Room Darkening Is Not the Same as Blackout
You may think that, in window treatments, “room darkening” means total darkness, but that is not necessarily the case. If you are looking for complete darkness for a room, only “blackout” will give it to you.
At The Shutter Guy serving the Charleston area, we know that the amount of light in a room is important to our customers. Hunter Douglas Window Fashions does an excellent job in explaining the opacity differences within their product line by using a scale from 1 to 5:
- Sheer – This type allows light to enter the room while reducing glare
- Semi-sheer – With this, you’ll get diffused light with moderate privacy
- Semi-sheer – These coverings transmit filtered light with no view-through
- Semi-opaque – This type filters more light and blocks the view
- Opaque – These coverings will block almost all light with the highest degree of privacy and light control
Room-Darkening Treatments
With room-darkening, the key is the fabric, color, and material type. Opaque and semi-opaque fabrics found in Duette® Honeycomb Shades will darken a room, but do not necessarily completely eliminate light. Sheer fabrics used in Silhouette® Shadings will soften and filter light. Look for a rating of 4 or higher for room-darkening benefits.
Blackout Choices
For blackout, look for a rating of 5 to help ensure that no light will enter through the material. You might want to consider Duette®, Architella®, or Applause® Honeycomb shades in an opaque fabric. It has silver metallic lining inside the honeycomb that prevents light from passing through the fabric. However, if you mount the honeycomb shade inside the window, you may have light gaps. Either adding blackout drapery panels or mounting the shade on the outside of the window to eliminate the light gap can fix this.
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. Still keep in mind the light gap if you use an inside mount for the shade.
Many Hunter Douglas horizontal blinds offer the de-Light™ feature. It eliminates rout holes, so there is no pin light coming through. For example, consider Parkland® Hardwood Blinds or Modern Precious Metals.
Finding Blackout Shades in Charleston, SC
Serving the greater Charleston 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.
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.
