Bamboo shade or plantation shutter owners, please give input
avesmor
11 years ago
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11 years agoRelated Discussions
Need Greenhouse Input Please......
Comments (26)A lot of good information already posted. I have been hearing more and more about pit style greenhouses that utilize the constant temperature of the ground of 50 degrees coupled with a greenhouse or hoophouse structure over top. I would like to incorporate decomposing horse manure with red worms to provide good humus for our garden and feeding the chickens in the winter with the worms. All structures degrade over time and the cost of the structure replacement should be considered. Obviously, you never know how long something is going to last, but there are good indications how long greenhouse plastic can last if you do your homework. Treated lumber on the ground can last a long time and can be shielded with plastic to help prevent leaching of the pressure treating chemicals in the soil. Another alternative to treated lumber is composite material (basically standard size 2 x material but plastic based). Constructing a greenhouse gives you an opportunity to build what you want and is easy to do, while saving you money. As you probably already know, orientation of the structure in relationship to the sun is important. Depending on what you grow, shade clothes can be beneficial as well. Very few times have I heard where heating a greenhouse with electric, gas, etc is cost effective. Instead, covering plants with a secondary cover within the greenhouse and utilizing a bowl or bucket of warm water during the night can be a great help. It is a little more work, but well worth the savings. Hope this helps a little. Mike's Plans...See MoreCoastal, breezy, plantation, West Indies?
Comments (151)I think it's cool that this thread started in 2007 and still lives, and thanks to all for keeping it alive, it is very inspirational. This is going to be a long post, so sorry about that. I'm sick, so lots of couch time yesterday, and I finally caught up on a few decorating mags. April's Elle Decor has several homes that sort of qualify as coastal, breezy, etc., though with more of a multi-cultural flare than the strict British Colonial. There is one beach house in Brazil that is nicely done; casual, quirky and fun. Even though we live at the 44th parallel, and as I write have ice on the pond and snow on the ground, I love the styles posted in this tread and the combo of having some time to think and seeing this thread again has given me an idea for our screened porch. We built this house 5 years ago, and 3 years ago finally screened in the porch (on the east side, we have a SW exposure and get hot afternoon sun, even up here in NNY, the porch is respite from that). The flooring and ceiling are lyptus, and we have wicker furniture, some white, some dark green with white and green striped cushions. Classic, yes, but we already have a lot of green, house exterior, LR, entry way, MBR, and while they are all different greens, I wanted something different. So, I sprayed the wicker dining table base a tomato red, sprayed the dining chairs purple and had new cushions made for the dining chairs in some Sunbrella fabric I have toted around for umpteen years. It's a very crisp stripe; yellow, green, purple, red, aqua, blue and white, and since I'm not a crisp gal, it was bold move for me. In the porch seating area I sprayed the white chairs a deep, glossy brown and painted the desperately faded cushions an ivory color. And while it looked OK, I could not put my finger on why it didn't feel right. Seeing this thread again has helped me to diagnose the problem, the look, while cute, is too cottagey, and the porch is more coastal. Aha! So, once the weather breaks, I'm going to spray the dining table base and chairs a deep blue (pulled from the stripe in the cushion) and probably paint the green wicker the deep glossy brown. Then I'll bring in some white and a lighter, but still strong, blue (sort of the colors Target is featuring in their latest collection of melamine plates, navy, white and indigo, I think, I'm not sure what color the lighter blue is called). I would also paint the currently green house walls that are the back of the porch the color of the trim out there now (BM Sailcloth) and maybe get a sisal rug. The wicker couch has been moved out, it wasn't working in the space, and in its place we brought in 2 smaller, vintage chairs, one wicker, one sort of 1950's porch furniture, with wide arms and a wooden frame. I'll need new cushions made for the wicker, not sure of the print, will paint first, make cushions later (I paint and paint is cheap, I don't sew and cushions are $$$). Here are a few pics of the porch, what do you think? Would that work or am I kidding myself that a porch in this style would work in the far north? I should add that we are on the water, so that does add some legitimacy (she says hopefully) to the "coastal" thing. The pics are 3 years old, and don't reflect the brown painted furniture, but hopefully it gives you an idea of the space. Dining area: LR area: Thank you for listening to my ramble, hope I haven't bored anyone to tears- sandyponder...See MoreNeed help deciding window treatments - shutters or bamboo shades!
Comments (5)Such a nice space. What are your needs? Are the window treatments strictly decorative? Do you need to protect furniture and rugs from the sun? Do you need privacy? I think you can use different treatments to differentiate rooms but I do think plantation shutters look best when they are used through the whole house. They have a lot of visual weight and I think it helps to make the room look balanced when they are used on all the windows. And since I am OCD, I also like to consider how my window treatments will look when facing the front of the house. I wouldn't worry about curtain panels just yet. You'll be adding rugs, furniture and art which will add different textures to the room. If you decide you'd like panels you can easily add them at a later time....See MorePlantation Shutters or Roman Shades?
Comments (16)Shutters do not seal out the drafts as well as roman shades do, esp with insulated fabric. So the question really is one of where you live. Do you have to shut out more heat from the sun when it's hot? Or do you need to insulate more when it's cold. I'm in the NE and cold is definitely the bigger issue for us. Another consideration is the view. Even when open, the frames around the shutters block a lot of the light and view vs. the romans that will essentially clear the entire window. Also romans offer an opportunity to add color, pattern, texture, softness and noise deadening to a room vs. shutters which are traditionally just white wood. Roman-type shades come in a variety of styles so there are a lot more to choose from: flat roman, relaxed roman, cloud, balloon, pleated, tulip, hobbled, austrian, banded, shaped bottom, etc. Shutters do provide better light control for how much sunshine comes into a room and night time privacy while allowing outdoor air to circulate in the room. They are a better solution if you like to leave your windows open but need privacy. I was in a B&B once that had shutters over the sliders to the outside which was all nice except that some were loose and the only way I could get them to stay open to the light was to jam a book in between the slats. I also detest cleaning slats. To me it's right up there with tom sawyer's picket fence painting. So while my preference for many reasons would be romans, YMMV....See Moreavesmor
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