Love that beach-house look but don’t know which blinds or shades to choose? Maybe you just need to know how to preserve that glorious ocean view? Take heart, this article will help you select the right window treatment for your endless summer decorating desires.
This article will focus on two main elements related to ‘beach window treatments.’ First, which blinds or shades will help you attain that beach-house look (decorating). And, which blinds or shades are best to capitalize on your fantastic view but still offer light control and solar heat gain (functional).
Decorating
From a decorating point of view the best window treatments for creating the beach house décor are woven wood shades and plantation shutters.
Woven wood shades are also known as bamboo shades even though they are made out of more materials than just bamboo. Woven woods are made from a wide variety of materials including, grasses, bamboo, ropes, wood planks & more. Almost all these materials can be used as a stand alone, i.e. just bamboo, just grasses, just wood planks. Or, you can choose combinations of these materials. Overall, woven woods offer casual, natural looks which will compliment any beach-themed décor.
Next up are plantation shutters, which are known by many names: shutters, shutter blinds, window shutters, etc. Shutters offer a more upscale look and are less casual than woven woods. The idea of shutters originated in places like the Bahamas and served a few primary needs: sun protection (shade and insulation) and storm protection. From an insulating point of view, shutters work quite well because they are thick and substantial. Modern interior plantation shutters are no longer meant to offer storm protection.
If you actually live near the beach, my advice would be to consider faux wood plantation shutters. Beach environments are typically hot and humid with lots of direct sunlight and faux wood shutters will not crack, fade or warp. Choices include composite wood or PVC plastic shutters.
Functional
If you want to preserve your views, but want to minimize glair, UV damage and heat gain, look into solar screens. Solar screen are made from a synthetic mesh material that will do all of this for you. They come in a range of opaqueness so you can choose how much light control you want. One important note on solar screen is that they do not offer privacy. People can see into your home as well as you see out.
For extra large window or sliding glass doors, look into sheer shades. There are two versions of these unique and versatile window shades, horizontal sheer shades (for most window sizes) or sheer vertical blinds (for sliding glass doors or extra large windows). Sheer horizontal blinds (like mini blinds) feature two sheer fabric facings over soft fabric vanes, whereas sheer vertical blinds feature a light filtering material between hanging fabric or sometimes vinyl vanes. When the slats or vanes are open the sheer fabric offers soft light-filtering and when closed offers privacy and room darkening.
Vertical Sheer shades which are meant for larger windows – including sliding glass doors, patio doors, etc – come with different slat sizes. As a rule of thumb, for larger windows, you should choose a larger slat size. Larger slat sizes allow in more light when the slats are open, which is simply due to the fact that there’s more space between the slats.
