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How To Help Black Out your Phoenix Windows

April 02, 2018

There are a lot of reasons you might want to control the light coming from your windows in Phoenix. Say it’s from ambient street light, constant traffic going by, or regular sunlight, controlling the light from your windows is necessary for sleep and relaxation.

For those in dire need of better sleep, here are a few ways Phoenix homeowners can best control the light.

What Window Treatments Block Light The Best?

Lots of Phoenix window treatments claim to block light, and you can pretty easily divide them into three groups: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Here’s how they stack up.

Light Blocking Window Treatments – The Good

The best window treatments to darken your windows should do these things:

  • Effectively prevent light from coming in.

  • Adjust easily depending on your needs throughout the day.

  • Look fantastic.

The window treatment that best fits all these criteria is Phoenix plantation shutters. When you shut the slats, shutters create a kind of seal on your windows, letting almost no light in. Sunburst Polywood shutters even have built-in weatherstripping that fills in the gaps along the frame, making them even more effective. And unlike vinyl shutters, Polywood will never warp or split, which can cause gaps in between the louvers and frame.

And unlike some bargain-bin DIY blackout solutions, shutters look stylish in any space. Rather than looking like hardware, they’re as fashionable as they are effective.

Another option belonging to the “good” category is room-darkening roller shades. These are made with thick and layered material to block a good amount of light, and extend past your window opening. There can be some miniscule gaps around the edges of the shade where light can peak in. But for something other than shutters, room darkening shades make the cut.

Light Blocking Window Treatments – The Bad

In the “bad” category are window coverings that don’t quite cut it when it comes to blacking out a window. Any fabric window covering, from drapes to curtains, will allow some light in if they aren’t both very dense and go past the perimeter of your window.

Phoenix blackout shades bedroom
 
Even heavy-duty blinds don’t get the job done, since the slats on blinds don’t lock into each other like shutter louvers do. That means you’re going to get light, even if it’s at a very slight angle.

Light Blocking Window Treatments – The Ugly

Search for “Phoenix window blackouts” in Google and you might find some DIY sheets that you can hang up in your window frame to completely black it out. Most of them are customizable to your window’s dimensions, and stick to the window frame with velcro or something similar. And for the most part, they do what they’re supposed to do.

But the real problems with those products are twofold. First off, they don’t exactly look good. Many of these products sacrifice looks for function. So if you get a few of these blackout sheets, do it in a place that you don’t mind looking kind of drab.

blackout curtain ugly

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Second, for being easy to install, you might want to pray that you won’t have to take them up and down often. The adhesive that keeps them adhered to the wall can wear off fairly easily, which means you have to head back to the store for another one.

Let Sunburst Shutters Phoenix Help You Control the Light

To find out more about plantation shutters or other window treatments to block light, get in touch with your Phoenix shutter team. Complete the form below or call us at 480-485-7743 today to schedule a free, in-home window treatment consultation.