David Brooks is a San Diego-based freelance SEO consultant and geothermal energy advocate.
So, you have a large window or maybe windows in your home. So what’s the best window treatment for all that glass? The specific answer will ultimately depend on your light control needs. Just so you know, if you are looking for blackout window treatments, you may be a little disappointed in the outcome as it is very difficult with large windows. Beyond that you do have choices.
First up are vertical blinds, but I am not talking about the ubiquitous vinyl vertical blinds. Instead, consider some of the other material choices like fabric, solar screen, faux wood and wood, cellular and aluminum vertical blinds. If you want to preserve your view-through consider vertical blinds with solar screen vanes. If you want room darkening, look into aluminum, wood and faux wood, of course depending on how well these coordinate with your interior. For a softer look consider fabric vertical blinds or vertical cellular shades. The advantage of the cellular option is improved energy efficiency.
Next up are panel track blinds. Panel track blinds are fairly new to the window treatments scene and offer sophisticated, contemporary looks. They are similar to vertical blinds except they have much larger vanes; that’s why they call them panel blinds. The blind itself operates on a wheeled track so they open and close very smoothly. Panel tracks come in a wide variety of materials including solar shade, woven woods, weaves as well as patterned and solid fabrics. The cool thing too about panel blinds is the panels can be swapped out with different panels if you wanted to redecorate. As far as I know, no other window treatment allows this flexibility.
Of course, no list of window treatment options for large windows would be complete without drapes. We all know about drapes so I will not go into them very deeply. They are a good choice for oversized windows, but not for large windows that may be high off the floor. One choice to consider with drapes that you may not have thought of is to layer them with another window treatment, like vertical blinds. This offers a richer, more complete look which may be just the ticket for you particular décor. And, because drapes come in a wide variety of fabrics, colors and patterns, coordinating them is a snap.
For modestly oversized windows, your choices expand a little. This list includes: cellular shades, pleated shades, sheer shades, roman shades as well as the aforementioned vertical and panel track blinds. For energy efficiency look into cellular shades. For versatility and minimal light control look into sheer shades, which are another lesser known window treatment option. They are kind of like two blinds in one. They have fabric vanes covered on both sides by sheer fabric facings. When the vanes are open, they allow decent view-through and light-filtering and when the vanes are closed offer gentle light control. Pleated shades look very similar to cellular shades, but are less expensive but not as energy efficient because they don’t have the air pocket built in. If you prefer fabric window treatments, roman shades are the best choice for you. They come in a wide variety of fabric choices. That’s why they are sometimes called fabric shades. Roman shades offer the luxury of a drape with the easy operation of a shade.
One of my favorite window coverings for large windows is fabric vertical blinds. In my own home I have Hunter Douglas vertical blinds for my sliding glass door and they look great. – David Brooks
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