The Differences Between Plantation Shutters, Window Blinds, And Window Shades In Bluff City

Shutters, shades, and blinds–oh my! The many distinct window treatments on the market can seem a bit mind-boggling whenever you are looking to choose one for your Bluff City home. Understanding the distinctions between each type will aid you in determining which products will function and look best on the windows you are covering. Here, we explain the pros, disadvantages, and best spots for interior shutters, window shades, and window blinds in Bluff City.

The Pros And Cons Of Louvered Shutters

Interior shutters are constructed of natural wood or faux wood and go within your residence where they secure permanently to your window with a shutter frame positioned over the window’s frame. Hinged panels within the frame open up for complete sunlight and an unobstructed view or shut tightly to encompass your window for a darker and private space. Whenever the panels are closed, you may also rotate the slats for some sunlight and shift them to redirect light where you want it.

The Pros

Plantation shutters are distinctive from other options due to their specialized design. Aside from looking quite different, they also supply various remarkable advantages for Bluff City interiors:

• Enhance your home with enticing architectural styling

• Find them in neutral hues to complement your decor at the moment and later if you redecorate

• Give You absolute privacy and near-total darkness when closed

• Open easily for sunshine and views to your property

• Accommodate any uniquely shaped window like half-circles and hexagons

• Redirect unwanted glare with the slats

• Simple to dust and clean

• Deliver an extraordinary level of energy efficiency

• A permanent fixture that increases your Bluff City house’s value

• Many customizable possibilities to craft the style you want while fulfilling all of your needs

On top of these advantages, faux-wood Polywood® shutters feature their own noteworthy benefits: 

• Unsurpassed resiliency with resistance to damage from extreme temps, moisture, and the sun

• Will never be impacted by bending, splitting, or chipping

• Exclusive weather protection for noticeable energy efficiency and cost-savings

Actually, Polywood shutters are able to do everything you require a window treatment to do, from upgrading your window’s style to stopping cold drafts and harmful UV rays. They’ll even operate and look just as great decades later as the moment you installed them.

The Cons

Louvered shutters’ lone disadvantage is that they can only be found in neutral tints. Even though their classic coloring matches all types of decor, you’ll have to settle for window shades or blinds if you must have colorful or patterned window treatments.

How To Incorporate Plantation Shutters

You can utilize plantation shutters on any window in your Bluff City residence. Hand-tailored shutters accommodate every type, size, and shape of window without forgoing functionality. Put them on rounded, triangular, and French door windows just as easily as regular rectangular windows.

You are also able to place Polywood shutters in any space. Pick them for their durability and energy efficiency in humid bathrooms, cool attic dormers, or sun-filled rooms. Shutters even work great in heavily occupied places and kids’ rooms because they don’t use cords that create a safety risk.

The Pros And Cons Of Window Shades

Window shades come in various different styles, although, by and large, all consist of a piece of fabric hung above your window. You typically pull the material down or up to enclose and uncover your window via a built-in pull bar or cord, although you can find motorized options as well.

Window shades don’t have louvers to provide partial illumination and privacy, but more transparent or loosely woven fibrous shades will allow light into dark rooms while blocking the sightline into your property. Or you can use top-down/bottom-up styles that give you the chance to reveal the upper region of your window for sunshine while maintaining your privacy at the bottom.

The Pros

Bluff City homeowners enjoy window shades because they can be found in various styles, colors, and materials. You’ll discover shades with neutral colors and vibrant tints, single color or eye-catching patterns, transparent or blackout opacities, fabric with pleats or woven fibers, and many other choices. If you want a special accent when redecorating an interior, window shades in just the right color or fabric will enhance your ambience and encompass your windows.

The differing window shade kinds have their own perks as well. Roller shades have a sleek appearance. Cellular shades offer energy efficiency. Tumble shades work well on 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 treatments and may be challenging to clean. Their materials will in time discolor on account of the sun or may pull apart, develop mold, or show stains. You might plan on replacing window shades every three or four years as they get worn down or you alter your decor.

Window shades also have less flexibility in adjusting light and privacy than plantation shutters. Even pulling them up a bit means you lose your privacy on a portion of the window and you’re not able to adjust how the sunlight streams in in the open section. And many window shades will allow shadows to appear if your interior is illuminated after dark. And square window shades in Bluff City compel you to pick between hiding a non-traditional window’s unique dimensions or leaving the window exposed at all times.

How To Incorporate Window Shades

Many Bluff City residents use window shades because they are looking for bold or patterned window products to match their design. They are best suited for low-traffic areas where they won’t get damaged by persistent engagement.

You can also employ some types of window shades for their particular purposes. Select cellular shades to assist in blocking exterior airflow. Slim roller shades work in spots where you need to avoid a bulkier window treatment. Blackout shades stop sunlight so you can sleep. Woven fiber shades add a natural element to your property. And of course, custom shades will without a doubt operate more smoothly and look better on your windows than off-the-shelf shades.

The Pros And Cons Of Window Blinds

Window blinds consist of a row of long slats built from a solid material that you bring down over your windows to cover them. Blinds operate with a cord or cordless lifting mechanisms. Along with covering windows with blinds, you may also rotate the slats toward or away from you with a bar for additional control over natural light.

The Pros

The benefits of window blinds depend on their material. By design, all blinds shield windows to obstruct sunlight and the view within your Bluff City interior, but their substance and quality of manufacturing play a big role how well they achieve this. You could observe light and silhouettes with cheap vinyl blinds. Aluminum and vinyl blinds also bend and snap easily, leaving unattractive openings that allow sunlight. For these blinds, their bargain pricing and limited longevity make them beneficial chiefly as temporary window products.

Quality natural wood and faux-wood blinds use more robust slats that envelop windows more thoroughly. You won’t see through them, and they don’t fall apart rapidly. The wood or synthetic construction, joined with the appealing defined edges of the slats, have a more sophisticated look too. Superior wood and faux-wood blinds are available in adaptable neutral colors that go with the decor of any room.

Blinds let you manage how much light passes through your windows. You can draw them up for an unrestricted view and total sunshine or guide them down for privacy and a dark room. When the blinds are 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 that hold the slats together will unravel over time, and wood slats could distort and crack from excess humid air or extreme temperature variations. Blinds also have a fair number of elements that will result in them being difficult to clean, and blinds with pull cords could get twisted up if you try to adjust them.

Although custom blinds will fit your windows perfectly, they can’t give you the complete protection around the borders that shutters offer since they aren’t built into a frame. You’ll also notice that both window blinds and shades in Bluff City can swing and smack your window if jostled or caught in a wind gust. That motion opens a sightline to your interior and allows light.

How To Use Window Blinds

Custom blinds are a great choice in any space on square or rectangle windows. Only install waterproof faux-wood blinds in moist locations like baths and kitchens. And motorized or cordless blinds offer safer options when you have kids or animals.

Sunburst Has Everything From Plantation Shutters To Window Blinds And Shades In Bluff City

Would you like to know more about the the variances between plantation shutters, window shades, and window blinds in Bluff City? Sunburst Shutters NW Tennessee offers the most comprehensive lineup of exceptional window treatments in town and can answer any questions you might have. We provide free in-home consultations to exhibit our products and show you which window treatments look best in your home. Request yours by placing a call to 276-685-5343 or submitting the form on this page.