Blackout Shades
Have you ever needed to shut out the world around you? Does blocking out distractions help productivity or relaxation? At Distinctive Window Treatment Plus, we know when it comes to privacy, blackout shades are an excellent and versatile solution. We have extensive experience designing, installing, and automating blackout shades and window treatments for both residential and commercial settings in the New York City area.
Many of New York City’s most elegant homes, upscale corporate offices, and high-end commercial buildings use our custom blackout shades to buffer their interior environments from the outside world. Here’s why:
- Blackout shades effectively block the sun, eliminating the damage to interiors and furnishings caused by harsh UV rays.
- Blackout shades allow you to control the heat entering and exiting your interior environment, providing energy savings during the summer and winter.
- They are ideal for rooms that need to adjust to low-light conditions such as conference rooms, offices, and boardrooms, as well as situations that require glare reduction like speaker and A/V presentations.
- Blackout shades are perfect for media rooms, home theaters, bedrooms, and nurseries, as they provide privacy and low lighting.
- It’s possible to lessen sun exposure and maximize energy efficiency with blackout shades, which can cut energy costs on a large scale. In fact, blackout shades are a cost saving trick used by facility managers and commercial building owners nationwide.
Considerations on blackout shades to suit your style
What kind of blackout shades suit your style and degree of privacy? First, it’s important to ask yourself a few questions. For instance, will the purpose of your blackout shades be primarily to filter out almost all light, provide privacy from the outside, or create a total blackout environment? Do you prefer the energy-efficient aspects of blackout shades or are you more concerned about convenience and motorization? Once you know what your needs are, it’s easier to pick the right type of room-darkening window treatment. Still not sure? Distinctive Window Treatments Plus will certainly help aid your decision.
Blackout shades vs. solar shades
What’s the difference between blackout shades and solar or privacy shades? Solar shades are made from fabrics that offer different levels of sun and heat protection. The openness of the weave impacts transparency and light control, while the mild embossing on the shade’s surface reduces direct as well as indirect glare while still allowing transparency. If you’re looking for the energy-efficient aspects of blackout shades but don’t want to block out that gorgeous view of the New York City skyline, solar shades are a wonderful choice. Other situations in which solar shades work quite nicely include
- Windows facing an ocean/lake/mountain range
- Windows looking out to where your children or pets play
- Skylights that offer a great view but let in too much sun
Privacy shades let in less light than solar shades and provide more privacy. They are made from translucent, tightly woven fabrics that prevent direct visibility while still allowing some light to shine through. Privacy shades are perfect for
- Nurseries
- Studies
- Bedrooms
- Bathrooms
Blackout shades are the ultimate choice when it comes to blocking out all light and achieving total privacy. They come in a variety of patterns and colors, offering an elegant yet simple solution to your decoration and privacy needs. Blackout shades are ideal for
- Home theaters
- Media rooms
- Conference rooms
- Bedrooms
- Use alone or in conjunction with solar or privacy shades to achieve total darkness
Add motorization and home automation
All of our blackout and solar shades are available with motorization to meet every unique application. If convenience is what you value most, nothing is simpler than our automation. Raise or lower your shades with the touch of a button or flip of a switch; no complicated instructions and no special equipment necessary.
If safety is your number one goal, integrating motorized shades into your home’s automation and security systems is an excellent choice. It’s easy to incorporate sun sensors and timers into your blackout shades to protect your furniture from the sun or to provide an extra level of security while you’re away.
Side channels
If you are looking for almost total darkness in a room, it may be necessary to incorporate side channels into the design. Side channels run vertically along the left and right side of a shade with the fabric running inside the channel. It prevents light from leaking through the gap between the shade fabric and the windows casings. Distinctive Window Treatment Plus can help you with the design if you would to utilize side channels.
Top-down shades
Top-down shades are a popular but unique design choice that allows you to raise your window treatments from the bottom up, controlling how much light you let in while still maintaining privacy from the street.
Custom blackout shades by Distinctive Window Treatment Plus
If you’re wondering where you can find the best blackout shades and window treatments around, you’ve come to the right place. Our expert technicians can create blackout shades for every style of window, from the floor-to-ceiling windows of Midtown Manhattan’s skyscrapers to the arched windows and skylights of homes in the Hamptons.
From design specification to installation and beyond, Distinctive Window Treatment Plus leads the industry in creation of custom blackout shades and solar shades. We proudly offer only the best product selection, parts, and fabrics from the industry’s highest-quality manufacturers including:
- Lutron
- Somfy
- QMotion
- Phifer Sheerweave
- Mermet
- Coulisse
- Vertilux
- Louvolite
- Hunter Douglas
- Almedahl
- Alkenz
