Windows Privacy

David Brooks asked:


Sounds obvious enough, right? And, in a way it is. I have seen many beautiful examples and many not-so-beautiful examples. The trick is to match up the decorating themes of a given room with the appropriate window treatment. The other choices are color, insulating properties, light control and privacy. By the way, I take window treatments to mean almost any window covering: blinds, shades, shutters and drapes. There doesn’t seem to be much consensus on what a window treatment is so I am taking the broadest definition.

Choosing the right blinds and shades can get a little more complicated than these few choices. For example there are motorized blinds, cordless, valance options, wand control and more. But for the purposes of this article I will stick mostly to the major themes as mentioned above. Once you have chosen the appropriate blind, shade, shutter or drape, you can decide if you want to add any of the convenience options offered by the manufacturer.

First, let’s lay out the main choices. In the window blinds category you have mini blinds, plantation shutters, vertical blinds, wood and faux wood blinds and finally, panel track blinds. In the window shades category you have roller shades, sheer shades, pleated shades, woven wood shades (also known as bamboo shades), roman shades, cellular shades and solar shades (also called solar screens). Then there are drapes. The drapes category can be huge depending on how you choose to categorize them. But for the purposes of this article I will label them as custom and pre-made. Custom drapes are made-to-order drapes cut to the appropriate size of your window and usually with a built in 2 to 1 fullness. These are generally higher quality and made from a variety fabrics from silk to cotton. Made-to-order drapes are generally less expensive and can be picked up at many major retailers.

Segregating by room type, here are my recommendations. For kitchens, faux wood shutters and faux wood blinds are often an excellent choice. They often match up well with wood cabinets and can withstand the often hot and humid environments of kitchens. This is also true for bathrooms. But, other choices for bathrooms would be pleated shades, which you can think of as the non-insulating version of cellular shades. The nice thing about pleated shades for bathrooms is they pair well with the top down/bottom up feature which is excellent for privacy. Less expensive options for these kinds of rooms would be mini blinds, woven woods or roman shades. Mini blinds are a better choice for rooms with a more modern décor whereas wood finishes are best with wood-type decors. A simple rule of thumb is to match your window treatments with the overriding color and materials of the room: wood with wood, fabric with fabric, metal with metal and all in complimentary colors.

For living rooms and family rooms, the choices are pretty wide open. For large windows, like sliding doors, vertical blinds are an easy choice but don’t overlook panel track blinds. Don’t forget that vertical blinds come in more than just vinyl; they also come in faux wood, fabric, cellular and aluminum. Plantation shutters, though expensive, are a time-honored window covering choice. You almost can’t go wrong with these, unless your house is very modern and contemporary. In that case, I would recommend aluminum mini blinds or vertical blinds.

For bedrooms, privacy and light control are usually the big factor. So, I would look into roller shades, cellular or pleated shades with a blackout liner, or woven woods and roman shades, again with a liner. The one you choose will depend on the overall décor of your room. If you want more insulating properties from you shades, go with the cellular option.

For dining rooms, I would recommend drapes or maybe roman or woven wood shades. If you like the roman shades, consider the pleated or tear-drop option for a more luxurious appearance.

For rooms with views and lots of sunlight, consider solar shades. These come in various levels of opacity, i.e. how much light they block. The nice thing about solar screens is you can still see out of your windows with out as much solar heat build-up as well as a greater level of privacy from the street view.



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Getar asked:


Taking care of a house is something that most people love to do. Different accessories and things that you can add to any room in order to give an extra presence and to help make it look better. Curtains are essential for any room, also, far more than a functional bits and pieces used to block light and endow solitude. Curtains are a form of window treatment and complete overall appearance of the house. These are also known as “draperies” in the US which is a piece of cloth intended to block or secure light, or drafts or water in the case of a shower curtain.

What are the curtain fabrics available in the market?

Curtains are used to give an aesthetical appeal for a room. An elegant one greatly increases the aesthetics of a room and gives an opulent look. If one cannot modishly work out for a good kind of curtain, a dirty and ill matched curtain curtains may give a room gloomy. The choice of curtains then should be given an utmost consideration. Depending on the purpose of which the curtains are being installed, fabric curtains, as the most popular window treatments may be opt to a light fabric or heavier drape, each with a differing degree of light and absorption and heat insulating qualities. Selection should also depend on the colour of the room, privacy required, how hot or cold upon want it to be and the art of light you prefer entering your room.

A wide range of fabric can be chosen when making your own curtain. A sheer or net curtain is made of translucent fabric which allows of light to be transmitted, providing a basic level of UV of protection. These are sometimes referred to as privacy curtains as during the day will allow people inside the home to see the outside view whilst preventing people outside the home from seeing directly into home. Uncoated fabrics are tightly woven fabric which is mostly opaque and provide a reasonable level of heat insulation due to tight weave fabric. Uncoated fabrics then when closed attempts to block out direct sunlight, light will still are visible through the curtain. The coated fabrics are coated with a liquefied ruber polymer in a single coat to an uncoated fabric. This fabric is considered a one pass coated fabric, often referred to as dim-out because of its ability to absorb 50-70% of a direct light source. Other parameters in choosing fabric curtains are the size of the room, the shape of the window and the colour and upholstery of the furniture.

For formal rooms, the use of fabrics like, brocade, damask, faille, silk, velvet or velveteen is recommended. If it is for informal room, you must choose from boucle, chintz, sateen, linen and sheeting. For casual, you can go with broadcloth, burlap, canvas, corduroy, denim, muslin, poplin suede cloth or tweed.

How about home-made curtains?

Curtains are used now in many homes or business to make a trend statement or to add a bit of stylish to the environment. They are regarded as decorative utility products which change the look of a room and give an expression of the room, a frame of mind. But as per requirements, curtains can be expensive and may seem not available in the market easily. In this case, home-made curtains are an advantage allowing you t splash out on more expensive curtains especially if one is very skilled and puts on a professional finish to them. You should visit craft and fabric shops to pick out the material preferred for your curtains and search for designer versions and start making your own. You can tailor the curtains to your exact requirements and will have a good option to customize them by using accessories (tie-backs, pelmets, cushion covers).

Other considerations:

A thought should be given on safety for floor length curtains when pets and children are present in the house. Make sure of your window measurement. You must decide on the length of the curtain, sill length, below sill length of floor length. The weight of the fabric will also determine the thickness of the pole.

Lining the curtains can protect it from damage due to dust, sunlight and in insulating the room.

Sunlight considerations:

- Use lined window treatments, blinds or shades to protect fabrics as dark colored fabric are light and fade

- Acetate often is blended with silk or cotton to make it more resistant.

- Consider professionally installed film to diminish the damaging effects of the ultraviolet rays.

Washing curtains:

- Don’t’ forget to check the label for washing instructions before laundering ready-made curtains. Hooks, rings and hardware should be removed if curtains are washable.

- Machine wash on a short gentle cycle using cool water and mild detergent must be used.

-Iron on the reverse side. Take care not to break the stitching and reattach metal hardware only after the curtains are dry.



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Lee Dobbins asked:


How you dress your windows is an important piece of your overall design and a lot of thought should go into the style and fabric used for your bedroom window treatments.

How do you know which window treatment is right in your bedroom?

There are 3 basic types of window treatments that can be used alone or in combinations. Here’s some tips on these basic types and what style of room you might choose them for.

Curtains and Drapes

Curtains and drapes are a style of window treatment that most of us can recognize but there’s many variations on this old standby. If your bedroom design is simple, you might choose just plain sheers as these will go well with many themes including a romantic theme, a modern theme and anything in between.

Valances can be used to soften the top of the window. They are great if you don’t want to cover up a great view but also don’t want the window to look too bare. Typically valances are made from fabric but you can build them form wood and decorate them with an aged or stencilled paint to go with your Tuscan or French country design. Fabric valances can go with almost any bedroom decorating theme depending on the fabric you choose and can be used in conjunction with sheers to give you a bit of privacy.

Drapes are an elegant bedroom window treatment. If you have a romantic, French or Victorian theme some heavy drapes in rich fabrics can transform your bedroom into one fit for a queen. Heavy drapes look best on tall windows, but if you short squatty windows like most homes built in the 60’s - 80’s don’t let that deter you from using great drapes. You can always just keep them closed to hide the window behind and no one will ever know the difference!

Wooden Shutters and Blinds

Indoor wooden window blinds are a great way to add privacy to your bedroom and can be used alone or with curtains, drapes or valances.

There are 2 styles of shutters - plantation shutters and café shutters.

Plantation shutters cover the whole window and have louvers which can be opened and closed to let light in or provide privacy. These shutters go great with a plantation style look, a country look or a coastal cottage look.

The café shutters are the kind that cover only the bottom half of the window and swing open to let light in. These also look nice in a country or beach style bedroom and are perfect for a Paris apartment style as well.

Fabric Blinds

Fabric blinds add a nice touch to any bedroom and can be decorated and embellished with whatever you want. Fringe, pom-poms and ribbon are just a few of the great ways to make these bedroom window treatments stand out.

Roman blinds work well for childrens rooms and informal styles such as cottage or beach style decor. These shades fold up to expose the window during the day and roll down at night.

Festoon blinds are puffy with lots of fabric. They are quite ornate and work best in a romantic style bedroom such as a Victorian, French or Italian motif. Festoon blinds look best on wide windows and might not be good for small rooms as they can tend to be a bit overwhelming.



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Muna wa Wanjiru asked:


We tend to look at windows as being only decorative fixtures to our homes. Many of us therefore forget that these windows play a larger part in our lives. The first way is by the privacy we have as a result of these windows. The next part is the amount of weather protection our homes receive from these windows. While there are many methods that you can use to provide these factors the one that is gaining popularity is that of window tinting.

The first glance you have of these types of windows and you are probably thinking about the expenses that are involved. The second is that your home will lose its attractive looks. To both of these ideas window tinting has solutions that you will find to be quite reasonable. You will however need to see the best way of applying these ideas and solutions to your home.

The most common way to get quick yet practical results for window tinting is by applying a tinted film over the windows that you want. By applying this tint you not only reduce the amount of glare that is entering into your home but you provide your home with a layer of thermal insulation which is very welcome during the winter season.

When you are looking for the tinting film which is used in window tinting you will discover a wide range of tints. The most commonly used ones are frosted window tinting which provides your windows with a translucent look.

Dark window tinting is used mainly to provide a high degree of security and privacy to homes as well as businesses. Meanwhile bronze window tinting film is used to give soft lighting in areas where you need light but not sharp light.

There are window tinting films which can be used for summer time purposes. This purpose may be as mundane as keeping your home cool from the heat of the summer days. The tinting which needs to be used for this purpose is that of reflective tinting. Besides all of these well known window tints you will also find another useful one. This is a low-E coating window tint.

When you are looking for ways to reduce the glare of the day and prevent high bills in winter and summer there are many techniques that you can try out. For all of these needs and your privacy as well you will find that window tinting is the best answer.



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