Outdoor blinds are an increasingly popular fixture which allows you to enjoy your outdoor living areas more than ever before. Not only do they keep the hot sun out in summer, but they can also keep more heat in during winter. If you have been considering outdoor blinds, then you have probably run into the problem many people do: how do you match them to your home? They can be large, quite bulky attachments, and making sure they don't detract from the view and design of your home is key to having a desirable outdoor living space. Here are some tips that will help you achieve a simple but tasteful look.

Camouflage

One way to camouflage your outdoor blinds is choosing the same shade and colour as the supporting structure they will be attached to. For example, if the frame is black, then getting black outdoor blinds will mean that when they are rolled up, they will be virtually invisible. Outdoor blinds come in all shapes, sizes and colours, which means that if you look hard enough, you can find the right colour to match any design. These are intended to be primarily functional fixtures, not artistic, so don't go too crazy on the colour palette. 

Alcove

Another way to keep your outdoor blinds secret when they are not deployed is by building a little nook for them to be hidden away in. After your outdoor blinds are attached, you can simply get a carpenter to make you some extra pieces of timber that enclose the blinds, while allowing a small gap for when they need to be lowered. This will also protect the blind from rain, hail and shine when they are not in use. Giving them a small shelter, therefore, works both aesthetically and as part of your premature aging protection. 

Contrast

Another way to blend your outdoor blinds into the design of your home is to make them part of a pattern or facade in a more obvious way. By contrasting the colour of your outdoor blinds with the house behind it, it becomes obvious you are going for a stylistic choice, rather than an accident. For example, pristine white outdoor blinds really pop when they have a darker base. On the other hand, going for grey outdoor blinds against a black frame just looks wrong, because it seems like you made a mistake in your choice rather than a conscious decision. If you are going to try and make your outdoor blinds unique and different to the rest of your house, then go all out rather than just choosing shades of the base colours. 

Contact a company that sells outdoor blinds for additional advice.