Room-Darkening Doesn’t Equal Blackout
At The Shutter Guy serving the greater Charleston area, we’ve found that many of our customers are under the misapprehension that “room-darkening” is the same as “blackout.” However, that’s just not the case. For complete darkness in a room, you definitely need “blackout.” Because it’s important—especially for bedrooms—that customers get the darkening level they want, we want to define the levels of opacity in Hunter Douglas treatments. Read on to learn more!
The Hunter Douglas Opacity Scale
Hunter Douglas scales opacity differences from 1 to 5—sheer to opaque. Sheer (1) allows light to enter a room while reducing glare. Semi-sheer (2) diffuses light and offers moderate privacy. Semi-sheer (3) transmits filtered light with no view-through. Semi-opaque (4) filters even more light and blocks the view. Opaque (5) will block almost all light and offer the highest level of privacy.
If Room-Darkening Is Enough
Fabric, color, and material type play a role in the level of room-darkening a window treatment will offer. On the Hunter Douglas scale, look for a level or 4 or more to ensure that you get the most room-darkening. Note that, for example, the opaque and semi-opaque fabrics in Duette® Honeycomb Shades will darken a room, but do not necessarily completely eliminate light.
If You Need Blackout
To achieve blackout in a room, go no lower than a rating of 5 for the fabric. A good choice would be Duette® Honeycomb shades in an opaque fabric—they offer a metallic lining inside the honeycomb that prevents light from passing through the fabric. To help ensure that you get blackout qualities, add blackout drapery panels or the new LightLock™ System, which eliminates light from the sides of the window treatment. Another option is adding a room-darkening liner to the shade—it can be sewn directly on the face fabric, or it can be operated independently to give you more flexibility. Provenance® Woven Textures would be a good option.
Finding Blackout Shades the Charleston, SC area
The window treatment professionals at the Shutter Guy are trained to assist you in the selection of the right treatment for YOUR windows! Our knowledgeable and experienced staff knows how to ask the right questions to ensure your new window treatments exceed your expectations.
We service Charleston, SC and surrounding areas including, Isle of Palms, Sullivan’s Island, Folly Beach, Mt Pleasant, Georgetown, Myrtle Beach, Kiawah Island, Seabrook Island, Awendah, Goose Creek, and the “Low Country.”
Contact us to schedule a consultation, and be sure to check out our Calling Out Cancer program to see how a percentage of your purchase with us goes toward cancer support and research.