second vertical blind, it can divide a thirty-two (32) foot wide room and thus able to divide most rooms regardless of setting.

Consideration should be given to the fact that vertical blinds operate independently and as a single unit and whenever vertical blinds are ?butted? together, controls at the end of each vertical blind will operate each blind independently of one another. Due to the simplicity of operation, dealing with two independent controls is not a hindrance but is actually an advantage for you can retrieve only one of the vertical blinds should that be physically necessary.

As previously mentioned, the use of ?butted? vertical blinds may actually be more desirable due to the ability to independently adjust the size of the desired opening and the additional savings realized whenever smaller blinds are shipped. Large items are always more expensive to ship because they require the services of a common carrier versus the relatively inexpensive method of shipping via UPS or FedEx. However, when compared to the cost of building a permanent wall, these costs are usually insignificant.

Regardless of the specific application for a vertical blind, whether as a room divider or as a window/door treatment, the issue of child safety should always be ever present when making the decision. Controls of the vertical blind must always be fastened as recommended by the manufacturer and to meet legal requirements. Vertical blinds normally have two controls - a cord operated carrier control which allows the opening and closing and a chain operated rotator system. These controls allow for the opening and closing of vertical blind and the rotation of the vertical blind louvers.

Whenever vertical blinds are used as room dividers, ceiling installation is the preferred way of installing the blind. At times and due to the many different ceiling systems available, the installation of the vertical blind will require the placement of a hard surface that will enable the blind to be installed firmly and properly operate as desired. This requirement, if needed, oftentimes calls for the installation to be performed by an experienced, professional individual in order to achieve the necessary results.

Although noise control is difficult to fully eliminate, the use of vertical blinds with free hanging fabric louvers can and should be considered. One of the many benefits of using fabric louvers is the quietness achieved by the elimination of the sound of PVC louvers hitting each other due to wind drafts and the use of fans which can continuously move the PVC louvers. Fabric louvers are comparatively noiseless when moved.

The aesthetics of vertical blinds as room dividers will substantially improve by two (2) using valances which will cover the vertical blind hardware on both sides of the vertical blind. Although vertical blinds are typically fabricated including a valance, a second valance should be ordered for this particular application thus creating an acceptable and clean look when viewed from both rooms.