Durable & practical window treatments

[Peter Z.]

Any recommendations for window treatments? I have vertical blinds in my rentals but I’m tired of the maintenance/repair/clean up after every tenant. Also, with vertical blinds a lot of tenants don’t understand that the blinds need to be in the open position first before bringing the whole stack to one side. I’m curious what other landlords do. Thoughts?

[Dawn P.]

I put white faux-wood 2" horizontal blinds up (Walmart sells a decently priced one by Better Homes and Gardens). I keep a bucket full of the extra slats from when I shorten them to fit, just in case someone breaks one or a dog chews on one. It's been about five years and I've never had to replace or fix one, though.

For small bathroom windows or kitchen windows I put a cheap tension rod up with some curtains that match the room. If they have their own they're welcome to put those up. Every tenant I've had so far just uses what I have.