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

Blinds, Shutters, and shades–oh my! The range of different window treatments on the market can become a bit mind-boggling if you have to choose one for your Miami interior. Understanding the differences between each kind will aid you in determining which products will be best on the windows you have. Here, we explain the advantages, cons, and ideal locations for plantation shutters, window blinds, and window shades in Miami.

The Pros And Cons Of Interior Shutters

Interior shutters are made of real wood or faux wood and go inside your property where they affix permanently to your window with the product’s frame attached to the window’s framework. Movable panels inside the frame open up for full light and a clear view or close again to cover your window for privacy and darkness. When the panels are shut, you can also rotate the rows of louvers for some sunlight and adjust them to divert light wherever you want.

The Pros

Louvered shutters stand out from other options thanks to their specialized design. Along with their unmistakable look, they also offer many amazing benefits for Miami properties:

• Give your home enticing architectural styling

• Available in neutral colors to complement your design in the present and in the future if you change your home’s look

• Provide total privacy and nearly full darkness when closed

• Open easily for sunlight and a view

• Fit any specialty shaped window like arches and angles

• Redirect sun glare with the louvers

• Simple to dust and clean

• Provide superior energy efficiency

• An enduring part of your interior that increases your Miami home’s value

• Many personalization choices to create the style you would like while meeting your specific requirements

On top of these pros, faux-wood Polywood® shutters feature their own notable assets: 

• Unsurpassed durability with resistance to harm from cold, heat, damp conditions, and the sun

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

• Innovative weatherstripping for noticeable energy efficiency and cost-savings

Really, Polywood shutters can do everything you require a window treatment to accomplish, from elevating your window’s appearance to stopping cold drafts and harmful ultraviolet rays. And they work and look just as superb decades later as the day you first got them.

The Cons

Louvered shutters’ single disadvantage is that they can only be found in neutral tints. Even though their classic hues match all kinds of designs, you’ll need to go with window shades or blinds if you are determined to install colorful or patterned window treatments.

How To Utilize Louvered Shutters

You may utilize louvered shutters on any window inside your Miami residence. Custom shutters accommodate every shape and size of window without forgoing their function. Put them on circular, angled, and patio door windows just as simply as normal rectangular windows.

You can also place Polywood shutters in any space. Choose them for their durability and energy efficiency in damp bathrooms, cold attic dormers, or sun-filled south-pointing rooms. Shutters also make sense in family places and children’s rooms since they don’t have cords that pose a safety threat.

The Pros And Cons Of Window Shades

Window shades come in various contasting styles, but, in general, all have a sheet of fabric positioned over your window. You usually pull the fabric down or up to uncover and cover your window via the bottom pull bar or corded mechanism, but you are able to find motorized shades too.

Window shades don’t feature louvers to manage sunlight and privacy, but sheer or loosely woven natural fiber shades are able to permit light into lower-lit spaces while blocking the sightline into your property. Or you might utilize top-down/bottom-up styles that let you uncover the upper region of your window for sunshine while preserving your privacy on the lower half.

The Pros

Miami property owners prefer window shades due to the fact they can be found in various styles, colors, and materials. You’ll see shades with standard colors and bright tints, single color or dramatic patterns, see-through or blackout opacities, neatly folded fabric or fibrous materials, and various other choices. If you’re looking for a unique accent while overhauling a space, window shades in the perfect color or pattern will enhance your ambience and shield your windows.

Individual window shade types have their own perks too. Roller shades have a sleek look. Cellular shades are energy efficient. Tumble shades are smart choices for French doors. And sheer shades provide an agreeable blend of light and privacy.

The Cons

Window shades aren’t as durable as solid window treatments and can be difficult to clean. Their fabric materials will in time blemish on account of the sun or may pull apart, grow mold, or show stains. You should expect to replace window shades every three or four years as they wear out or you update your home’s style.

Window shades also have less capability in adjusting exterior light and privacy than interior shutters. Even opening them part of the way means you forgo your privacy on half of the window and can’t change how sunshine floods in in the open section. And a range of window shades will display shadows when you have the lights on inside during the night. And rectangular window shades in Miami compel you to pick between hiding a non-standard window’s distinctive dimensions or leaving the window bare at all times.

How To Incorporate Window Shades

Most Miami residents use window shades because they are looking for specific colors of window treatments to match their decor. They are best suited for less active spaces where they won’t get damaged by frequent use.

You can also employ certain window shades for their particular purposes. Choose cellular shades to help block exterior airflow. Slim roller shades accommodate spaces where you need to avoid a larger window treatment. Blackout shades keep out light for better sleep. Woven fiber shades bring an element of nature to your decor. And don’t forget, custom shades will always look and work better on your windows than store-bought products.

The Pros And Cons Of Window Blinds

Window blinds feature a row of long slats constructed with a firm material that you lower over your windows to conceal them. Blinds operate with a cord or cordless functionality. Along with concealing windows with blinds, you can also rotate the slats toward or away from you with a rod for extra control over natural light.

The Pros

The benefits of window blinds largely depend on on what they’re made of. By design, all blinds shield windows to obstruct sunlight and views inside your Miami residence, but their material and quality are essential in how successfully they achieve this. You might observe light and silhouettes with cheap vinyl blinds. Aluminum and vinyl blinds also curve and snap without much difficulty, leaving unpleasant openings that permit outside light. For these blinds, their bargain pricing and lack of durability make them beneficial chiefly as interim window coverings.

Well-made natural wood and faux-wood blinds use more robust slats that envelop windows much better. You won’t have to worry about seeing through them, and they don’t fall apart rapidly. These materials, combined with the appealing defined edges of the slats, provide a more elegant appearance too. Superior wood and faux-wood blinds come in versatile neutral shades that go with the decor of any room.

Blinds permit you to control the quantity of light that comes through your windows. You may pull them up for an unhindered view and total sunlight or guide them down for privacy and darkness. When the blinds are lowered, you can also tilt open the slats for a restricted view and some sunlight.

The Cons

Wood and faux-wood blinds have a similar appearance to louvered shutters but aren’t nearly as durable. The cords that hold the slats together can unravel over time, and wood slats might warp and split from an abundance of humidity or extreme temperature variations. Blinds also come with a great deal of components that can result in them being tricky to clean, and blinds with pull cords might get tangled up or stick as you make an effort to manipulate them.

Even though made-to-order blinds will accommodate your windows perfectly, they can’t give you the full coverage over the edges that shutters offer since they aren’t enclosed by a frame. You’ll also discover that both window blinds and shades in Miami can swing and smack your window if jostled or impacted by a wind gust. That movement lets people see in and lets in exterior light.

How To Utilize Window Blinds

Premium blinds look great in any space for square or rectangle windows. Only use water-resistant faux-wood blinds in high-humidity spaces like bathrooms and kitchens. And automated or cord-free blinds are safer choices if you have children or pets.

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

Would you like to know more about the differences between louvered shutters, window blinds, and window shades in Miami? Sunburst Shutters Miami has the best assortment of high-end window treatments around and will is pleased to answer any questions you might have. We provide no-charge in-home consultations to display our choices and let you determine which window treatments are right for your property. Schedule yours by placing a call to 305-520-7515 or filling out the form below.