How To Choose Between Plantation Shutters, Window Blinds, And Window Shades In Boston

Shades, blinds, and shutters–oh my! The many distinct window treatments out there can seem a bit mind-boggling if you are looking to select one for your Boston interior. Understanding the differences between each variety will help you decide which products will function and look best on the windows you have. We can help by exploring the advantages, disadvantages, and top locations for interior shutters, window blinds, and window shades in Boston.

The Pros And Cons Of Plantation Shutters

Interior shutters are constructed of hardwood or a wood synthetic and go inside your property where they affix permanently to your window with the shutter’s frame built around the window’s framework. Hinged panels on the inside of the frame swing open for total light and a clear view or close again to encompass your window for privacy and darkness. If the panels are shut, you can also rotate the slats for some sunshine and manipulate them to angle the light where you want it.

The Pros

Plantation shutters are distinctive from other options thanks to their specialized design. Aside from looking quite different, they also provide various remarkable benefits for Boston interiors:

• Enhance your home with enticing architectural styling

• Come in neutral hues to complement your interior in the present and in the future if you redesign

• Offer total privacy and nearly full darkness when shut

• Open quickly for light and views to your property

• Fit any specialty shaped window like half-circles and hexagons

• Shift glare with the louvers

• Simple to dust off

• Deliver superior energy efficiency

• A permanent fixture that boosts your Boston home’s value

• Various customization possibilities to create the style you want and meet your unique needs

In addition to these advantages, faux-wood Polywood® shutters come with their own noteworthy benefits: 

• Unrivaled resiliency with resistance to distress from heat, cold, humidity, and UV rays

• Will never be impacted by warping, facturing, or nicking

• Innovative weatherstripping for exceptional efficiency and lower utility bills

Actually, Polywood shutters will do anything you need a window covering to accomplish, from elevating your window’s style to stopping cold drafts and harmful ultraviolet rays. They’ll even operate and look just as superb decades later as the date you first got them.

The Cons

Interior shutters’ lone disadvantage is that they are only available in neutral colors. While their classic coloring matches all kinds of style choices, you’ll have to go with window shades or blinds if you have your heart set on window treatments with patterns or bold colors.

How To Use Plantation Shutters

You can use louvered shutters on any window in your Boston residence. Hand-tailored shutters accommodate every shape and size of window without sacrificing functionality. Put them on half-circle, triangular, and French door windows just as effortlessly as regular windows.

You may also place Polywood shutters in any area. Pick them for their longevity and energy efficiency in humid bathrooms, chilly attic dormers, or sun-filled rooms. Shutters even work great in high-traffic areas and little ones’ rooms since they don’t have cords that create a safety threat.

The Pros And Cons Of Window Shades

Window shades can be found in many different styles, although, by and large, all have a sheet of fabric mounted above your window. You usually pull the material up or down to enclose and uncover your window via a cord or pull bar, although you can locate motorized options as well.

Window shades don’t feature louvers to manage illumination and privacy, but more transparent or less tightly woven fibrous shades can allow light into lower-lit spaces while obstructing the view into your home. Or you might consider top-down/bottom-up styles that let you uncover the top of your window for sunlight while maintaining your privacy on the lower half.

The Pros

Boston homeowners enjoy window shades mainly because they come in various colors, materials, and styles. You’ll discover shades with standard colors and bright hues, single color or bold patterns, transparent or blackout opacities, fabric with pleats or woven fibers, and many other choices. If you want a special accent when redesigning an interior, window shades in the perfect color or fabric can boost your overall design and encompass your windows.

The differing window shade types have their own benefits too. Roller shades have a sleek feel. Cellular shades will boost efficiency. Tumble shades are smart choices for French doors. And sheer shades give you a pleasant blend of privacy and sunlight.

The Cons

Window shades don’t offer the resiliency of firm window treatments and can be difficult to clean. Their fabric materials will eventually blemish due to the sun or may rip, develop mold, or show stains. You might expect to replace window shades every few years as they wear out or you alter your interior design.

Window shades also have less capability in balancing exterior light and privacy than interior shutters. Even opening them a bit means you give up your privacy on half of the window and can’t modify how sunshine floods in in the open section. And a range of window shades will display shadows if your interior is illuminated after dark. And square window shades in Boston compel you to choose between concealing a non-traditional window’s distinctive dimensions or keeping the window bare permanently.

How To Use Window Shades

Most Boston residents opt for window shades when they want colorful window treatments to go with their design. They work best in less active spaces where they won’t get damaged by persistent engagement.

You can also utilize various kinds of window shades for their specific purposes. Select cellular shades to assist in blocking outside drafts. Slim roller shades fit in spaces where you can’t use a larger window treatment. Blackout shades keep bedrooms dark so you can sleep. Woven fiber shades bring a natural element to your decor. And of course, custom shades will without a doubt operate more smoothly and look better on your windows than off-the-rack options.

The Pros And Cons Of Window Blinds

Window blinds consist of movable slats made of a rigid material that you let down over your windows to conceal them. Blinds function with cords or cordless functionality. As well as covering windows with blinds, you can also rotate the slats open or closed with a wand for additional control over exterior light.

The Pros

The virtues of window blinds are dependent on what they’re made of. In theory, all blinds shield windows to obstruct sunlight and sightlines inside your Boston interior, but their material and quality play a big role how successfully they accomplish this. You could notice light and shadows with low-cost vinyl blinds. Aluminum and vinyl blinds also curve and break with ease, which leaves unattractive gaps that allow sunlight. For these blinds, their bargain pricing and lack of durability make them beneficial mostly as temporary window coverings.

Well-made real wood and faux-wood blinds have stronger slats that blanket windows more completely. You won’t be able to look past them, and they don’t fall apart rapidly. The wood or synthetic construction, combined with the pleasant straight contours of the slats, look more sophisticated as well. Top-end natural wood and faux-wood blinds come in adaptable neutral shades that go with the decor of any area.

Blinds let you control the amount of light that comes through your windows. You are able to draw them up for an unfettered view and total sunlight or guide them down for privacy and darkness. If your blinds are drawn down, you are also able to tilt open the slats for a limited view and a bit sunshine.

The Cons

Wood and faux-wood blinds appear similar to interior shutters but aren’t nearly as durable. The cords that hold the slats together can come apart in the long run, and wood slats can distort and splinter from excess moisture or extreme temperature variations. Blinds also include a fair number of elements that will cause them to be tricky to clean, and the common pull cords may get twisted up if you make an effort to manipulate them.

Even though customized blinds will suit your windows perfectly, they won’t have the total protection around the edges that shutters do because they don’t have a frame. You’ll also find that both window blinds and shades in Boston are prone to swing and smack your window if bumped or caught in a wind gust. This movement lets people see in and allows light.

How To Use Window Blinds

High-end blinds are a great choice in any area for traditionally sized windows. Make sure you only use waterproof faux-wood blinds in moist areas like kitchens and baths. And motorized or cordless blinds provide safer options in the event you have children or animals.

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

Want to know more about the pros and cons of interior shutters, window blinds, and window shades in Boston? Sunburst Shutters Boston has the most incredible lineup of premium window treatments around and can answer any questions you might have. We conduct no-charge in-home consultations to demonstrate our choices and give you a chance to decide which window treatments make the most sense for your property. Arrange yours by calling 781-352-2205 or completing the following form.