Murray Wood: Who's hot and who's not
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If you’re planning on making some home renovations and getting some new blinds, you might want to make sure the ones you want are still allowed.
On May 1, Health Canada changed its guidelines when it comes to blinds a person find in Canadian stores and online.
“It’s not only dealing with cords that can be unsafe in the home but also small parts that can be a choking hazard if a piece came off of a blind,” said Lisa Millar, owner of Superblinds and Draperies Regina.
But you don’t need to worry if you aren’t replacing your blinds as of now.
“If you purchased blinds 10 years ago and they had a cord on them or they opened from the top down, that’s still totally fine because they were compliant with safety regulations when they were produced,” Millar said. “Going forward, anything that is new coming out into the market today will have to be compliant with these new regulations.”
She said one of the changes is to the cellular shades that open from both the top and bottom.
“A lot of people love that look. That is no longer compliant or safe with Health Canada. What their concern was is if the blind is dropped down from the top of the window, you would have cords exposed at the top of the window,” Millar said.
In order to become compliant with the new rules, she said her company’s supplier, Hunter Douglas, has come out with options for a sheer fabric at the top of the window so all the cords are enclosed inside that.
The standard Venetian blinds will also be subject to these changes.
“Your standard one-inch aluminum Venetians are a thing of the past. All of their wood blinds are changing over to a lift system called spring rise which has to be anchored down to the bottom of the window and if you release it, it goes 100 per cent up the window. No longer will you see the strings that get really long as you raise the blinds up and down,” Millar said.
“Roller blinds which had a cord loop that would be anchored inside the window to be safe are now going to have a sleeve that is on top of that chain to enclose that chain. So it’s not a loop that is ever a problem not only for kids but for pets – just for general safety in the home.”
And while some people might not like these changes, Millar said there have been some positives to the changes when it comes to the styles available.
“We were very concerned about the changes that were going to be coming into place because everyone bucks change a little bit,” Millar said. “But now that we are seeing what they’ve done to move laterally to give alternative options, it’s really breeding a lot of innovation which is coming out with some pretty interesting options and features.
“Whether we like it or not, this is the way things are changing and moving.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is an amended version of this story, correcting the wording of the paragraph regarding Health Canada’s new guidelines.
