Last summer when I redecorated the dining room, I installed IKEA FYRTUR smart blinds in the two west facing windows.
One of those blinds had been a source of embarrassment until just recently.
The blinds are hidden behind the valences and totally invisible when they are open. I programmed them to close an hour before sunset and open again at sunset so that my wife & daughter could eat dinner without being blinded. ^
I mounted the brackets on the wall above the window trim so they could be on a flat surface.
The left window has been problem free, but the right…..
The right blind has been problematic. The blind motor works just fine, but the blind itself keeps getting tangled on itself and either not coming down at all or coming down crooked because one side was caught on something.
I did a bit of investigating and figured out that the right corner of the blind was getting caught in the window casing.
Rather than retrim the windows, rather than remove the blinds, I found a nearly zero dollar*, ten-minute fix.
I removed the blind & two mounting brackets.
I re-installed the brackets with four washers between each bracket and wall. This moved the blind forward just enough (the thickness of two washers, maybe 1/8”) that it no longer catches the window casing. It still sits behind the valence perfectly though.
This is the second house I’ve lived in with a west facing dining room. Trust me when I say you never want to have a west facing dining room.
^The blinds also close for one minute in the morning to give me an audible & visual reminder to get in the car so I can get to work on time.
*For me it was a zero dollar fix, I pulled the washers out of my hardware organizer. If I had to buy the washers it would have been about two dollars for eight 1/4” washers.
Modern Anachronist 