Hard Window Treatment Reviews and Buying Guide:

When you set out to redecorate a room in your house keep in mind that the hard window treatments can really show off a room. The amount of styles and types of window treatments are many with blinds (horizontal/vertical), roller shades, interior shutters, woven shades, and roller blinds. and cellular shades. Hard window treatments are defined as "non-sewn window treatments" and many homeowners prefer these types of window treatments since they are more durable and require less maintenance than the soft window treatments (curtains, valances, tiers, etc). Not only do you want a product that looks good in your home, but you want a functional window treatment that will regulate how much light is allowed into rooms. Your choices for colors, patterns, and styles of mini blinds, wood blinds, or shutters is practically endless with todays marketplace. Hard window treatments definitely give you the most flexibility for controlling how much light is allowed into your house.

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Which hard window treatment is best for you? Many interior designers say it comes down to personal choice but there are definitely some benefits and disadvantages to all types of window treatments. One of the latest products are the cellular shades which roll up and down your window (resembling an accordion). Many home builders now offer these in areas where the weather is either cold in the winter or hot in the summer months. The insulating power of these shades keeps your heating and cooling bills to a minimum. Some of the roller shades, or cellular shades have remote controls as they are motorized. The convenience and luxury of technology I guess. You will pay a price for these innovative shades as they are much more expensive than traditional blinds. If you want a more natural look to your window treatments consider natural shades made from grass, bamboo, raffia, and jute. Natural woven shade slats are durable and do a good job of controlling the amount of light let into a room. Hunter Douglas is probably the most famous brand name when it comes to blinds and indoor shutters. Hunter Douglas offers horizontal and vertical blinds in a variety of colors, textures, materials, and styles which only adds to the difficulty in choosing something. We found their salespeople to be very informative and they took into consideration all our rooms and furniture designs when telling us which type of blind or shade would work best. Hunter Douglas recommends horizontal blinds for windows that are taller than they wide. They make horizontal blinds with premium hardwoods, aluminum, or a mix of composite materials and hardwoods. Vertical blinds make better window treatments on windows that are wider than they are tall. Vertical blinds open and close from side to side unlike horizontal blinds that operate in an up and down manner. You will find vertical blinds come in fabric, vinyl and aluminum. Wood and vinyl shutters are another option. Vinyl shutters are recommended for those living in extreme climates with high heat and humidity since they don't warp, fade, peel, or chip. Back to shades for a minutes, you can find nice wood shades, Roman shades, and pleated shades from many manufacturers as well. Some companies will send out certified professionals to measure your windows in your house. For your own piece of mind, always measure the windows before you purchase anything. Sears offers an excellent window treatment service from their stores with in home measuring and custom pricing quotes. The Internet is a great place to start your search with all the varieties that exist. Sears.com lists quite a few window treatments and HunterDouglas.com is perhaps the best website for finding the latest fashion and products in hard window treatments. We like their product advisor section where you answer about 10 basic questions and they give you a list of products that may fit your needs. Lowes.com carries Levolor blinds so you can get a quick price comparison on their website if you know what Hunter Douglas or another brand is going to charge for a comparable product. In terms of what it takes to hang or put up window treatments, we suggest letting a professional do it. Sure there are some do-it-yourselfers (DIY) that are capable of measuring, ordering and installing blinds, shutters or shades, but the pros will have the install done in no time at all.

Woven Shades:

Natural woven shades may not be as popular as wood blinds or shutters, but they are nice alternative in some homes. Many are produced with bamboo, reeds, exotic grasses, and woven blends to create a unique look and feel covering your windows. We found a good collection online at Smithandnoble.com with styles like waterfall shades, flat fold shades, hobble valance, and roll up valance. Blindsgalore.com also offers a wide selection of natural woven shade textures and options available like top down/bottom up, continuous cord loop, edge binding, hobbled, privacy/blackout liner, and flat roman fold. There are even customer reviews you can read online that could help in your purchase decision. They also have a price calculator with variables of width and height that should give you a good idea of how much they will cost.

Horizontal and Vertical Blinds:

When it comes to window treatment blinds, it's hard to wrong with Hunter Douglas products. They have been producing window coverings since 1946 and always seem to come out with innovative product lines. There are Hunter Douglas retailers and interior designers located in the U.S. and Canada (just look on the Internet for your nearest location). Whether you want privacy, light control, or just beautiful window coverings, Hunter Douglas probably will have what you want. We have found that Hunter Douglas gets great customer satisfaction ratings as well and we ourselves had to take a few of our wood blinds to get repaired and the work was done for free. Their wood blinds are top rated for energy efficiency and several come with battery-powered PowerTilt motorized options. The UV protection on the HD blinds is called "superior" blocking 95-99% of the harmful rays and sound absorption is "good". Most slat sizes are between 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 inches. If you plan on going with an aluminum horizontal or vertical blind, then check out Graberblinds.com for a quality selection of both types. They make aluminum blinds that are easy to clean, are top rated for those in high humidity climates. The Graber blinds are not as good in terms of giving you privacy or light control. Aluminum blinds will not be as energy efficient as the wood blinds.

Custom Wood Interior Shutters:

Interior wood shutters are a classy and elegant window treatment that many homeowners only dream of since they can be a bit pricey. There are several companies that make quality indoor plantation style shutters like Hunter Douglas and Horizon Shutters. We went online to Horizonshutters.com to see just what they offered. A nice feature on the website is the price calculator for quick quotes on products you are interested in. We entered our details into the page to find out what a 42" Wide by 60" high plantation style shutter (stained) that has a 2 panel double tier design would cost. The full unit price would be a little over $600. Just change any of the variables (single tier, stained, unfinished, 4 panel, etc.) and get a new estimate on your new window treatment interior shutters.

Cellular Shades:

As we mentioned above, Honeycomb or cell shades are becoming quite popular in todays homes. They are not only versatile by they provide a more energy efficient product than other types of blinds. The single, double and triple honeycomb designs do an excellent job at light filtering and room darkening as needed. You can buy them cordless with a motorized mechanism that works from a remote control (that's luxury). There are top-down or bottom-up varieties along with continuous cord loop. The price is considered moderate and for insulation purposes it's hard to do better. Blinds.com has a page on cellular shades that compares prices with Bali, Levolor, Graber and their own site. The general theory behind cellular shades is that the larger the cell size the better the insulation since the cells trap air in them. Triple cell shades are the most efficient.

Do you have a quality site or product that belongs in this guide? We are always happy to evaluate or review new products and websites. Feel free to contact us at the email address below and let us know about you. If you have a demo product you'd like us to look at, please contact us before sending anything. Thank you.

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