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

August 12, 2022

Shutters, shades, and blinds–oh my! The many distinct window treatments available can seem too much whenever you need to pick one for your Dallas home. Understanding the differences between each variety will help you decide which products will look and work best on the windows you are covering. Let’s explore the pros, cons, and top spots for plantation shutters, window shades, and window blinds in Dallas.

The Pros And Cons Of Plantation Shutters

White Polywood shutters in a living room

Interior shutters are constructed of real wood or faux wood and go into your residence where they affix permanently to your window with the product’s frame built around the window frame. Hinged panels inside the frame open up for total light and an unobstructed view or shut tightly to blanket your window for privacy and darkness. If the panels are secured, you can also rotate the rows of louvers for the right amount sunlight and shift them to divert light where you want it.

The Pros

Interior shutters stand out from other products because of their specialized design. Along with their unmistakable look, they also provide many remarkable benefits for Dallas homes:

  • Elevate your home with beautiful architectural style

  • Find them in neutral tones to match your decor now and later if you change your home’s look

  • Provide absolute privacy and near-total darkness when secured

  • Open effortlessly for sunshine and a view

  • Accommodate any uniquely shaped window like arches and angles

  • Shift unwanted glare with the louvers

  • Easy to dust and clean

  • Provide an extraordinary level of energy efficiency

  • A permanent part of your interior that boosts your Dallas house’s value

  • Various personalization options to craft the style you desire while meeting your specific requirements

On top of these pros, faux-wood Polywood® shutters have their own significant benefits: 

  • Unrivaled durability with resistance to damage due to extreme temps, humidity, and UV rays

  • Will never be impacted by distorting, splitting, or nicking

  • Innovative weather sealing for exceptional efficiency and cost-savings

Actually, Polywood shutters will do any job you require a window treatment to accomplish, from elevating your window’s beauty to obstructing cold air and destructive UV rays. They also operate and look just as nice decades later as the moment you first got them.

 

The Cons

Plantation shutters’ one drawback is that they can only be found in neutral tones. Although their classic coloring matches all sorts of decor, you’ll have to go with window shades or blinds if you are determined to install colorful or patterned window treatments.

 

How To Use Plantation Shutters

You can use interior shutters on any window within your Dallas home. Hand-tailored shutters fit any shape and size of window without losing their function. Put them on circular, triangular, and French door windows just as simply as normal square or rectangular windows.

You are also able to position Polywood shutters in any room. Pick them for their durability and efficiency in wet bathrooms, cool attic dormers, or sun-splashed south-facing rooms. Shutters even work great in heavily occupied areas and little ones’ rooms because they don’t use cords that pose a safety risk.

 

The Pros And Cons Of Window Shades

White shades in a corner of a living room.

Window shades can be found in many contasting styles, although, by and large, all have a sheet of fabric mounted above your window. You generally pull the material up or down to uncover and cover your window through a built-in pull bar or cord, although you can discover motorized options as well.

Window shades don’t use louvers to control illumination and privacy, but more transparent or more freely woven fibrous shades will let light into lower-lit areas while obstructing the sightline into your property. Or you can utilize top-down/bottom-up options that let you open up the top of your window for sunshine while preserving your privacy at the bottom.

 

The Pros

Dallas homeowners like window shades due to the fact they can be found in various colors, materials, and styles. You’ll find shades with standard colors and bright hues, solid color or dramatic patterns, see-through or blackout opacities, pleated fabric or natural fibers, and many different options. If you want a stylish design element when redesigning an interior, window shades in just the right color or pattern will boost your ambience and cover your windows.

The differing window shade types have their own benefits too. Roller shades have a classic minimalist feel. Cellular shades offer energy efficiency. Tumble shades are smart choices for door windows. And sheer shades give you an agreeable blend of privacy and sunlight.

 

The Cons

Window shades don’t last as long as solid window treatments and are often challenging to clean. Their materials will in time blemish from the sun or might tear, grow mold, or show stains. You should plan on replacing window shades every three or four years as they wear out or you alter your home’s style.

Window shades also offer less capability in balancing sunlight and privacy than interior shutters. Even drawing them up part-way means you forgo your privacy on half of the window and you’re not able to change how the sunlight streams in at the bottom. And a range of window shades will display shadows if your lights are on after dark. And rectangular window shades in Dallas compel you to decide between hiding a non-traditional window’s unique size or keeping the window bare permanently.

 

How To Use Window Shades

Many Dallas property owners choose window shades when they prefer colorful window treatments to blend with their design. They work best in low-traffic rooms where they won’t wear as quickly from persistent usage.

You are also able to employ certain window shades for their specific purposes. Choose cellular shades to assist in blocking cool air from entering. Slim roller shades fit in spots where you don’t want a bulky window treatment. Blackout shades keep bedrooms dark for better sleep. Woven fiber shades bring a natural element to your home. And don’t forget, custom shades will unquestionably have more appeal and function more reliably on your windows than store-bought products.

 

The Pros And Cons Of Window Blinds

Wood blinds in a small dining room area.

Window blinds feature a row of long slats made of a firm material that you lower over your windows to conceal them. Blinds function with pull cords or cordless lifting mechanisms. Along with concealing windows with blinds, you can also rotate the slats with a rod for more command over sunlight.

 

The Pros

The benefits of window blinds are dependent on what they’re made of. By design, all blinds conceal windows to impede outside light and views into your Dallas interior, but their material and quality play a big role how effectively they do this. You could observe sun and silhouettes with low-grade vinyl blinds. Vinyl and aluminum blinds also curve and fracture without much difficulty, which leaves unattractive openings that permit light. For these blinds, their bargain pricing and lack of durability make them beneficial chiefly as interim window products.

Quality real wood and faux-wood blinds utilize sturdier slats that blanket windows much better. You won’t have to worry about seeing through them, and they don’t fall apart rapidly. The wood or synthetic construction, combined with the attractive straight lines of the slats, look more sophisticated as well. Premium natural wood and faux-wood blinds can be found in adaptable neutral tones that look lovely in any area.

Blinds let you direct the amount of light that comes through your windows. You are able to move them up for an unrestricted view and complete sunshine or lower them for privacy and an absence of light. When the blinds are closed, you are also able to turn the slats for a partial view and a bit natural light.

 

The Cons

Wood and faux-wood blinds look similar to plantation shutters but aren’t as long-lasting. The cords incorporated into the slats can come apart over the long haul, and wood slats can warp and split from excess humidity or intense temperature fluctuations. Blinds also include a fair number of elements that might result in them being a challenge to clean, and blinds with pull cords may stick or get tangled as you try to manipulate them.

Despite the fact that made-to-order blinds will accommodate your windows in terms of size, they don’t have the full coverage around the perimeter that shutters offer as they aren’t built into a frame. You’ll also notice that both window blinds and shades in Dallas will swing and knock against your window if jostled or caught in a wind gust. This moving around lets people see in and allows light.

 

How To Incorporate Window Blinds

High-end blinds look great in any space for rectangular or square windows. Make sure you only install water-repellent faux-wood blinds in moist areas like kitchens and baths. And motorized or cordless blinds offer safer choices in the event you have children or pets.

 

Sunburst Has It All From Louvered Shutters To Window Blinds And Shades In Dallas

Want to know more about the differences between interior shutters, window blinds, and window shades in Dallas? Sunburst Shutters Dallas boasts the most comprehensive lineup of high-end window treatments in town and will is pleased to answer all of your questions. We conduct free in-home consultations to exhibit our choices and let you determine which window treatments look best in your property. Request yours by dialing 214-301-5066 or filling out the following form.