Blinds, Shades, Shutters & Fabrics
The Blind Guy is a family owned business providing blind, shades, shutters and fabrics. Owner, Bob Gross, has the knowledge and experience to help you select the right window treatments for your home or office. Because he does not use sub-contractors or commissioned employees, the installation of your new blinds, shades, shutters or fabrics will be done by the owner - which is important. It means it will be done right. In an age of automated everything and impersonal customer service, The Blind Guy is a throw-back to a time when owners took pride in their work.
Effective Jan. 1, 2023, some energy efficient window coverings will be eligible for a U.S. Federal Tax Credit of up to 30% of the purchase value (up to $1,200). This is part of the Inflation Recovery Act of 2022 signed into law earlier this year. The tax credit will run through 2023. Take advantage of this opportunity to let Uncle Sam help foot the bill for your new Hunter Douglas Architella shades.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – In an effort to reduce the risk of strangulation deaths and serious life-threatening injuries to children from corded window coverings, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) voted today, by a vote of 4 to 0, to approve a new federal safety standard for operating cords on custom window coverings. Custom window coverings include shades, blinds, curtains, drapery or other cord-operated products, created to a consumer’s specifications. The Commission also approved a new federal safety rule that added non-compliant window covering cords to CPSC’s substantial product hazard list.
Young children can quickly and silently become strangled on pull cords, continuous loop cords, inner cords or any other accessible cords longer than 8 inches on window coverings. On average, about nine children under 5 years of age die every year from strangling in window blinds, shades, draperies and other window coverings with cords, according to CPSC’s latest data.
The new rules address the risk of strangulation deaths and injuries to children 8 years old and younger on all types of window cords:
Custom window coverings: The new mandatory consumer product safety standard establishes performance requirements for safe operation of custom window coverings. The products subject to the new standard present an unreasonable risk of injury. Less stringent measures have historically been ineffective in addressing the risk of strangulation. The new rule goes into effect 180 days after publication in the Federal Register.
Stock and custom window coverings: The rule deems the presence of hazardous operating cords and inner cords on stock window coverings, and hazardous inner cords on custom window coverings, to be a substantial product hazard. The new federal safety rule incorporates the most recent voluntary standard developed for window coverings, ANSI/WCMA A100.1 – 2018, American National Standard for Safety of Corded Window Covering Products (ANSI/WCMA-2018). This rule goes into effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register for window covering products manufactured after that date.
CPSC urges consumers to choose cordless window coverings, which are the safest option for children. For more information, visit CPSC’s Window Covering Safety Education Center.
