How To Choose Between Plantation Shutters, Window Blinds, And Window Shades In Cincinnati

Blinds, Shutters, and shades–oh my! The range of distinct window treatments available might feel overwhelming when you have to select one for your Cincinnati interior. Knowing the differences between each variety will help you decide which products will function and look best on the windows you are covering. We can help by exploring the advantages, disadvantages, and best uses of interior shutters, window shades, and window blinds in Cincinnati.

The Pros And Cons Of Louvered Shutters

Plantation shutters are built from hardwood or faux wood and go inside your property where they affix permanently to your window with the product’s frame attached to the window frame. Hinged panels on the inside of the frame open up for full sunshine and a clear view or shut tightly to encompass your window for a darker and private space. Whenever the panels are closed, you are also able to turn the rows of louvers for some sunlight and manipulate them to divert light where you want it.

The Pros

Louvered shutters stand out from other window treatments due to their specialized design. Along with their unmistakable look, they also provide several incredible benefits for Cincinnati homes:

• Give your home beautiful architectural style

• Available in neutral tones to match your design at the moment and down the road if you redecorate

• Give You total privacy and near-total darkness when closed

• Open easily for light and a view

• Fit any specialty shaped window like arches and angles

• Redirect glare with the slats

• Easy to dust off

• Provide superior energy efficiency

• A permanent feature that increases your Cincinnati property’s value

• Many personalization choices to design the appearance you would like while meeting your specific requirements

Along with these advantages, faux-wood Polywood® shutters have their own notable assets: 

• Unsurpassed durability with resistance to damage due to cold, heat, humidity, and UV rays

• Never experiences bending, cracking, or chipping

• Innovative weather sealing for impressive energy efficiency and lower utility bills

Actually, Polywood shutters are able to do anything you ask a window covering to accomplish, from upgrading your window’s style to obstructing cold drafts and damaging sun rays. And they operate and look just as nice decades later as the date you installed them.

The Cons

Louvered shutters’ one disadvantage is that they are only available in neutral tints. Although their versatile coloration goes with all types of designs, you’ll need to settle for window shades or blinds if you are determined to install colorful or patterned window treatments.

How To Use Louvered Shutters

You can use plantation shutters on any window in your Cincinnati property. Customized shutters fit every type, size, and shape of window without forgoing functionality. Put them on circular, triangular, and French door windows just as effortlessly as standard windows.

You are also able to position Polywood shutters in any room. Use them for their resilience and energy efficiency in damp bathrooms, chilly attic dormers, or sunny rooms. Shutters also make sense in high-traffic areas and children’s rooms as they don’t have cords that pose a safety risk.

The Pros And Cons Of Window Shades

Window shades come in various differing styles, but, for the most part, all feature a piece of fabric hung above your window. You typically pull the material down or up to enclose and uncover your window through the bottom pull bar or corded mechanism, but you are able to locate motorized shades as well.

Window shades don’t feature slats to manage illumination and privacy, but more transparent or more freely woven fiber shades are able to permit light into darkened spaces while blocking the sightline into your home. Or you might utilize top-down/bottom-up options that let you open up the top of your window for sunlight while maintaining your privacy at the bottom.

The Pros

Cincinnati homeowners prefer window shades mainly because they come in various styles, colors, and materials. You’ll find shades with common colors and vibrant hues, one color or dramatic patterns, see-through or blackout types, fabric with pleats or natural fibers, and many additional possibilities. If you’re looking for a stylish focal point when overhauling a space, window shades in just the right color or material can enhance your decor and encompass your windows.

The differing window shade styles have their own advantages too. Roller shades have a restrained look. Cellular shades offer energy efficiency. Tumble shades are nice additions to door windows. And sheer shades provide a pleasant blend of filtered light and privacy.

The Cons

Window shades don’t offer the resiliency of rigid window treatments and may be difficult to clean. Their materials will in time blemish from the sun or might rip, develop mold, or get stained. You might plan on replacing window shades every few years as they get worn down or you change up your interior design.

Window shades also have less flexibility in manipulating exterior light and privacy than plantation shutters. Even pulling them up part-way means you lose your privacy on a portion of the window and can’t modify how the sunlight streams in at the bottom. And a range of window shades will display shadows whenever your interior is illuminated at night. And square window shades in Cincinnati force you to choose between masking a non-traditional window’s uncommon dimensions or leaving the window exposed all the time.

How To Incorporate Window Shades

Most Cincinnati homeowners choose window shades when they want colorful window coverings to go with their decor. They are best suited for less active rooms where they won’t get damaged by steady usage.

You are also able to employ some types of window shades for their specified purposes. Select cellular shades to help block cool air from entering. Slim roller shades work in spots where you don’t want a bulky window treatment. Blackout shades keep bedrooms dark to get a better night’s rest. Woven fiber shades bring a feeling of nature to your home. And remember, custom shades will always have more appeal and function more reliably on your windows than off-the-rack products.

The Pros And Cons Of Window Blinds

Window blinds have a row of long slats built from a rigid material that you lower over your windows to cover them. Blinds function with a cord or cordless lift options. In addition to covering windows with blinds, you may also tilt the slats with a rod for extra control over sunlight.

The Pros

The advantages of window blinds depend on the materials they’re fabricated with. By design, all blinds shield windows to obstruct sunlight and views within your Cincinnati interior, but their material and quality determine how effectively they accomplish this. You might observe sun and silhouettes with low-cost vinyl blinds. Vinyl and aluminum blinds also curve and fracture with ease, which leaves unpleasant openings that let in light. For these blinds, their affordability and limited longevity make them beneficial mostly as interim window coverings.

More resilient natural wood and faux-wood blinds utilize stronger slats that blanket windows much better. You won’t have to worry about seeing past them, and they don’t break rapidly. The natural wood and composite components, joined with the appealing straight edges of the slats, look more sophisticated as well. Premium real wood and faux-wood blinds come in classic neutral shades that look lovely in any area.

Blinds permit you to manage how much light passes through your windows. You may draw them up for an unhindered view and complete sunlight or guide them down for privacy and an absence of light. When the blinds are lowered, you are also able to turn the slats for a limited view and some natural light.

The Cons

Wood and faux-wood blinds look similar to plantation shutters but aren’t nearly as durable. The cords intertwined with the slats will come apart over time, and wood slats can warp and crack from an abundance of humid air or extreme temperature fluctuations. Blinds also include lots of elements that will cause them to be a challenge to clean, and the common pull cords might stick or get tangled as you attempt to use them.

Although made-to-order blinds will suit your windows perfectly, they won’t have the full protection around the perimeter that shutters can since they don’t have a frame. You’ll also discover that both window blinds and shades in Cincinnati will sway and knock against your window if jostled or caught in a breeze. This movement opens a sightline to your interior and permits light.

How To Incorporate Window Blinds

Custom blinds look great in any space on square or rectangle windows. Be sure to use water-resistant faux-wood blinds in humid areas like kitchens and baths. And motorized or cordless blinds provide safer options in the event you have little ones or four-legged friends.

Sunburst Has It All From Plantation Shutters To Window Blinds And Shades In Cincinnati

Need to know more about the differences between interior shutters, window shades, and window blinds in Cincinnati? Sunburst Shutters Cincinnati offers the best selection of premium window treatments in town and can answer any questions you might have. We offer free in-home consultations to demonstrate our products and let you determine which window treatments look best in your residence. Request yours by placing a call to 513-216-9740 or submitting the following form.