It’s easy to control the amount of sunlight in your home with the right window coverings, and JC Licht is here to help!
Start by considering your sunlight preferences in each room of your home.
Do you need a pitch-black bedroom?
An office with no glare?
A kitchen that’s bright yet private?
The opacity of window treatment fabrics determines how much sunlight filters into your home and how much visibility is blocked by outside onlookers.
The four main terms used to measure light allowance, from lightest to darkest are:
- Sheer
- Semi-Opaque
- Room-Darkening
- Blackout
Let’s take a closer look at each.
Sheer Window Treatments
Sheer window treatments allow the most natural light into your space while preventing glare. They are ideal for rooms where you would like to see lots of sunlight during the day without being concerned about outsiders looking in.
Sheer window treatments do not offer much, if any, privacy beyond blurring visibility but they can offer uv-blocking properties, which can protect your possessions from fading and changing color in the sun.
Semi-Opaque Shades & Blinds
Semi-Opaque window treatments are a better option for those needing a bit of privacy. They let enough light in to brighten the room, while blocking the view from the outside in.
Roller, roman, cellular, honeycomb and pleated shades are often semi-opaque and are sometimes paired with drapes for added privacy, opacity and style.
Semi-Opaque Hunter Douglas Duette® Architella®Honeycomb Shades. Fabric/Material: Alexa. Color: Desert Sands. Operating system: PowerView®.
Room-Darkening Window Coverings
Room-darkening, or opaque, window treatments, let in only a small amount of light in through gaps on the sides between the window treatment and the window frame. The side gaps can vary from half an inch to a quarter inch, depending on the amount of light you want to let into the room.
Room-darkening materials block all visibility from onlookers, providing peace of mind to those who desire privacy.
Room-Darkening Hunter Douglas Designer Roller Shade with Clutch Operating System. Fabric/Material: Brunswick. Color: Angora.
Blackout Shades & Blinds
Blackout window treatments block out all outdoor light. Unlike room-darkening window treatments, there is no gap between the frame. Not only does this give you total privacy from the outside, but it means you won’t have to worry about light streaming into your bedroom in the morning and waking you up.
Blackout shades are excellent in a man cave where complete darkness is ideal for watching the big game, in a nursery where a baby sleeps during the day, or for people working the night shift who need quality sleep while the sun is shining.
Check out the new revolutionary blackout Duette® Honeycomb shade + LightLock System from Hunter Douglas.
Blackout Hunter Douglas Duette® Honeycomb Shades with LightLock™ Open Vs. Closed.
I Want It All!
Homeowners who don’t want to choose just one option for lighting are in luck! At your Chicagoland JC Licht, we have experts ready to help you identify your light-allowance preferences and layer compatible window treatments! Many homeowners choose to tuck room darkening shades behind a semi-opaque or sheer window treatment.
For additional convenience and home security, we can pair your window treatment preferences with Hunter Douglas PowerView®Motorization.
PowerView® Motorization allows home owners to specify privacy and light-allowance preferences for each room of their home, then activate those preferences with the touch of a button, or pre-program an automated open-close schedule.
For more control over light allowance, consider how your window treatments will be mounted. Some window treatments leave a small gap of light shining through the outside edge of the window frame. For more information about mounting needs for the windows in your home, click here.
Click here to schedule your FREE at-home consultation AND save $100 on Hunter Douglas’s most popular light-filtering window treatments (limited time offer, exclusions apply):
Want to do a little more soul-searching before a consultation? Evaluate our recommended 11 key considerations before purchasing window treatments.
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