The Best Custom Shutters, Blinds & Shades!
Proudly Serving Honolulu & the Island Of Oahu

How To Differentiate Between Plantation Shutters, Window Blinds, And Window Shades In Honolulu

August 12, 2022

Shades, blinds, and shutters–oh my! All the different window treatments available might feel overwhelming if you need to select one for your Honolulu home. Grasping the differences between each type will assist you in deciding which products will be best on the windows you are covering. We can help by exploring the benefits, disadvantages, and ideal spots for interior shutters, window shades, and window blinds in Honolulu.

The Pros And Cons Of Plantation Shutters

White Polywood shutters in a living room

Interior shutters are made of real wood or a wood synthetic and go within your residence where they affix permanently to your window with the shutter’s frame built around the window’s framework. Movable panels within the frame swing open for total light and an unobstructed view or close again to cover your window for privacy and darkness. Whenever the panels are secured, you may also tilt open the slats for partial sunshine and adjust them to angle the light wherever you want.

The Pros

Plantation shutters are distinctive from other window treatments because of their unique design. They not only look quite different but offer several incredible benefits for Honolulu properties:

  • Give your home beautiful architectural styling

  • Available in neutral tones to complement your decor in the present and later if you redecorate

  • Offer total privacy and nearly full darkness when shut

  • Open easily for light and a view

  • Accommodate any specialized window like circles and sunbursts

  • Shift sun glare with the slats

  • Easy to dust and clean

  • Offer an extraordinary level of energy efficiency

  • Becomes a permanent fixture that boosts your Honolulu house’s value

  • Various personalization options to design the style you desire and meet all of your needs

In addition to these perks, faux-wood Polywood® shutters have their own notable benefits: 

  • Unmatched toughness with resistance to distress that comes with extreme temps, humidity, and UV rays

  • Will never be impacted by distorting, splitting, or chipping

  • Innovative weather protection for noticeable efficiency and money savings

Actually, Polywood shutters will do anything you ask a window treatment to do, from elevating your window’s style to blocking cold air and destructive ultraviolet rays. And they operate and look just as superb decades later as the day you first got them.

 

The Cons

Louvered shutters’ lone drawback is that they can only be found in neutral tints. Even though their adaptable coloring matches all kinds of decor, you’ll be required to settle for window shades or blinds if you have your heart set on window treatments with patterns or bold colors.

 

How To Incorporate Interior Shutters

You are able to use plantation shutters on any window within your Honolulu home. Hand-tailored shutters accommodate every shape and size of window without sacrificing their function. Put them on circular, rake angle, and sliding glass door windows just as simply as normal square or rectangular windows.

You are also able to place Polywood shutters in any space. Use them for their durability and energy efficiency in damp bathrooms, cold attic dormers, or sunny south-facing rooms. Shutters also make sense in family areas and children’s rooms since they don’t have cords that create a safety hazard.

 

The Pros And Cons Of Window Shades

White shades in a corner of a living room.

Window shades are available in many contasting styles, but, by and large, all consist of a sheet of fabric mounted above your window. You generally pull the shade down or up to enclose and uncover your window through a built-in pull bar or cord, although you can locate motorized functionality too.

Window shades don’t feature louvers to control light and privacy, but sheer or loosely woven fibrous shades can allow light into lower-lit rooms while obscuring the view into your home. Or you can utilize top-down/bottom-up shades that let you reveal the upper part of your window for sunlight while preserving your privacy below.

 

The Pros

Honolulu property owners prefer window shades mainly because they are available in various materials, styles, and colors. You’ll discover shades with standard colors and bright tones, solid color or bold patterns, sheer or blackout opacities, pleated fabric or fibrous materials, and many different possibilities. If you want a special accent when redecorating a space, window shades in the ideal color or material can enhance your decor and encompass your windows.

Individual window shade types have their own advantages too. Roller shades have a sleek appearance. Cellular shades will boost efficiency. Tumble shades are smart choices for glass doors. And sheer shades provide a nice blend of privacy and sunlight.

 

The Cons

Window shades aren’t as durable as firm window coverings and may be a chore to clean. Their fabric materials will in time blemish due to the sun or might pull apart, grow mold, or show stains. You might expect to replace window shades every few years as they get worn down or you alter your home’s style.

Window shades also offer less versatility in adjusting exterior light and privacy than interior shutters. Even pulling them up part of the way means you forgo your privacy on half of the window and you’re unable to adjust how sunshine floods in. And a range of window shades will allow shadows to appear whenever your lights are on after dark. And rectangular window shades in Honolulu make you to pick between concealing a specialty window’s unique dimensions or keeping the window uncovered permanently.

 

How To Use Window Shades

Most Honolulu property owners choose window shades if they are looking for colorful window coverings to match their design. They are best suited for low-traffic spaces where they can avoid damage from steady engagement.

You can also utilize various kinds of window shades for their specific purposes. Select cellular shades to assist in blocking exterior airflow. Slim roller shades accommodate spaces where you don’t want a larger window treatment. Blackout shades keep bedrooms dark to get a better night’s rest. Woven fiber shades incorporate an element of nature to your home. And of course, custom shades will always look and work better on your windows than off-the-shelf products.

 

The Pros And Cons Of Window Blinds

Wood blinds in a small dining room area.

Window blinds have long, connected slats constructed with a rigid material that you let down over your windows to shield them. Blinds can be used with cords or cordless functionality. In addition to covering windows with blinds, you can also turn the slats toward or away from you with a wand for additional command over natural light.

 

The Pros

The advantages of window blinds depend on what they’re made of. In theory, all blinds conceal windows to impede sunlight and sightlines within your Honolulu residence, but their substance and quality of manufacturing are essential in how effectively they accomplish this. You might see sun and silhouettes with low-cost vinyl blinds. Vinyl and aluminum blinds also bend and snap without much difficulty, which creates unattractive openings that let in sunlight. For these blinds, their bargain pricing and limited longevity make them suitable primarily as interim window products.

Quality real wood and faux-wood blinds utilize stronger slats that blanket windows more completely. You won’t be able to look past them, and they don’t break rapidly. The wood or synthetic construction, combined with the appealing straight lines of the slats, have a more sophisticated look as well. Superior real wood and faux-wood blinds are available in versatile neutral colors that look lovely in any area.

Blinds permit you to manage the quantity of light that comes through your windows. You may draw them up for an unrestricted view and full sunshine or guide them down for privacy and a dark room. If your blinds are closed, you can also tilt open the slats for a partial view and a bit sunshine.

 

The Cons

Wood and faux-wood blinds appear similar to plantation shutters but aren’t as tough. The cords intertwined with the slats can fray over the long haul, and wood slats could distort and split from an abundance of humidity or intense temperature changes. Blinds also come with a fair number of components that might make them difficult to clean, and corded blinds could get twisted up when you try to manipulate them.

Even though customized blinds will fit your windows perfectly, they can’t give you the full coverage over the perimeter that shutters can since they aren’t enclosed by a frame. You’ll also notice that both window blinds and shades in Honolulu are prone to shift and knock against your window if bumped or impacted by a gust of air. This motion lets people see in and allows exterior light.

 

How To Utilize Window Blinds

Premium blinds are a great choice in any area for rectangular or square windows. Make sure you only install water-repellent faux-wood blinds in moist spaces like baths and kitchens. And automated or cord-free blinds provide safer choices when you have children or four-legged friends.

 

Sunburst Has It All From Plantation Shutters To Window Blinds And Shades In Honolulu

Want to know more about the differences between interior shutters, window shades, and window blinds in Honolulu? Sunburst Shutters Honolulu boasts the most incredible selection of exceptional window treatments in the area and will is pleased to answer whatever questions you have. We conduct free in-home consultations to exhibit our options and let you determine which window treatments look best in your residence. Arrange yours by calling 808-797-2004 or completing the form below.