Shades

August 10, 2007

How to Decorate With Cheap Roller Shades

Cheap roller shades are most preferred for the exterior decoration of your house or business premises. Use of modern fabrics and minimalism in cheap roller shades are behind make them popular. Classic simplicity and low cost also add to their effective consumer reach.

Cheap roller shades are mostly available in standard yet with an overturn roll causing the fabric hides the spin of the shade. If placed with a cassette headrail system the cheap roller shades look more poignant. Ornamental hems, ring pulls and tassels can add to the decoration of your window at home.

Cheap roller shades with light filtering fabrics and space darkening materials looks more attractive. Most of the houses and business apartments in developing countries prefer cheap roller shades not only for their cost effectiveness, but also for the inherent simplicity. Selected roller shades with trendy fabrics, streamlined roller system, novel hems and ritual accents look more poignant. Limited life time warranty adds to the consumer satisfaction.

The typical elastic cord, now replaced with a chain within the rail workings makes it doable to raise and lower the blinds to a definite position. With the increasing use of newer roller shades materials, energy efficiency and sound absorbering capability have increased considerably. Those nostalgic about the exterior décor of the bygone era, you can use decorative tassels to add charm and convenience to your roller shades.

Cheap roller shades are available in three varieties depending on size - inside mount, outside mount and cloth measurement. Incase of inside mount the over all width is 49 7/8" with fabric of 48 ¾". In outside mount the width of fabric is 48 7/8 and the clutch width is around 50". Fabric wide of 50" against overall width of 51 1/8" the category falls in to cloth measurement.

Cheap roller shades are well appreciated for their least expensive nature. They are quite durable when used with superior rollers like the one with cellular waves. They come in numerous sizes like 3/8", 1/2", 3/4", 2" variations. Generally, the larger the plate, the more expensive is the shade. Blackout featuring pleats are even more costly. Beware of cheaper varieties as they lose their pleat shape effortlessly. Shades with "D cell" design. And with arches, angle-tops and bottom originated are quite decorative. Those with exquisite bamboo shades from Asia are very distinctive, though expensive.

Cheap roller shades include beautiful varieties like Vignettes and Cascades. These are less costly compared to Roman shades. Silhouettes roller shades are the most versatile and unique and command greater demand. Build your home of own style and cheap roller shades is sure to give it a distinctive looking.

Filed under General, Shades by Heather Madison

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August 8, 2007

Room Darkening Shades Help Keep Your Home Cool

People living in southern climes often want room darkening shades. In the summer months, particularly in these days of (seemingly) continuously rising temperatures, many homeowners look for ways to keep their houses cool. Of course, there is the old standard: air conditioning. But, it has the drawback of costing money. In general, people try to minimize the amounts of those "dead presidents" that they have to part with on a regular basis.

Cellular shades, also known as the room darkening type, are an excellent alternative method to helping a house stay cool. These days, they have become quite popular because of their crisp, clean style, their versatility and their energy efficiency. The soft shades come in single, double and triple honeycomb patterns come in sheer, light-filtering, and room darkening styles. While soft, the material they are made out of is quite tough and durable.

The secret to the shades is their honeycomb shape. As the blinds are lowered, the cells expand. These voids fill with air and form a barrier to the sun’s rays. The result is that the run must first heat the air in those voids before it can heat the air in the room. It is not a perfect system; after all, the sun is quite powerful. Still, even a modicum of relief is sometimes all it takes to save a significant amount of money. Furthermore, if the homeowner opts for shades that are also a dark color, that contributes to the cooling of the room, and provides privacy. As an added option, these room darkening shades can be made cordless. A simple motor allows them to be operated by a remote control or wall switch. Some models also come with what is called a continuous cord loop. This is a special feature that allows heavy shades to be operated with much less effort. As for vendors, there are Blinds.com, Hunter Douglas, Graber, Levolor, and Bali to name only a few. All can be purchased at a variety of local stores: Wal-Mart, Sears, K-Mart, or online from their own websites. Also, as with most things these days, discount stores like Costco and Sam’s Club carry them.

Filed under General, Shades by Heather Madison

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July 31, 2007

Deciding if You Need Skylight Shades

Good skylight shades will keep the sun you’ve invited into your house out when the heat it creates gets to intense.

Why Get Skylights?

Before you can understand why you might need skylight shades, you need to understand why you might need or want a skylight. Skylights are large ceiling windows. They’re placed in areas of the home that need more light. Often times these areas have no other access to natural light. For example, bathrooms are a common place for skylights. Many bathrooms do not have windows. Adding a skylight lets the sun in and naturally brightens up the room.

Those who live in smaller houses might add skylights to various rooms make the house appear bigger. Putting a skylight in at the top of a room gives the illusion that the room is larger. The light lengthens the room. This can be a big attraction when a person is tying to sell a smaller house.

Skylights Don’t Need An On-Off Switch

Skylights are great for letting light in, but what if you want the light out? Let’s say you have a skylight in your bedroom. You love the natural light it brings in during the winter, but what about the summer? Do you want the sun to greet you for a 6 a.m. rising every morning?

If not, you may need skylight shades. You can’t just turn a skylight off. However, you can buy a special shade that will allow you to control access to the light.

There are several different skylight shades to choose from. Light-blocking shades will keep the sun out of your room. Venetian blinds look just like the blinds that are probably on your windows right now. Venetian skylight blinds are made out of aluminum and keep out sunlight. They’re also thick enough to protect your privacy. Cellular shades block some of the sun’s rays. This is a good shade choice in a room that contains a TV or computer because it cuts down on glare.

If your sunlight is in a hallway or bathroom, you’re probably not going to need a skylight shade. You’ll save yourself some money if you only get skylight shades in rooms you do not sleep in.

How Skylight Shades Operate

How the heck are you supposed to open and close a window shade if you can’t reach the window? Good question. Skylight shades can be raised and lowered manually or mechanically. In some homes the skylight might be placed on a slanted ceiling that is within reaching distance. In this case, the homeowner can manually pull down and raise the skylight shade.

If your skylight is far to high to reach, you can get mechanical skylight shades. These skylight shades are operated using a handheld mechanical device and are very easy to operate.

Filed under Interior, Shades by Heather Madison

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