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

Shades, blinds, and shutters–oh my! The range of distinct window treatments out there can feel overwhelming when you have to pick one for your Dover home. Knowing the differences between each variety will aid you in determining which products will look and work best on the windows you need to cover. Here, we explain the benefits, drawbacks, and top spots for interior shutters, window shades, and window blinds in Dover.

The Pros And Cons Of Plantation Shutters

Plantation shutters are built from natural wood or a highly durable composite and go within your home where they affix permanently to your window with a shutter frame attached to the window’s frame. Movable panels on the inside of the frame open up for total light and an unobstructed view or shut tightly to cover your window for privacy and darkness. If the panels are closed, you may also rotate the louvers for partial sunshine and adjust them to angle the light where you want it.

The Pros

Louvered shutters rise above other options thanks to their specialized design. They not only look quite different but provide many incredible benefits for Dover interiors:

• Elevate your home with enticing architectural styling

• Find them in neutral tones to match your design at the moment and in the future if you redecorate

• Provide total privacy and near-total darkness when secured

• Open easily for sunshine and a view

• Work with any specialized window like half-circles and hexagons

• Move sun glare with the louvers

• A cinch to dust and clean

• Offer superior energy efficiency

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

• Many customizable possibilities to craft the style you would like while meeting your unique needs

On top of these advantages, faux-wood Polywood® shutters have their own notable assets: 

• Unmatched toughness with resistance to damage due to extreme temps, humidity, and UV rays

• Never experiences warping, splitting, or nicking

• Patented weather protection for exceptional energy efficiency and cost-savings

Really, Polywood shutters will do anything you ask a window covering to perform, from upgrading your window’s style to blocking cold air and destructive ultraviolet rays. They also work and look just as superb decades later as the moment you have them installed.

The Cons

Plantation shutters’ one downside is that they come only in neutral tones. Although their versatile coloring matches all types of style choices, you’ll be required to go with window shades or blinds if you must have colorful or patterned window treatments.

How To Use Louvered Shutters

You may use louvered shutters on any window in your Dover property. Hand-tailored shutters fit any size and shape of window without forgoing functionality. Put them on circular, triangular, and patio door windows just as easily as regular square or rectangular windows.

You can also position Polywood shutters in any area. Pick them for their resilience and efficiency in damp bathrooms, cool attic dormers, or sun-splashed rooms. Shutters also make sense in heavily occupied areas and little ones’ rooms because they don’t have cords that present a safety threat.

The Pros And Cons Of Window Shades

Window shades can be found in various contasting styles, but, in general, all have a sheet of fabric hung over your window. You typically pull the material in the direction you want to enclose and uncover your window using the bottom pull bar or corded mechanism, but you can find motorized shades too.

Window shades don’t have louvers to manage sunlight and privacy, but sheer or less tightly woven natural fiber shades are able to let light into lower-lit areas while obscuring the sightline into your interior. Or you could utilize top-down/bottom-up shades that give you the chance to reveal the upper region of your window for light while protecting your privacy below.

The Pros

Dover homeowners like window shades mainly because they can be found in various styles, colors, and materials. You’ll discover shades with standard colors and bright hues, single color or bold patterns, sheer or non-transparent styles, pleated fabric or natural fibers, and numerous other possibilities. If you would like a unique accent while overhauling a room, window shades in the ideal color or pattern will elevate your ambience and encompass your windows.

The differing window shade kinds have their own perks too. Roller shades have a classic minimalist appearance. Cellular shades will boost efficiency. Tumble shades are nice additions to door windows. And sheer shades offer a nice mix of privacy and sunlight.

The Cons

Window shades aren’t as durable as firm window treatments and may be challenging to clean. Their fabric materials will eventually discolor due to the sun or can tear, develop mold, or get stained. You can expect to replace window shades every three or four years as they break down or you alter your decor.

Window shades also provide less flexibility in manipulating sunlight and privacy than interior shutters. Even pulling them up a bit means you forgo your privacy on a portion of the window and you’re unable to modify how sunshine floods in in the open section. And many window shades will allow shadows to appear whenever you have the lights on inside during the night. And square window shades in Dover force you to choose between concealing a non-traditional window’s unique size or keeping the window bare all the time.

How To Incorporate Window Shades

Many Dover homeowners opt for window shades because they are looking for colorful window products to go with their decor. They are perfect for low-traffic spaces where they can avoid damage from persistent use.

You are also able to employ certain window shades for their specific purposes. Select cellular shades to aid in halting outside drafts. Slim roller shades work in spaces where you don’t want a bulkier window treatment. Blackout shades keep bedrooms dark to get a better night’s rest. Woven fiber shades bring a natural element to your decor. And of course, custom shades will unquestionably look and work better on your windows than store-bought shades.

The Pros And Cons Of Window Blinds

Window blinds feature a row of long slats built from a solid material that you bring down over your windows to conceal them. Blinds function with a cord or cordless lift options. Along with concealing windows with blinds, you can also tilt the slats open or closed with a bar for more command over sunlight.

The Pros

The benefits of window blinds largely depend on on their material. In theory, all blinds conceal windows to block outside light and views within your Dover interior, but their material and quality are essential in how effectively they do this. You might notice sun and silhouettes with low-cost vinyl blinds. Vinyl and aluminum blinds also bend and break with ease, which leaves unattractive spaces that permit outside light. For these blinds, their affordability and short lifespan make them advantageous chiefly as interim window products.

Quality real wood and faux-wood blinds use stronger slats that cover windows more completely. You won’t see through them, and they don’t break quickly. The wood or synthetic construction, joined with the pleasant straight edges of the slats, provide a more elegant appearance too. Premium natural wood and faux-wood blinds are available in adaptable neutral tones that work well in any room.

Blinds let you direct the quantity of light that enters through your windows. You are able to move them up for an unhindered view and complete sunlight or guide them down for privacy and a dark room. With the blinds closed, you can also tilt open the slats for a restricted view and a bit sunlight.

The Cons

Wood and faux-wood blinds look similar to plantation shutters but aren’t as long-lasting. The cords intertwined with the slats will come apart over time, and wood slats could become misshapen and crack from an abundance of humid air or intense temperature variations. Blinds also include lots of elements that can make them a challenge to clean, and the common pull cords may get tangled up or stick when you make an effort to use them.

Despite the fact that made-to-order blinds will fit your windows perfectly, they don’t have the total protection around the borders that shutters offer because they don’t have a frame. You’ll also find that both window blinds and shades in Dover can sway and smack your window if jostled or caught in a gust of air. This moving around opens a sightline to your interior and allows exterior light.

How To Incorporate Window Blinds

High-end blinds make sense in any space for square or rectangle windows. Be sure to choose water-repellent faux-wood blinds in moist areas like kitchens and baths. And automated or cord-free blinds provide safer options when you have kids or pets.

Sunburst Has Everything From Louvered Shutters To Window Blinds And Shades In Dover

Would you like to know more about the differences between plantation shutters, window shades, and window blinds in Dover? Sunburst Shutters Delaware boasts the best selection of high-end window treatments in the area and will is pleased to answer all of your questions. We conduct no-charge in-home consultations to exhibit our choices and give you a chance to decide which window treatments look best in your residence. Schedule yours by calling 301-835-1611 or filling out the form below.