Tell me about solar shades...
I've been trying to sort out what to do for window treatments for my family room. The room faces south and I think I need something to protect the furniture and rug in the summer. We don't need anything for privacy.
I love the look of pinch pleat panels, but I hate the thought of closing them in the middle of the day. I love light and looking our into the backyard. So now I'm considering solar shades. Can someone educate me on these? Is 10% openess really going to let the light and view in while still protecting from the sun? When the shade is all the way up,I woud like for it to dissappear as much as possible. Any particular brands or types of shades I should be looking at to accomplish this goal? I should be able to inside mount them as I have 3".
If anyone is willing to share pictures that would be great!I might still add pinch pleat panel-but then it would be for decor.
Windows in question:
Comments (7)
badgergal
11 years agojoyce_6333
11 years agoHere's a picture of ours. The bottom sections were custom ordered Phase II solar shades from JCP. When rolled up, they nearly disappear against our dark wood. I believe they are about 5% openness, but you can see what a difference they make. We made the upper sections from material we purchased at Home Depot. We actually bought their ready made solar shades (can I say cheap!), and then re-cut it and made frames to stretch the fabric over. Picture shows just one upper section installed so you can see the difference they made. We only use them during the summer when the sun is bothersome.
Here is a link that might be useful: Previous post on GW
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Comments (12)Ermenta, we've had our blinds for about a year now. We ended up ordering Monterey 5% Cloud White N001 from Blinds.com. I am very happy with the 5% openness factor and glad that I didn't get 10%. The shade does a good job of balancing the view/glare when the sun is shining directly on the shade. It's not super clear, but it's clear enough for me to enjoy my view IMO. When the sun is not shining directly on the shade, the view becomes extremely crisp with just the slightest hint of highly transparent veil of white over it. If you order a darker color shade you will preserve your view even more. I like the way my white shades keeps my room light and bright even while cutting down on the glare. A darker shade may darken your interior, which may or may not be an issue for you. I use my shades mostly in winter when there are no leaves on the trees. In my northern climate I crave as much sunlight as possible, so I'm thrilled with my white shades. At 5% openness there is still some glare into the room, but it's not too bad. I think the glare might have been problematic with 10% openness. At 5% openness, I wouldn't want a TV or computer screen facing the window directly. My screens face away from the window, so screens are not a problem in this room. Another thing I discovered is that a shade layered over an insect screen will form a moire' pattern. This may or may not bother you. I don't really notice it so much with my white shades, but it might be more noticeable with a darker shade. I hope this helps....See MoreSolar Shades or light filtering shades
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cliff_and_joann