HOW TO SELECT A WINDOW COVERING

~ A Shopper’s Guide from Just Right Blinds & Shutters ~

Selecting window coverings is one of the most complicated decorating decisions homeowners face, says Todd Zimmerman, Just Right Blinds & Shutters, as there are many practical and aesthetic considerations.  According to the National Association of Home Builders’ report, a typical, newly built 2,272 square-foot house has an average of 19 windows.  So most homeowners must multiply this decision by 19!

Experts at the nation’s leading window covering company, Hunter Douglas Window Fashions, offer a guide to help you select custom window coverings that will provide the best practical performance and add pleasing decorative qualities to every room in your house.  Here are the questions you need to ask, and better yet, the answers:

Practical Considerations

What are your needs for privacy?

A general rule of thumb is that if you can see out through closed treatments during the day, others can see in at night.  Hunter Douglas has a range of products that offer options ranging from sheer to privacy and all the degrees in between. 

What are your needs for light control?

How much light control you need depends what your room will be used for.  For media rooms, Duette honeycomb shades in opaque fabrics with an aluminized polyester core that provides total room darkening are a good choice. 

Which direction does your window face? And what are your needs for UV-ray protection and energy efficiency?

The right window covering can block up to 99 percent of UV rays.  Look for a “% UV blockage” rating. The higher a product’s rating, the better the home’s interior is protected from UV rays

Is noise a problem?

If your windows face a crowded street, sound can be a problem, especially at night.  It’s good to know that fabric window coverings can provide a solution. 

Do your windows open and, if so, do you open them often?

If the window is used for ventilation it is best to have treatment that stacks off the window so that incoming breezes will not rattle or damage it.

Is the window covering child-safe?

Particularly if you have young children or pets at home safety is important

What about hard-to-reach windows?

For very large and hard-to-reach windows, such as skylights, motorization is a necessity, and in rooms where there is an entire wall of windows and in bedrooms where it allows controlling the window covering without leaving your bed, it is a great

convenience.

Todd Zimmerman is owner of Just Right Blinds & Shutters. For more information, contact Todd  at 630-292-3756 , tz@JustRightBlinds.com, www.JustRightBlinds.com