Dilemma,vertical or horizontal ?

Never had wooden blinds but I do have wooden shutters and would never go back to curtains or blinds of any description. A bit of an expensive outlay initially but you'll never need to do them again, they're maintenance free and dead easy to clean.

I have had vertical, I have had venetian, I have had curtsins, roller blinds and now the creme de la creme, wooden plantation shutters. I would never ever go back to anything else. Best bet for a price is to get in touch with a company that sells them

So many window coverings but that was over a span of 50 years including times when we could only afford the cheap stuff. Seriously wooden shutters are wonderful, insulating as well as so versatile. If you cannot afford shutters then have a look at perfect fit honeycomb blinds

I'm another vote for Shutters if your budget can stretch that far. I love the look and they are very functional too.

Never vertical. You will look like the dentist’s. We have real wood horizontal blinds. We didn’t buy them. They were left when we moved in as they were bespoke .

Wooden shutters. They look fabulous

I had white wooden blinds before but they were a pain to clean so I changed to plantation shutters. The blinds were much cheaper but without knowing your window sizes etc no one could tell you the price. I have large windows and plenty of them and plantation shutters cost me several thousand.

Definitely not vertical. Got them and hated them. Imo the only advantage is they are easy to keep clean. I wasn't sure about shutters as my rooms are small and I thought they might make them look even smaller so I got narrow venetian and ditched the nearly new vertical. I use a large feather duster a couple of times a week. Doesn't take long.

Vertical blinds look ok in an office. Make you home more homely with horizontal blinds, such as roller blinds or Roman blinds or curtains.

Definitely plantation shutters. We have them throughout the house, a quick dust every now and again , look clean, fresh and modern. Would never go back to blinds they bend too easily when cleaning if not careful, the strings get dirty and can break whereas the shutters are firm and robust. Ours were much cheaper from a small local firm than we were quoted by the big boys. They can be folded back for a wide open window look which you can't do with blinds, they can be tilted downwards to filter bright sunlight and upwards for total privacy with filtered light.
We have large Georgian windows so some are split so that top can be folded open while bottom remains closed.
They were more expensive than blinds but will last much longer.
Our son has wooden slat blinds, they too look lovely and are robust for cleaning but have the disadvantage of strings and cords attracting dirt and potential to break as mentioned above.

On dear. These plantation shutters sound fabulous but I look to be the only one with vertical plastic blinds.
Practical and easy to just dust (rarely). They get a wipe once a year. Open up on a lovely day.
I've never felt like I was in a dentist's waiting room ?

Nibbie, bear in mind that wooden Venetian blinds can be very bulky when pulled up because wooden slats are thicker than metal. If they are fitted inside the recess, the extra bulk can cut down considerably on light let into the room.

Coolgran, I like verticals too.

Coolgran I know lots of people who like vertical. I just didnt like the view from vertical slats. You had to tilt them depending on which direction you were looking.
I have someone who takes my blinds away and cleans them including cords.

I've got made to measure honeycomb blinds on the french doors and small windows at each side in my lounge. Although the lounge faces the garden it is southfacing and therefore the sun could fade the carpet and furniture in the room if it was not filtered.
I went for these blinds as they would not impede access to the garden as ordinary vertical blinds would do. I think they were probably dearer than vertical blinds but much cheaper than wooden plantation shutters.
In my previous house I had a Luxaflex blind installed in my kitchen. That blind could remain down but could be tilted so that you could look out but no-one could look in. At the time of installation (12 years ago) it was dearer than having a custom made austrian blind.
I hope that this information helps.

I have had two wooden Venetian blinds they look wonderful, but cleaning them is a nightmare, I couldn’t face the whole house to do. Found the plantation blind cost too expensive I have big windows, have a very light off white Vertical Blinds, they are so easy, I get total privacy but the light as well, I do agree that offices have verticals and it did concern me, as some look very industrial. I have done the best I can with large windows to get the privacy I want.

Vertical are awful, they remind me of being in an office. Horizontal every time.