Hey guys. I have a 46" wide X 72" tall arched window in my dining room. I bought 2-1/2" faux wood blinds for the window (inside mount), which I'll hang in the top of the rectangular part of the window, leaving the arch open/uncovered. The installation instructions say to use center supports for blinds over 35" wide. In checking online, I see there is a "floating header" that I could install to provide support since I can't use the center supports that came with the blinds. However, most of what I see around the header is for 60"+ wide arched windows.

I know it's a judgement call, but I'm looking for advice on whether or not I should put the extra time and money into getting a floating header, or if my blinds should be ok without center support. I won't be raising and lowering the blinds more than a few times a year- will keep the use to mostly just opening and shutting during the day/ evening (so they will only see light use).

Thanks!

 

Is the upper body of the blinds made out of extruded aluminum or plastic? The aluminum will have a better chance of being able to bridge your gap without the need for the header.

 

I had to call and ask- they said the headrail is made of vinyl.

 

Need more specifics - All Blinds come with a vinyl "cover" that prevents you from seeing the box that stores the mechanisms that work the blinds. So a "headrail" may be referring to something other than the working guts of the unit.

 

If the problem is that you have nothing to mount a center support onto, I bet it would be a very simple matter to install a horizontal piece of trim just below the semicircular window. Then you could use the center support that it came with.

A picture would give us a better idea if that's possible.

 

Ok, here are a few pictures. One is looking inside the headrail/ upper body of the blinds- definitely vinyl on the outside, with a thin sheet of metal on the inside. It doesn't feel too substantial.

I also included a picture of the window from the inside and one from the outside (since my curtains cover part of the arc, it can be hard to get a good picture inside). It's a relatively little arch. I'm not sure how I'd install a piece of trim here. How were you thinking?

 

Oh sorry, that's not at all what I was picturing. I was picturing a half circle (you said arch) where the curved part is actually a separate window stacked on top of the lower one.

 

You can probably support the center with a piece of fishing line, which would be invisible, from the head of the blind to the top of the arch.

 

I believe that the center support is usually "U" shaped with a cap. It would have to have support that was behind the head piece and not from above. If it was me, I would return the plastic bodied one and pick up one that has an aluminum frame that can span your window.