The good news is that there are several window coverings available that allow you to keep your view while protecting your valuable furnishings from the sun. Let’s look at some options for controlling incoming light.

Drapes

One of the most common types of sun damage is to drapes. Fabric will fade from direct sun exposure and will also begin to deteriorate and weaken in places. You can add a liner to your drapes to protect the fabric or add a second hardware track for a sheer inner drape. Adding a sheer drape allows you to maintain your view while diffusing incoming light and reducing UV rays. From a decorating standpoint, drapes and sheers have often been thought of as a more traditional choice but not anymore. With the price of energy continuing to climb drapes are once again becoming a popular choice as they can keep your home both cool in summer and warm in winter. Today you can choose from a huge range of colours, patterns and textures, allowing you to create window coverings that are as unique as you are.

Sheer Blinds

If you like the idea of a sheer drape but are looking for the convenience and function of a blind, you should consider products like Hunter Douglas’ Silhouette and Luminette lines. These innovative blinds have soft polyester fabric vanes suspended between translucent facings. When the vanes are opened the incoming UV rays are reduced by up to 86%. Plus you get the added benefit of daytime privacy as you can easily see outside but people will not be able to look inside your home. Sheer blinds provide a clean, contemporary look that compliments many styles of furnishings.

Solar Screen Shades

This type of window covering has been around for years but has mainly been used in offices and restaurants. With the recent introduction of new fabrics, textures and colours solar screen shades are now becoming very popular in residential homes. Solar screen shades are excellent for blocking incoming UV rays, reducing glare and keeping your home cooler in the summer. Available in roman shades or roller blinds, these products have openings from 3 to 14 percent allowing you to choose the amount of light you want to let into your room. As an added benefit, screen shades are available with motorized operating systems that make it easy to lift heavy or hard-to-reach shades.

So let the sun shine! Just make sure you’re controlling the amount that comes into your home. No matter which option you choose, adding window coverings will protect your investments ensuring your furniture, flooring, draperies and art keep their original colours and remain a beautiful part of your home.

A great way to improve your sleep is to control the light entering your bedroom by adding blackout window coverings – the same as you would find in fine hotels. Let’s look at some of the benefits of blackout window coverings and how to add them to your home.

Blackout Drapes

Blackout drapes look like any other drape from inside the room, giving you a wide range of fabrics to match your bedroom décor, but have a special fabric backing that blocks out almost all outside light at any hour of the day. For new drapes the blackout lining is attached directly to the drape so the folds and pleats of the fabric are duplicated. When choosing a fabric for drapes with a blackout lining it’s best to choose a medium to heavy fabric that can take the extra weight of the liner. It’s also a good idea to choose a fabric with a bit of colour as neutral or light-coloured fabrics can take on a grayish hue from the liner backing.

I don’t recommend adding a liner to an existing window covering as it will alter the drape of the fabric, leaving you with a “bunched up” look. You can still add a blackout liner to an existing drape by placing it on a separate drapery track.

Blackout Blinds

If you prefer blinds, you can take advantage of products such as Hunter Douglas’ Duette Honeycomb line made with their Eclipse room-darkening liner. If you decide on a slat-style bind, be sure to look for styles that don’t have any holes in the slats. Also, you’ll need to mount the blinds outside the window frame to ensure no light leaks in from the sides of the blinds.

Strata Compliance

If you’re home is part of a strata complex it’s common to have bylaws requiring all window coverings to be white or off-white on the side facing outside. Blackout linings come in the simple, neutral colours that stratas require, giving the front face of your home a consistent and clean look.

Other Benefits and Uses

Blackout window coverings have other benefits besides improving your sleep. They provide the ultimate in privacy and can help insulate your home, keeping it cooler in summer and warmer in winter.

And blackout window coverings have other uses besides the bedroom. They’re perfect for home theatres with projector televisions. You’ll see a dramatic difference in picture quality when outdoor light is eliminated from a room.

So why not wake up when you want to wake up? A good quality sleep is a necessity to good health, not a luxury!

If you think outdoor fabric is plain and canvas-like or heavy and plastic-looking, think again. Today’s outdoor fabrics are soft and flexible, making them beautiful and very comfortable, and they come in a wide range of colours and patterns.

Most off-the-shelf outdoor décor comes in standard solid colours, which aren’t very exciting or interesting. Wouldn’t you rather have something unique that suits your personality? Creating custom outdoor décor allows you to mix and match fabrics and patterns, just like you would for any indoor decorating project.

Here are some decorating project ideas using outdoor fabrics:

Chair and Bench Pads

The most popular use for outdoor fabrics would have to be chair and bench pads. These items add a level of comfort to outdoor furniture, which is often made from hard plastic, wood or wicker. Wrap a layer of plastic over a cushion form and then cover it with outdoor fabric. The cushions will be safe outside and only need to be placed in a shed or storage unit during heavy rainfall. Adding ties to the cushions will prevent them from slipping off furniture.

Floor Cushions

A great way to increase outdoor seating is with oversized floor cushions. They’re perfect for casual entertaining, children’s seating, or just lazing in the sun.

Outdoor Table Linens

Make an outdoor tablecloth with a hole in the centre for your table umbrella. Or, create a set of outdoor placemats to complement your chair pads. This is a great way to mix fabric patterns, adding more colour and interest to your table.

Sunshades

Need a little extra shade? Create a custom sunshade to cover a patio or a corner of your yard. Sunshades are a simple alternative to awnings and canopies and can be made in squares, rectangles or triangles. Grommets or D-rings can be added for mounting to buildings, fences or trees.

Outdoor Drapes

If you need a little privacy or just want to add some drama to your outdoor living area, consider outdoor drapes. Condo or apartment dwellers can add roman shades to separate their outdoor area from a neighbor. They’re also another way to create shade where needed. Panels can be added to awnings and gazebos to create a cozy, private area for reading or entertaining.

Recreational Uses

Recovering seats on boats is a great use for outdoor fabric. A softer fabric will be more comfortable and the mildew-resistant properties are perfectly suited for high moisture areas. Another good use is on furniture in recreational or rental properties, where easy cleaning in high-traffic areas is required.

Indoor Uses

Outdoor fabrics can also be used indoors in any area where easy cleaning is a high priority. Family room furniture, kitchen tablecloths and pet bedding can all benefit from these durable fabrics.

Don’t save all your great decorating ideas for inside your home. Show off your personal style by creating an outdoor space that’s as unique as you are. With outdoor fabrics you can turn your yard, deck or patio into usable living space and fully take advantage of the warmer weather.

And family pets are just as curious, climbing on furniture to see the world outside and using dangling cords as playthings.

Making window coverings safe for homes with infants, young children and pets is a top priority for parents and pet owners. There are many window covering options available, with a variety of child- and pet-safe lifting systems that will make your home a safer environment.

Improvements on horizontal blinds

Horizontal blinds with dangling cords have long been considered a major hazard for children and pets. But new features, such as break-through safety tassels, are making this type of window covering a safer option. The break-through feature is designed to break open under pressure, such as a child or pet become entangled in the cord loop. This is a standard feature on many of Hunter Douglas’ wood or aluminum blinds.

But eliminating dangling cords is an even safer option and you can choose from spring-loaded or motorized lifting systems, or retractable cords that maintain a consistent, safe length.

Spring-loaded Systems

Spring-loaded lifting systems are hand-operated by simply pushing up and pulling down from the bottom of the window covering. You simply raise or lower the window covering to the desired position and then hold it there, where it locks in automatically. A good example of this type of system is LiteRise by Hunter Douglas.

Motorized Systems

Motorized lifting systems not only eliminate cords and increase safety for kids and pets, they provide enhanced safety and convenience for seniors or anyone with mobility limitations. Motorization and remote control operation can be added to virtually any window covering, including drapes, blinds, roman shades and sheers.

Retractable Cords

Retractable cord lifting systems, such as Hunter Douglas’ patented UltraGlide, have an internal self-winding feature. This makes for a constant cord length, whether the window covering is raised or lowered, so the cords are never at an unsafe length.

Other more traditional cord-free options include wands (for vertical blinds or drapes) or wood/faux wood shutters. Whatever cordless lifting system you choose for your window coverings, your children and pets will be safer and you’ll have greater peace of mind.

Welcoming spring into your home means focusing on incoming light and taking inspiration from the colours that are returning to nature after winter’s hibernation.

Here are a few easy techniques to revitalize your home and prepare for the spring season.

Bring in some colour

Watching the flowers bloom outside is a great way to get some colour and pattern inspiration. Have some fun with your decorating by adding hyacinth purple, marigold yellow or honeysuckle pink (which was named the 2011 colour of the year). These colours are all welcome at this time of year and make great accent items that will attract the eye and give neutral furniture a new lease on life.

Toss in some accents

One of the easiest accents to add to a room is throw pillows. You can cover existing pillows with a sheer, iridescent overlay to lighten them up or completely recover them with a new spring-inspired fabric.

You can do the same to your wood table by adding a sheer tablecloth or a pretty floral table runner to create a new seasonal look.

Look outside for inspiration

With all these outdoor colours coming into the home why not try bringing a piece of garden furniture indoors? The added texture of an outdoor piece can be a wonderful addition and instantly brings the feeling of warm weather to a room.

Let the light in

Spring is the perfect time to add sheer drapes to your windows. Sheers are perfect for diffusing incoming sun and casting a warm glow, and I love how they sway gently with the incoming breeze. Sheer fabrics come in many colours and patterns so they can also add a beautiful decorating element to a room.

Bigger ideas for bigger impact

If you still want to do more to change up for spring try adding seasonal slipcovers to dark sofas, chairs or ottomans. You can coordinate mismatched pieces and protect your furniture from the sun’s damaging UV rays. Other ideas include rolling out a colourful area rug, exchanging some of your art with botanical prints or changing lampshades.

The finishing touches

As always, it’s the finishing touches that make a house a home. Nothing says spring like flowers so treat yourself to a bouquet! Whether you choose fresh or silk, they’ll brighten up any room.

Even just a simple furniture rearrangement can make a big difference. Instead of having furniture facing a fireplace, as you would in the winter months, try moving your seating to take advantage of an outdoor view. And removing a few heavier-looking items will instantly lighten the room.

Welcome spring and have some fun and creating a feeling of warmth and freshness for the start of the new season.

Let’s look at the options for thermal window coverings that will add extra comfort and beauty to our homes, providing style, insulation and energy savings at the same time.

Thermal-lined Drapes

If you’re planning on adding drapes to your windows and are starting from scratch, you can have a thermal liner sewn into the drape. The folds and pleats in the main fabric will be duplicated in the liner, giving a clean, tailored appearance. Thermal-lined drapes will look like any other drape from inside the room so you can choose from a wide range of fabrics to match your décor.

I don’t recommend adding a liner to an existing window covering as it will alter the drape of the main fabric. You can still get the benefits from a thermal liner by adding a separate drapery track and hanging the liner behind your existing drapes.

When choosing a fabric for drapes with a sewn-in thermal liner it’s best to go with a medium to heavy fabric. Cotton or microfibre fabrics are great choices. When the thermal lining is added to these fabrics it will actually make them hang better, giving the drapes more body and tailoring.

To get the full advantage of thermal-lined drapes, they should be fitted close to the wall on all sides to prevent gaps that can allow cold air into the room. Drapes should also be made wide enough to overlap at the centre.

If you’re home is part of a strata complex you probably have the usual rule that requires all window coverings to be white or off-white on the outdoor-facing side. Thermal linings come in the simple white or neutral colours that stratas require, giving the front face of your home a clean look.

Decorating with area rugs is one of the quickest changes you can make to update and revitalize your room.

Area rugs can transform to your home in many ways. They can:

Contribute to the warmth of a room
If you have a tile or wood floor, your room might feel cold and bare. Adding an area rug will make the space feel warmer and more welcoming.

Add colour and pattern to a plain room
The addition of an area rug can add a spark of colour and introduce new pattern to a plain, open area.

Help dampen the sound of footsteps on a hard surface
Place an area rug in an entry hall or in between rooms and foot traffic will be much quieter.

Cushion your feet
A soft rug can provide a cushion for standing and walking on hard floors.

Clean dirty feet
Placed just inside the house, at both the front and back doors, an area rug can collect dirt from outside and help keep the interior flooring clean.

Protect fine flooring
For a home with fine carpeting or hardwood floors, an area rug can keep dirt and scratches to a minimum. Place the rug in the center of high traffic areas and the flooring will remain beautiful for years.

Add interest and a focal point to a space
If a room has neutral-coloured walls or unpatterned fabrics on furniture and window coverings, an interesting area rug can become a room’s focal point.

You also need to consider each window’s directional exposure in order to determine which style of window covering will best suit each room in your home.

The perfect window covering can offer many benefits including:

• Increasing the insulating r-value of the window, keeping your home cooler in summer and warmer in winter
• Reducing UV damage to furnishings, including fading and colour alteration
• Filtering incoming light to remove glare on electronics
• Eliminating incoming light to provide a blackout environment, which will greatly improve your sleep
• Increasing privacy while allowing you to maintain your outdoor view
• Reducing outside noise, including street traffic

Window Covering Styles

There are two styles of window treatments available, commonly referred to as hard and soft styles.

Hard window styles include shutters, shades and blinds made of metal, vinyl or wood. Some hard window coverings have the addition of sheer fabrics to combine the benefits of both styles. Hard window styles are appreciated for their simple, streamlined look and the ability to effectively control light and provide maximum privacy.

Soft window styles include drapes, roman shades and sheers. These use fabrics that enrich windows and rooms with colour, pattern and texture. They can carry out a room’s decorative theme and even stand on their own as a room’s focal point. Soft styles can be combined with specialty linings to make them very effective at blocking incoming light, preventing drafts and reducing outside noise.

You can easily adjust the light and privacy for any window, including tall or hard-to-reach areas such as stairwells and great rooms. With motorization you can raise or lower individual units or select a group (or groups) of window coverings to move together, even in multiple rooms.

Motorization options

There are different options available, including:

• Battery-operated motorization – easy to install with no additional wiring required
• Hard wired motorization – seamlessly integrated with any home automation system
• Solar powered motorization – solar-powered motors with no electrical wiring

Solar sensor option

There is also a very useful option that monitors your home’s environment to determine if it is overheating. The sensors are set at a certain temperature and when reached the drapes or blinds will close to block incoming light and heat. This is a great example of where thermal window coverings can be used in the warmer summer months to keep your home cool without the cost of fans or air conditioning – even when you aren’t home! This motorization option requires a hard wire installation.

Motorization in action

To give an example of how effective motorization is, we recently installed window coverings for a home in Whistler that has 75 windows. Most people immediately think “what a large number of windows to clean” but in this instance it was what a large number of window coverings to keep opening and closing each day! But by adding motorization the owner can manually operate them as desired using a remote control, but they were also able to pre-program a daily open and close sequence that operates whether they’re home or not, increasing their privacy and security.

Another good example is a customer who has a large span of windows with a south-west exposure. They wanted some light to come in for the early part of the day for their plants and pets but needed to block the more intense light that came each afternoon. Adding motorized window coverings allowed them to pre-program a schedule that opened each morning and then closed in the early afternoon. They were able to program a Monday to Friday schedule for when they were at work and then operated their window coverings manually with a remote control on the weekends when they were home.

In both instances the homeowners were able to easily control the amount of light entering their homes, protecting their furnishings from damage by harmful UV rays, maintain a comfortable environment by keeping their homes cooler in summer, and increase privacy and security even when they were away.

Family safety

And as a safety feature, motorization can protect your family by allowing anyone with a physical challenge to independently operate their window coverings without over-reaching. This feature will also eliminate dangling cords, keeping your children and pets safe.

Cleaning and caring for your drapes is a two-step process

The first step is to regularly vacuum your drapes using the upholstery hand tool. We recommend you do this monthly or, at the very least, during your regular spring and fall housecleaning. How often to vacuum depends on various factors, such as:

• How often is the window open?
• Do you have screens on the windows?
• What are the dust and pollen levels in area?
• What heating system is in the home?
• Is there any construction happening in the area?
• Have there been any natural events in the area (i.e., wildfires)

STEP 1: Vacuuming

The objective in vacuuming your drapes is to prevent dirt from accumulating on the fabric. If the dirt isn’t removed it will eventually be absorbed by the fabric over time. This dirt will then react with the sun’s UV rays, making it abrasive and shredding the fibres. Frequent vacuuming will keep your drapes looking great for years without cleaning.