Eclipse Shutters

Superior Shutters & Blinds now has Eclipse Shutters! These are a great alternative to wood and composite wood shutters. Eclipse Shutters has been around for about 20 years manufacturing a high quality alternative to wood and composite wood plantation shutters. These are constructed of Polyresin 3 Vinyl. These shutters are waterproof and the durable UltraSatin finish gives it the look of painted wood. They do not fade, crack, chip, peal, or warp and come with a 25 year warranty. Everything is manufactured in North America. Ours are custom made in Suwanee, Ga. The best thing to me is the short production time. We can have these “from order to your door” and about 2 weeks! If you’d like to learn more you can go to Eclipse Shutters YouTube channel. There are several very informative videos.

At Superior Shutters & Blinds we also offer Norman Shutters (Wood and Composite) and a real Poplar Wood shutters built right here in North Georgia.

What ever your shutter needs are we have something that will work for you. There are a ton of articles and blogs online about all types of shutters. So…if you begin to get confused about which shutter to use,…wood (bass wood, poplar, teak, phoenix wood, etc.), or composite (MDF), or ABS polymer, or PVC / Vinyl / Polyresin 3, don’t worry, you are not alone. In fact, I am a little confused too! What I do know is that the solution isn’t always cut and dry. We try to carry the best of each type of product and will be able to get you the product that will suit your needs and fit in the budget!

Buying a New Home?

Are you ready to purchase a new home? If so, there is one major thing you need to take into consideration. Are you going to purchase window coverings through the builder? or are you going to wait until after closing to purchase them? (WARNING: DO NOT BUY BIG BOX STORE BLINDS)
The advantages of buying blinds from the builder is that you can roll the cost into the mortgage and they are installed (usually) before closing on the home. One disadvantage is that builder blinds are typically low quality and installed by the handy man or punch out guy. OK, I know…hanging blinds is not rocket science, but, believe it or not, I have seen many poor installation jobs done by these guys. And the other disadvantage is you will end up paying 3 times more. First of all, the builder has to make some money so they mark them up anywhere from 30% to 100%. Secondly, if you are financing a home for 30 years you will end up paying a lot more for the blinds if you roll them into the mortgage.
For example, you would like 2″ Faux wood blinds in your home. The builder provide 2″ faux wood blinds with 3 colors to choose from, white, white, and off-white. You have 35 windows and they charge $3000 (calculated at 50% builder mark up). Over the course of the loan you will pay approximately $5400. Our 100% custom made 2″ fauxwood blinds for 35 windows is $2000! That is a big savings and you will undoubtedly get a much better product and installation!
If you call Superior Shutters & Blinds the advantage is we will measure, we show you our many colors and options for our wood or fauxwood blinds as well as plantation shutters, roller shades, honeycomb shades, woven wood shades, roman shades, and sheer shades. Basically we handle everything from start to finish. We can even install on the day of closing if need be. The disadvantages? NONE!
If you are ready to buy a new home please give us a call to discuss your options ahead of time. Many of our customer call 2 months before the closing date to get an idea on the prices for plantation shutters vs. 2″ faux wood blinds or 2″ faux wood blinds vs. honeycomb shades. Don’t hesitate to call…it’s never to early or to late! If you do wait to late, no problem…we can get our custom made blinds in 3 days!

Why not blinds from Lowes or Home Depot?

A while back we had a customer, Mr. Belcore, who was a little unsure if he should buy 2″ faux wood blinds from us or if he should just go buy Home Depot blinds or Lowes blinds off the shelf and install them himself. So I thought this would be a great topic to discuss since many other folks have the same question. What makes High Country Blinds different? A lot!!

First is Quality…I explained to Mr. Belcore that these blinds are manufactured with top quality components. The slats have one of the highest UV ratings in the industry, which prevents yellowing. He said, ” I can’t tell a difference in the quality once they are up, they all look the same to me.”

Second is our blinds are 100% custom made to fit each window in your home with a custom made 3 1/2″ crown valance, there are 14 colors to choose from, and we install for free. Mr. Belcores objection to that was, ” I can measure myself and Home Depot will cut them for me. I have a cordless drill so I can install them myself. Oh, and I just want plain old white 2″ blinds”

Third is service…We handle everything. We are on time and on budget. All of our blinds carry a lifetime warranty. Just call us and we will come out and take care of any problem. He said, “I don’t mind taking a blind down and returning it if I have a problem.”

Forth is price…For about $10 a window more than the box blinds you get top quality custom made(width and length) blinds, delivered, and installed. We have the lowest priced blinds!

At this point I did not think Mr. Belcore was going to have us do his blinds, but then I showed him the custom made 3 1/2″ solid PVC crown valance with hidden clips. He loved the way it looked and acknowledged the fact that the box blinds from Home Depot and Lowes have a thin, flat plastic peice for a valance. At this point he said “SOLD!” We installed the blinds less than a week later and he is now a true believer in High Country Blinds’ custom made 2″ fauxwood blinds.

There or many more reasons to use Superior Shutters and Blinds for your window covering needs. Just give us a call so you can find out for yourself!

Lowest priced blinds…for real?

Dr. Bola said we had the lowest priced blinds

Does Superior Shutters and Blinds really have the lowest priced custom made 2″ fauxwood blinds in Atlanta?? We say we do, but do we really?? Some of my customers say we do and other potential customers say they found somebody cheaper. I’m not really sure anymore. Everywhere you turn, retailers, the service industry, everyone is saying “We have the lowest prices in town!” As far as blinds go, Compared to Hunter Douglas our prices are super low…but compared to Lowes Basic Blindz (A.K.A. Blinds with a “Z”), our prices may not look so low. You have to weigh out quality, service and overall value. The Hunter Douglas is a great product, the Mercedes Benz of Blinds. The Basic Blindz are kinda like a ’72 Pinto station wagon. The pinto will get you back and forth to work, but people will snicker at you when you drive by. Most of us can’t afford the Benz, but it looks and runs great! Well, we have the closest blind you can get to the Mercedes…in fact, the components in our window blinds come from the same supplier that Hunter Douglas uses. On top of that, we will measure your windows, have everything custom made (width and length) including our solid PVC 3 1/2″ crown valence, can deliver and install in as little as 3 days, and cover it all with a lifetime warranty. So do we really have the lowest prices around? If you are compareing apples to apples, we would say “Yes”, 100% without a doubt…but that’s what they all say, right?

Plantation Blinds or 2″ blinds?

What is the difference between plantation blinds and 2″ blinds? NOTHING! When I first got in the blinds and shutter business I used to tell people, “I don’t have plantation blinds, only plantation shutters.” Wasn’t I a dummy?! Well, since the early days I have realized that there are a lot of different names for 2″ blinds. Plantation blinds are 2″ wood blinds or faux wood blinds. You can also call 2″ fauxwood, fake wood, poly, PVC, PVC foam, and some companies come up with fancy names for their faux blinds so that don’t have to say faux. Our best selling product is 2″ faux wood blinds. They look great and price is right. Wood is great, don’t get me wrong, but if you don’t have to have real wood blinds then faux is the way to go. Our 2″ fauxwood slats are constructed of a dense PVC foam and coated with a hard, yet flexible PVC shell. Our slats also have the highest UV rating in the industry to prevent yellowing in direct sunlight. Along with the other top-of-the-line components that are used to build our blinds, whether you call them plantation blinds or 2″ blinds, you will be happy you used High Country Blinds & Shutters for your custom made blinds.

All Plantation Shutters are NOT created equal!

Over the years we have been approached by many different plantation shutter suppliers trying to sell us their products. We have even searched for shutter suppliers to find the lowest priced shutters.

I have only found one shutter company that I am willing to attach the Superior Shutters and Blinds name to and that is NORMAN SHUTTERS. Norman Shutters are the worlds largest shutter manufacturer and builds the highest quality shutter in the industry, hands down!

We are able to be competitive on pricing, yet there are other local companies who are willing to sacrifice quality to sell products at a lower price.

In spite of the fact that we offer Norman Shutters at the lowest price in Atlanta , there are customers who are willing to sacrifice quality to save a dollar.

Plantation shutters are not the place to sacrifice when it comes to investing in your home!

I could bore you with all of the details about how the shutters are made, such as the engineered stiles, quarter sawn louvers, built in latch magnet, the mortise and tennon joints, and 5 coats of paint with hand sanding between each coat, but I am not gonna do that.

The best thing to do is to see for yourself. If you are in the market for shutters you should shop around a little and look at the details on each shutter, then give us a call so we can show you what the best shutters look like.

Keep in mind that some of the largest, most reputable companies offer Norman Shutters, but I guarantee that we’ll be the lowest on price.

Cellular (or Honeycomb) Shades are the new BIG thing

Well, okay maybe not the new big thing. They have been around for a long, long time. We are now carrying Norman Window Fashions NEW (as of March 2014) Portrait Honeycomb Shades. There is what seems like an unlimited number of styles and options. There are tons of colors as well opacity levels, such as sheer, light filtering, semi-opaque, room darkening, and designer fabrics. There is also our fire retardant fabric (NFPA701 compliant) for those of us with pyromaniac children. There is 3/8″ single, double, and 3/4″ single cell, as well as, Smartrise cordless, top/down bottom up, day/ night, and many more options to choose from.

One of the best things about cellular shades is the insulating value. They trap a lot of air between the shade and the window to assist in keeping your room the desired temperature. Another great thing about Norman Portrait Honeycomb Shades is the fact that they are priced competitively. We are offering a FREE cordless upgrade on all shades to anyone who mentions this article.