Cordless vs. Corded Blinds: What’s Best for Your Home?

By: Natalie Elmhurst

Updated: 2/5/2024

We all know what corded blinds are. You might never have even thought to add the “corded” descriptor—don’t all blinds have cords?—but with cordless blinds gaining popularity, it’s worthwhile clearly separating the two.

Cordless blinds, along with motorization, are one of the hottest innovations in the window treatment space. But what exactly are cordless blinds, and are they right for you? When it comes to cordless vs. corded blinds, there’s a best type for everyone. In this article, we’ll explore the surprising differences between blinds with and without cords.

What Are Cordless Blinds?

Cordless blinds are just that—cordless. They’re built with the tension mechanism placed within the top or bottom pieces (known as the headrail or the bottom rail, respectively). Like all cordless window treatments, the tension mechanism allows you to adjust your blinds without the use of a cord.

Instead of manipulating your blinds with a cord, you simply lift or pull your shade to your preferred height. Even one-handed!

The built-in tension keeps your window treatment at whichever height you lift or pull your shade. To adjust the slats in your blinds, cordless blinds have an attached wand that allows you to maneuver your slats open and closed. You’ll have the same light control with cordless blinds as you would with conventional blinds.

What’s the Difference Between Corded vs. Cordless Blinds?

Both corded and cordless blinds have the slatted style of light control associated with blinds, rather than the fuller covering of cloth shades.

The difference between corded and cordless is the system that lifts and lowers your blinds. Cordless blinds give you the functionality and style of standard corded blinds, without the inconvenience of loose, dangling (and oftentimes, tangled) cords.

What’s the Big Deal with Some Cords?

We hear you. Your grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles, and everyone else all had corded blinds. Why shouldn’t you? There’s nothing wrong with blinds with cords, but cordless options do offer some very real benefits in terms of safety and aesthetics.

Cordless Blinds Are Safer

Every year, thousands of kids in the U.S. are injured by dangling cords from corded blinds, with some of these resulting in death. Although loose cords may seem benign, they’re one of many dangers hidden in too many homes.

If you have small kids or pets, cordless blinds are an easy upgrade that will make your home safer.

Cordless Blinds Look Better

One of the biggest benefits of blinds without cords is their improved aesthetics. Blinds have a clean, timeless look no matter how they’re positioned. Although cords are designed to be as inconspicuous as possible, there’s no denying that loose cords can detract from the overall aesthetic.

Cordless blinds eliminate dangling cords to give you a sleek, symmetrical look to your blinds. This is one of the main reasons people choose them over corded configurations.

Smart, Motorized Blinds Build Off Cordless Blinds

Selecting cordless options for traditional blinds is a simple upgrade to improve your blinds’ safety and aesthetics, but did you know there’s another option for going cordless that supercharges your blinds? Smart, motorized blinds are one of the hottest trends in home interior design.

In looking at cordless vs. corded blinds, there’s no contest when you level up your cordless blinds to motorized ones. Let’s dig into smart, motorized blinds a bit and see if they’re best for you.

What Are Motorized Blinds?

First off, all motorized blinds are cordless. This means that they enjoy the same safety and aesthetic benefits as manual cordless blinds. Apart from this, however, motorized blinds are on an entirely different level.

Motorized blinds incorporate a small motor in the window treatment that allows you to operate them with the press of a button on a wall switch, remote, or even your smartphone.

Benefits of Motorized Blinds

There’s no doubt that motorized blinds are one of the biggest technological innovations to ever come to window treatments. But what kinds of benefits do motorization bring?

• Convenience: Motorization streamlines the process of adjusting your blinds by only having to press a button or issue a voice command using a smart assistant like Siri or Alexa. With a smartphone, you can even adjust your blinds from anywhere in the world.
• Light and Privacy Management: With home automation, you can use motorization to have your blinds automatically adjust throughout the day to keep them in the perfect position.
• Energy Efficiency: Motorized blinds are great at improving your home’s energy efficiency by helping you make sure they’re in the correct position to block light in summer and retain heat in winter.
• Accessibility and Ease of Use: Motorization makes it easier to operate blinds in hard-to-reach positions or for people with mobility limitations.
• Improved Curb Appeal: Motorized blinds are an investment that improves your home’s value. If you’re looking to sell your home in the future, you may even find that motorization ends up paying for itself.

Cordless Blinds Give You Safety and Style

Corded blinds are a traditional window treatment that many prefer. However, their corded feature doesn’t do well in all spaces. A common issue is long and loosely hanging cords, which can get tangled or create a messy appearance.

They also pose a safety hazard for pets and children. If safety is a priority for smaller family members, cordless blinds are the best option.

If blinds are your preferred window treatment, but cords always seem to get in the way, choose a cordless blind — you’ll get everything you’re looking for from a corded blind, without any of the drawbacks.

Which is better, corded or cordless?

That question is really up to you. If you aren’t concerned about a corded system getting twisted or being in the way, corded is just fine.

Cordless, however, does give you the freedom to use blinds in spaces that might not have done well with simple corded blinds. This could be a room with many windows, as the cords stand out as unsightly, a room with larger windows, or a children’s room where safety is a priority.

If you’re considering cord vs. cordless blinds, keep in mind that cordless blinds can be optimized by adding motorization.

Cordless blinds can be motorized to level up your blinds’ functionality and convenience.

If functionality and ease are your top priorities, motorized cordless blinds are the best option for you. Cordless motorized blinds give you hands-free control with no awkward cords or pulleys, and no need to climb over the furniture — or over the toys in the kids’ rooms — to manually lift your blinds.

Instead, you can adjust them from your phone, tablet, wall switch, or home automation system. Imagine using your blinds every day because you don’t have to walk into that room with tons of windows, then manually maneuver the cords for each. You won’t have to leave cords dangling, creating an unnecessary eyesore (or vacuuming hazard).

Instead, imagine you can effortlessly open or close all the blinds in the entire room at the click of a button... Ah, that feels better.

Durability of Cordless and Corded Blinds

In general, you should expect most blinds to last around ten years or so, depending on how well you care for them. Cordless and motorized blinds, however, will last even longer than corded ones.

Daily wear and tear, along with outright damage, are the most common ways that blinds are damaged. Cordless blinds remove the possibility of something catching on a dangling cord, while motorized blinds ensure that your blinds are never pushed beyond their limits. So cordless blinds should last longer than corded ones, and motorized blinds can last longer still.

Maintenance and Care

Blinds maintenance is essentially identical for cordless and corded blinds (motorized blinds may require the occasional change of batteries, depending on your setup). The real differentiator is seen in the materials your blinds are made of, either real wood or faux wood.

Wood Blinds

• Water and soap will damage wood blinds.
• Wipe slats clean with a dry microfiber cloth or very carefully vacuum dust away using the brush attachment.
• Apply an appropriate wood polish regularly to keep wood blinds healthy and looking great.

Faux Wood Blinds

• Using a wet rag or microfiber cloth with a gentle detergent, wipe away dust and grime. Finish up with a clean damp rag and then dry. You can also carefully vacuum away dust using the brush attachment.

For all types of blinds, you should always repair or replace damaged slats or cords to ensure your blinds don’t get damaged further.

Cordless vs. Corded: How to Decide?

Now that you have a good sense of the differences between cordless and corded blinds, along with motorized options, how do you actually decide? It may help to ask yourself a series of questions to better frame the problem.

• Do you have small kids or pets? If you do, then cordless or motorized blinds are a must. There’s nothing more important than keeping your loved ones safe.
• How important are the aesthetics of your window treatments? Cordless options undoubtedly look better than corded ones.
• How often will you be adjusting your blinds each day over the coming years? You’ll be using your custom blinds a lot for many years to come. Thinking of it this way may make motorized blinds seem like a better investment.
• Will you be selling your house in the future? Cordless and motorized blinds improve your home’s value. Spending more now can bring greater returns later.

Shop Stoneside for the Best Blinds for Your Home

Hopefully, you now have a good understanding of the pros and cons of cordless vs. corded blinds. If it’s time to replace your window treatments or you’re shopping for a new home, buying the best blinds you can afford is a worthy investment. Stoneside carries an expansive range of custom blinds in different materials, colors, and designs. Schedule a free design consultation with us today and let us help you find the best blinds you’ve ever owned.