Has anyone updated them successfully? A reader is changing the colors of her living room and the existing vertical blinds won't match. Since they're custom made she wants to update them. Can you do it? Do they sell just the panels so you can replace them? Or can the panels be changed? 

Thanks for any advice!  

Pat, I beleive you can paint vertical blinds but to be sure I would either ask at lowe's or home depot about it you can also do a google search for vertical blinds and there are a lot of ideas for vertical blinds there hope this helps a little.

 There were vertical blinds when I moved in here that were covered in a sort of plastic sleeve. They had put wallpaper in it and it looked pretty good. I know it was wallpaper because I found the rest of the roll. I don't know if they're all made that way or not. I tried to change it, but made a mess of it, so there has to be some trick to it. I'm not fond of vertical blinds so I got rid of them and put up curtains. 

I just did a google search for "96 inch long vertical blind panels" and got a lot of hits, including blindsanddrapery.com, which seems to have 96 in. panels.

96 in (as opposed to 95) is a standard drapery length. 

You can try all the places that came up in the google search and, I don't know if this was listed, but JC Penney CATALOG (jcp.com; NOT THE STORE) has made to measure window coverings of all kinds, including verticals.

 If you decide to try painting them, be sure to use paint that is suitable for the panel material, eg, fabric paint for fabric, plastic paint for vinyl, etc.  If you can't find them, go to a good size craft store or search online.

Good luck.

Lowe's and probably Home Depot sells just the slats in different colors and textures. I just redid mine in a tan with a (tan) leaf print. It looks great with my new wall paint job. They didn't cost that much and took only a few minutes to change out. Cost will depend on length and style of course, but it is a great update for a lowish cost.

 Yes you can get extra vertical slats from home depot. A better more "STYLISH" way to do it would be to take them to a local interior decoratorand have him "cover them" or laminate them in your favorite fabric. This is not the cheap way, but it is the best looking way. The verticals from Home depot are really cheap and weak.

www.1callinteriors.com