Somfy Electric Blind Review

I haven’t done a living room update in quite a while; truth be told, we’ve had to put it on hold a little bit, due to a few different reasons. BUT, I’m back sharing a small update today – a new fancy electronic window blind! Yep, it’s a blind that works totally on its own, via the power of a remote control!

So this post is in collaboration with Order Electric Blinds who sell a whole range of made-to-measure electric blinds, from roller blinds to Venetian blinds to roman blinds. I’ve been really interested in electric blinds for quite a while and we’ve actually contemplated the idea for our out-of-reach roof windows. However with our living room is the room we’re tackling at the moment, coupled with the fact we’ve had ZERO window coverings for the last few months and our dogs bark at every single person who walks past the window (help me!!), I thought this room would be the best place to feature one.

Since we already have quite a few features in this room, such as our gorgeous feature wallpaper (check it out here) and beautiful arched fireplace (see here), I didn’t want to add any visually dominating fabrics to the mix. I think the period panelled casing around the window is actually stunning on its own, and to add a patterned or feature window covering, would, in my opinion, have taken away from that. So, instead, I decided on a plain white roller blind. I think it looks sophisticated, simple and chic. It adds to the gorgeous period style window and doesn’t take away from it.

It looks a little more grey in these photos, but I promise you – it is actually white! The blind is a full black-out blind which makes it absolutely perfect for this room (have you ever tried to watch TV with the sun beaming onto it? Yeah, not good). It feels really cosy in the evenings now and gives full privacy – which we’ve been lacking for SO LONG. And I haven’t even mentioned the best feature about it yet, have I? It’s electronic!

Yep. It means you don’t ever need to get up and adjust the blind manually, a simple switch on a remote does the whole thing for you. It’s absolutely brilliant. I mean, it makes me even lazier than I already am, sure – But if you’re snuggled up with sleeping kids (or in my case, dogs!) it means you don’t have to disturb them to close the window. If you have furniture in front of the window, there’s no more struggling to reach the pull cord. And you can take a step back and decide exactly how high you want the blind to be, without going back and forth for that perfect position. Here’s a little boomerang of it in action 😉

The blind is powered by Somfy, who are world-leaders in motors and controls within the home. There’s a 5-year guarantee on all their products and there are also a few different power sources to choose from. The easiest and most convenient for us was a simple battery operated blind. There’s a small battery pack connected to the blind which can easily be tucked away behind the top roller part of the blind, so you literally wouldn’t even know it was there. The lack of wires means you can’t tell it’s electric without knowing, there’s no need for an electrician and it doesn’t matter if your window isn’t near a power supply either! It’s simple, DIYable and it works. In terms of pricing, this blind (around 1mx2m) cost around £100 – but obviously this is determined on blind size, so I recommend checking out their side for an accurate quote of your own.

I always wondered if electronic blinds were a bit gimmicky, and in a way, they might be. BUT I do think they’re also really practical as well. You can buy a separate timer remote which allows you to programme when you’d like the blind to lift up and lift down each day. It’s perfect for when you’re away if you want to simulate the effect of someone being home, OR even just so you don’t have to come home and close every single blind manually in the winter months.

And if you’re really into your gadgets and smart-home kind of lifestyle, you can even connect the blind to a  separate TaHoma System, which can then be used with certain Smart Home Hubs like the Amazon Alexa. It’s not something we personally have – but I know there is a huge growing market for this kind of things!

So here’s a final look at the blind in its fully closed position. We still have a bit of work to do to in relation to the window frame (I don’t know if you noticed a part of the sill that needs replacing?!) and we also discovered an original Victorian window shutter which we hope to restore. But we love the idea of using both our new electric blind and original shutters together – and because our frame is so deep, it should also be possible! But you’ll see all of that soon enough. I’m super pleased with this new electric blind and I have to say – I may even be thinking about some for future rooms too!

What are your thoughts on electric blinds? Are you intrigued by them or they a bit too much for you?

*The blind featured in this post was sent to me to review. All views and content are my own. Thanks for supporting this blog 🙂