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

August 12, 2022

Shades, blinds, and shutters–oh my! The range of distinct window treatments available might feel overwhelming whenever you need to pick one for your Orlando home. Understanding the distinctions between each type will aid you in determining which styles will be best on the windows you have. Here, we explain the pros, disadvantages, and top locations for louvered shutters, window shades, and window blinds in Orlando.

The Pros And Cons Of Interior Shutters

White Polywood shutters in a living room

Louvered shutters are constructed of hardwood or a highly durable composite and go within your property where they affix permanently to your window with the product’s frame built around the window frame. Movable panels within the frame open up for complete sunlight and a clear view or shut tightly to cover your window for a darker and private space. If the panels are closed, you may also rotate the louvers for the right amount sunlight and adjust them to divert light wherever you want.

The Pros

Louvered shutters stand out from other products thanks to their unique design. They not only look quite different but supply several amazing advantages for Orlando interiors:

  • Give your home beautiful architectural detail

  • Come in neutral hues to complement your decor in the present and later if you change your home’s look

  • Provide absolute privacy and nearly eliminates all light when shut

  • Open easily for light and a sightline to your exterior

  • Accommodate any specialty shaped window like arches and angles

  • Shift sun glare with the slats

  • Simple to clean off

  • Provide an amazing degree of energy efficiency

  • Becomes a permanent fixture that boosts your Orlando house’s value

  • Various personalization possibilities to create the style you desire while meeting your unique needs

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

  • Unrivaled toughness with resistance to damage from extreme temps, damp conditions, and the sun

  • Last a lifetime without warping, splitting, or chipping

  • Innovative weatherstripping for noticeable energy efficiency and cost-savings

Generally, Polywood shutters can do everything you ask a window treatment to accomplish, from enhancing your window’s beauty to obstructing cold breezes and destructive ultraviolet rays. And they work and look just as nice decades later as the moment you first got them.

 

The Cons

Louvered shutters’ one disadvantage is that they can only be found in neutral tones. Although their adaptable coloration goes with all kinds of decor, you’ll be required to opt for window shades or blinds if you have your heart set on window treatments with patterns or bold colors.

 

How To Incorporate Interior Shutters

You are able to incorporate louvered shutters on any window inside your Orlando property. Hand-tailored shutters accommodate any shape and size of window without forgoing their function. Put them on rounded, triangular, and patio door windows just as simply as standard rectangular windows.

You can also install Polywood shutters in any space. Use them for their durability and superior efficiency in humid bathrooms, cool attic dormers, or sunny south-pointing rooms. Shutters even work great in family areas and little ones’ rooms as they don’t have cords that present a safety threat.

 

The Pros And Cons Of Window Shades

White shades in a corner of a living room.

Window shades come in a range of contasting styles, although, for the most part, all have a layer of fabric hung above your window. You typically pull the shade in the direction you want to shield and unshield your window via the bottom pull bar or corded mechanism, although you are able to locate motorized options too.

Window shades don’t have slats to control light and privacy, but sheer or loosely woven natural fiber shades can let light into dark spaces while blocking the sightline into your home. Or you might utilize top-down/bottom-up options that allow you to reveal the upper region of your window for light while maintaining your privacy on the lower half.

 

The Pros

Orlando homeowners like window shades due to the fact they can be found in many different styles, colors, and materials. You’ll find shades with common colors and vivid tints, solid color or dramatic patterns, see-through or blackout opacities, fabric with pleats or natural fibers, and numerous additional options. If you’re looking for a special design element when redecorating an interior, window shades in the perfect color or fabric will elevate your ambience and shield your windows.

The differing window shade types have their own benefits too. Roller shades have a restrained look. Cellular shades offer energy efficiency. Tumble shades are smart choices for French doors. And sheer shades provide an agreeable combination of light and privacy.

 

The Cons

Window shades don’t last as long as rigid window coverings and are often difficult to clean. Their materials will in time blemish on account of the sun or may pull apart, become moldy, or show stains. You should expect to replace window shades every few years as they get worn down or you update your home’s style.

Window shades also offer less flexibility in adjusting sunlight and privacy than louvered shutters. Even pulling them up a bit means you give up your privacy on a portion of the window and you’re not able to adjust how light enters in the open section. And a range of window shades will show your shadow if your lights are on after dark. And square window shades in Orlando force you to choose between hiding a specialty window’s unique shape or leaving the window uncovered permanently.

 

How To Incorporate Window Shades

Most Orlando homeowners use window shades if they prefer colorful window treatments to blend with their interior. They are best suited for less active rooms where they won’t get damaged by steady usage.

You can also utilize some types of window shades for their specified purposes. Go with cellular shades to assist in blocking cool air from entering. Slim roller shades accommodate spaces where you can’t use a larger window treatment. Blackout shades keep bedrooms dark so you can sleep. Woven fiber shades bring a natural element to your decor. And of course, custom shades will without a doubt operate more smoothly and look better on your windows than off-the-shelf options.

 

The Pros And Cons Of Window Blinds

Wood blinds in a small dining room area.

Window blinds consist of a row of long slats constructed with a rigid material that you lower over your windows to conceal them. Blinds operate with a cord or cordless lift options. As well as concealing windows with blinds, you are also able to tilt the slats toward or away from you with a rod for additional command over exterior light.

 

The Pros

The advantages of window blinds depend on what they’re made of. In principle, all blinds cover windows to obstruct exterior light and the view into your Orlando home, but their substance and quality of manufacturing are essential in how well they achieve this. You could notice sunshine and outlines of people with low-cost vinyl blinds. Vinyl and aluminum blinds also bow and break easily, leaving unsightly gaps that allow sunlight. For these blinds, their low price and limited longevity make them beneficial chiefly as temporary window treatments.

More resilient real wood and faux-wood blinds have stronger slats that blanket windows more thoroughly. You won’t see through them, and they don’t fall apart easily. These materials, combined with the attractive horizontal lines of the slats, provide a more elegant appearance as well. Superior natural wood and faux-wood blinds come in classic neutral colors that work well in any space.

Blinds permit you to control the amount of light that enters through your windows. You can pull them up for an unrestricted view and total light or close them for privacy and a dark room. With the blinds closed, 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 as tough. The cords incorporated into the slats will unravel in the long run, and wood slats might become misshapen and split from an abundance of moisture or drastic temperature fluctuations. Blinds also include a great deal of components that can make them a challenge to clean, and the common pull cords could get twisted up as you try to manipulate them.

Even though made-to-order blinds will fit your windows in terms of size, they don’t have the total protection around the edges that shutters do as they don’t have a frame. You’ll also find that both window blinds and shades in Orlando will sway and slap your window if jostled or taken by a wind gust. This motion lets people see in and allows exterior light.

 

How To Use Window Blinds

Custom blinds make sense in any room on square or rectangle windows. Only install waterproof faux-wood blinds in humid spaces like kitchens and baths. And cordless or motorized blinds offer safer choices if you have children or pets.

 

Sunburst Has It All From Louvered Shutters To Window Blinds And Shades In Orlando

Would you like to know more about the pros and cons of interior shutters, window shades, and window blinds in Orlando? Sunburst Shutters Orlando boasts the most incredible assortment of exceptional window treatments in town and can answer any questions you might have. We offer free in-home consultations to demonstrate our choices and let you determine which window treatments are right for your home. Request yours by dialing 407-630-7011 or filling out the form on this page.