Tips For Elegant Bay Window Treatments

If you can, try to install your hardware as close to the ceiling as possible and don’t forget to use a valance to mask the rails. In case of bay windows, treatments that touch the floor such as vertical blinds or curtains and draperies will create a dramatic effect when fully shut, especially if you get some extra fabric to use it for decorative pillows or a table cloth, or at least a few napkins. Although you can make your own window shades without needing special skills, in case of bay windows you’d better address to a specialist installer, so you can be sure they’d be a perfect fit. Otherwise, you could easily spoil the effect, if your shades would hang unevenly at your windows. Bad measurements for window blinds are very easy to take and mistakes are costly to correct after your blinds have been produced.

When it comes to bay window treatments, try to avoid vertical blinds. There are two reasons for this. The first one is that verticals look very formal, office-style, so they can’t help you in giving your home that personal touch that makes great interiors. The second reason is that because of the bay windows architecture, such blinds may be difficult to operate and get tangled.

Pairing bay window treatments allows for more creativity. Consider, for instance, installing shades paired with panels, or sheer curtains paired with thick, heavy drapes. Bay window shutters are beautiful when used without any additional treatment, but you can consider pairing them with see-through shades.

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Roller Shutters vs. Plantation Shutters

While exterior roller shutters can successfully serve as security or storm shutters, we can’t say the same about plantation shutters, which are rather suitable for areas where the weather is calm and hot. Some people even mount their plantation shutters instead of glass window panes, so you can imagine they aren’t so protective in case of strong winds or stormy weather.

Roller shutters, on the other hand, are extremely solid, sturdy, and suitable for offering security to your home, even when you’re out for vacation. They are usually installed on the exterior of the windows and they can be operated from the inside via an endless cord or a remote controlled motor attached to the shutter.

Plantation shutters can’t offer complete blackout, because of the way they are designed. The central rod allows the slats to tilt, but not completely, therefore there will always be some light entering the room through these slats. On the contrary, when completely closed, exterior roller shutters will offer total darkness, so you can enjoy your home cinema system or you can take an afternoon nap as if it was midnight.

What you need to know if you have arched windows: plantation shutters may be much more appropriate for such shapes, because they are more versatile and can be cut to rounded shapes. Roller shutters are more difficult in this respect, because they need to be rectangular, as they have to roll in the upper cassette, therefore your arched windows won’t be visible from the side where the roller cassette is installed, be it in the interior or on the exterior of the building.

Therefore, when choosing the type of window shutters, make a list with all your priorities, then see which ones are more important. If you have arched windows, you’ll probably want them to be visible, so you’ll have to discuss your available options with the window treatments specialists.

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As many renovated old homes feature arch window, blinds of all colors and shapes started to become available on the market from the most important manufacturers. Arch window blinds and shutters can be of two types: operable and non-operable. Operable means that you can open and close them, in order to have light filtering and privacy control. Non-operable arch window coverings are fixed, with the slats already positioned in a certain angle.

Here are a few examples that made me wish I had special windows and not the classic, rectangular ones.

Hunter Douglas Duette Honeycomb Arch Window Blinds: these blinds are made of fabric, with pleat sizes available of 3/8”, ¾” or 1 ¼”, in either single, double or triple honeycomb, depending on the degree of thermal insulation you need and on the budget you have. The triple honeycomb features three air pockets, thus offering a high degree of energy-efficiency. The privacy and light control can be selected from sheer to opaque, with three more intermediary options. EasyView Arch and Bridgeway are the two brands of arch window blinds you can choose from.

Hunter Douglas Vertical Blinds for Arches, Bay and Rounded Windows: here you have multiple choices, but I think the most elegant of all is the Crosswinds wood vertical blind solution, featuring slats made of basswood. The Bridgeway specialty shapes belong to the Hunter Douglas Custom Shutter Collection and they are specially designed to cover arches eyebrow and circle windows. Elegant and functional, versatile and durable, these shutters are in the premium price segment, but they are surely worth all the money. Beware, though, if you think of buying some, that you can only use them for interior, because they don’t resist to dust or mud.

Arch windows are stylish and impressive, however, you need more money to buy arch window blinds than common ones.

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The Role And Structure Of Plantation Shutters

Plantation shutters have a double role: to keep shadow and to let the air flow freely between inside and outside, therefore contributing to a cool environment. In order to be able to shut them in colder days, plantation shutters feature a rod in the middle, which can be used to rotate the slats from open to closed position. The traditional material of plantation shutters is wood, be it hardwood or basswood. Most manufacturers carefully select the hardwood they use, in order to make sure there is no resin in the wood that may attack the finish. However, there are also cheaper alternatives such as composite materials, vinyl, faux wood or plastic, which have the advantage of being easier to clean than wood. Besides, such materials help saving the forests, and such plantation shutters can be used even in bathrooms or in areas with intense sunlight, as they aren’t as prone to get warped or cracked like wooden shutters do. I’ve seen somewhere on the internet a company from Texas, Sewell Shutters, that offered solid poly shutters which they were calling ThermoWood Shutters, claiming them to be recyclable, non-toxic and environmentally-friendly. They were also very proud of their extrusion technology which enabled them to produce consistent profiles.

Most modern plantation shutters can be made of MDF, which stands for Medium density fiberboard, and which features an extremely durable finish that can resist to high humidity, hot sun rays, yellowing, denting, staining or scratching. This is the material which is used for manufacturing bathroom furniture, as it’s very resistant to those conditions.

Although plantation shutters allow air to circulate, sometimes it may be necessary that they can be wide open, therefore they are usually hinged.

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First of all, let’s define total darkness: are we talking about a complete blackout or only a very dark room for taking a comfortable afternoon nap? Complete blackout window treatments may be required in case you want to use a projector for home cinema purposes, or in offices where you project presentations on screen or directly on a white wall. Cheaper projectors lose their efficiency in case the darkness is not complete, so the screen becomes less visible. Stronger projectors can cope with a little bit of light, but you’d have to pay a lot more to buy such a projector, so you’d better change the window coverings instead.

Back to our roller blinds and to the question we try to give an answer to: roller blinds can be customized in such a way as to ensure enough darkness for sleeping, or even for home cinema, but if they aren’t an exact fit, they’d let some light pass through the edges. In my view, the best solution to go really dark are exterior shutters made of wood, faux wood or metal. The vinyl ones could be good, too.

Maybe the best idea would be to discuss this issue with a specialist in window coverings. Each big manufacturer of blinds, shades and shutters give free consultancy services to their potential customers. Besides, these manufacturers may have their own materials and technologies for manufacturing their products, therefore I wouldn’t be surprised to discover that I’m wrong and that a roller blind can be perfect for darkening a room.

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When windows break, another phenomenon happens: wind gets inside the rooms, it accumulated pressure, then it has to get out, thus putting a lot of pressure on the doors and on the roof itself. This is a simple explanation of how roofs can be taken by the wind during powerful storms. If you want, you could say that your roof was torn from the house because you didn’t think to install storm shutters at your windows.

Storm Shutters Types

Bahama hurricane shutters: they are fixed permanently to the windows and they prop open. When preparing for the storm, the home owner only needs to lower the shutters and secure them to the wall. They have the great advantage of being easily made storm-ready, but they block light to enter your rooms even when they are open. Some people may like that, some others may not.

Roll-down storm shutters: as the name says, these shutters are rolling in a case placed above the window, when not in use. These shutters have two possibilities of getting lowered, either with a manual crank or automatically, by pushing a button which operates a small motor. They are very convenient because they are permanently attached to the windows, thus not needing storage space when not in use. They offer very good protection to both storms and burglars, but they are more expensive than other types of storm shutters, therefore not all people can afford them.

Colonial hurricane shutters: made of two separate parts, they attach on the house wall, on both sides of the windows. They fold together for storm protection. They are easy to use and very decorative. Some models require a center storm rod to lock them in place, therefore increasing the storm preparation time.

Storm panel shutters: these are the simplest and the cheapest storm protection means for windows and doors. Made of steel or aluminum, these panels attach to the walls on bolts or on tracks, thus covering the windows and doors. They offer solid protection, but you need to allocate some storage space for them when not in use. Another drawback is that a single person cannot handle them, so hanging them requires two people and longer storm preparation time.

Homeowners who can’t buy storm shutters, but are exposed to hurricanes use plywood hurricane shutters, despite the fact that these systems are not meeting most building regulations. Plywood shutters need a very long installation time, so one has to be prepared to work a lot when a storm is announced. However, they are many times cheaper than regular storm shutters and there are people who live on tight budgets.

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Exterior Shutters Types

The most common and oldest type of exterior shutters are the ones that glide towards sides on screws or shutter spikes. Such shutters can be hollow or solid and they can be made of wood or composite materials, fiberglass, aluminum or polymer vinyl. While for so many years wood was the only material used for window shutters, it got rotten with time and heavy rains, and needed either re-pain or total replacement every couple of years, modern exterior shutters can last for a lifetime, because these new materials are very resistant to bad weather conditions.

The hardware is very important at this type of shutters, because it needs to be very strong, while being elegant in the same time. The hand-forged shutter hardware is very appreciated in this respect, because it has all these qualities. When finished in the traditional matte-black finish, this hardware can give a vintage look to a modern house. If your windows are standard size, you can buy ready-made exterior shutters from Home Depot or other home and garden stores.

This type of shutters offers some protection and security, but they can be broken if thieves insist a bit more.

The modern type of window coverings are the exterior roller shutters, which roll in a special case placed at the upper edge of the window. Rolling shutters are very efficient in blocking the wind pressure and any airborne debris which can hit your windows during hurricanes. They also offer a good security protection, being quite hard to break when rolled all the way down.

Exterior roller shutters offer a good control over the sun and light, being also known as good insulators, thus helping you save money on your electricity bills, both in winter and in summer, when you need to use the air conditioned a lot.

These exterior shutters can be operated manually, with the help of a special chord and a crank, or electrically, with a small motor encapsulated inside.

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