A window blind is a popular type of window covering that is used to manipulate the light coming into a home or building. Window blinds (Sichtschutz) are also used as a way for people to control the level of privacy in their homes, with many designs allowing you to look out while blocking others from looking in.
There is a lot of variation in the different types of window blinds on the market, with most designs split up into vertical and horizontal categories. When researching window blinds on the Internet, it is also important to note that awnings are considered to be blinds in the United Kingdom, while this is not the case in most other countries. The term window blind is often used generically however, and can be applied to the entire range of window coverings. Some of the most common styles of window blinds include shutters, roller blinds, Roman blinds, vertical blinds, horizontal blinds, and Venetian blinds.

Window blinds can be categorised either by their style or by the materials used in their construction. It is also common practice to categorise window blinds according to their orientation, with the two major categories being vertical and horizontal. Horizontal window blinds use a thin woven ladder system to suspend a network of slats, with a rotating drum used to open and close the slats. In contrast, vertical blinds hang down like a traditional curtain, although they too are arranged in individual slats that can be rotated to manipulate levels of light and shade. Most versions of vertical blinds use a larger slat than that used in horizontal blinds, and have the additional feature of being able to be stacked together like a curtain.

Horizontal blinds are often called slat blinds, and can also be referred to as Persian blinds or horizontal slat blinds. Slat blinds are normally made from a metal or vinyl material, and connected to a string that is used to open and close the blinds. However, horizontal blinds can also be made from different materials, such as stiffened fabric, plastic, and wood. Some of the most common materials used in the construction of window blinds include fabric, wood, faux wood, plastic, metal, and a range of other materials. While window blinds can be easily categorised into either horizontal or vertical products, there are an increasing number of each and wider variation in construction techniques and overall design.