If you happen to live in a sunny climate, you no doubt enjoy soaking up the vitamin D when sitting out by the pool or hiking your local environs. What you don’t necessarily want is solar rays streaming into your home all day – creating a glare, warming your interior to an uncomfortable temperature, and fading your furniture and carpeting near the windows.
The good news is, there’s a window treatment for that. Solar shades are not only an attractive addition to your home décor; they’re also a great way to combat the negative effects of the sun indoors. Of course, you might be worried about whether these shades can offer you the privacy and light control you prefer in your home. Here’s what you should know about the options available to you when you install solar shades.
Privacy
There’s a wide range of solar shades available, offering varying levels of privacy, so you can find the product that’s perfect for your home and your needs. Because solar shades are designed to block harmful solar rays without blocking your view, they’re not totally opaque, which means you won’t enjoy the full privacy of, say, blackout shades or closed shutters.
However, you can set the level of privacy, to a degree, based on the relative transparency you choose. Solar shades come in a woven, vinyl mesh material that delivers varying degrees of openness in the weave, ranging from about 1-10%, depending on the manufacturer, with higher numbers denoting looser weave (and therefore, greater transparency). This not only affects your privacy, but also your view.
Just remember, if you love an open view during the day but want increased privacy at night, for example, you can always pair solar shades with other window treatments like drapes, horizontal blinds, or even vertical blinds to get the best of both worlds where function is concerned, and add depth and visual interest to your décor.
Light Control
When it comes to window treatments, privacy is often a major concern, but light control is a close second. Any window covering is going to diminish the light coming in to some degree, and with solar shades, the product you choose makes a difference.
Again, you’ll want to pay attention to the weave. As you can imagine, a tighter weave is going to reduce the natural light filtering in and impact your view outside more than a looser weave. However, all solar shades are designed to protect your home from harmful solar rays that will heat your home interior and impact your energy efficiency.
Adding a secondary window treatment can help with light control, as well as privacy concerns. Layered window treatments not only look fantastic, but they give you options to select your level of privacy and light control throughout the day, ensuring that your home remains comfortable and meets your preferences at any given time.
If you’re interested in the many benefits to be gained by installing solar shades, don’t hesitate to partner with the window treatment specialists at The Blinds Side today by calling 410-630-6940 or emailing [email protected].