I wish I had invented or, rather, brought Paper Shades to market.
Consider…
You just bought or signed the lease on a new home and there are no blinds or shades on the windows. It will take a week or two to buy and install the cheap off-the-shelf junk at the box store, maybe longer if DIY is not your thing. And what if you want expensive truly custom products? That will typically be about a month and even longer for fancier coverings like shutters and drapery.
You say you feel uncomfortable in home with uncovered windows? Feels like unseen eyes are spying on you? It’s creepy at night? Maybe your new nosy neighbor told you that she, too, enjoys “The Big Bang Theory” because your big screen TV is plainly visible through the living room bay window.
What to do?
If you’ve been given an optimistic estimate for delivery, maybe you’ll try to avoid the uncovered windows until your new blinds arrive. But most people will want to cover up. In the old days, one might look no further than a collection of old bed sheets. (Where did you pack those thumbtacks?) Or, you could get creative with newspapers (what are those?) and Scotch tape SEE PHOTO.
Today, you have a much better option. Enter the temporary, self-adhesive pleated paper shade.
Actually, they’ve been around for a couple of decades now, I think. These shades appear, from a distance – OK, a GOOD distance – to be real pleated shades. They “install” with an adhesive strip or your own thumb tacks. And, best of all, they are REALLY cheap! They come in a few different widths but are easily cut with scissors. There’s even a room darkening version. You can raise them and keep them up with included plastic clips. Paper shades are the kind of simple but useful product that you examine and wonder “why didn’t I think of that?”
The down side?
Eventually those pleats will flatten out. The paper will turn brownish with too much sun. Paper will become crinkly if the shades are pushed aside or hastily lifted too often and those clips don’t last very long. The act of lifting and clipping becomes a major annoyance even before the clips wear out. And, they WILL wear out.
The best part of paper shades…
is being able to get your windows covered very quickly and very inexpensively.
So, if I HAD been the person responsible for this simple, innovative, useful & CHEAP product, I would be posting with one hand and hoisting my Margarita with the other while enjoying the breeze on my private beach.