UV rays coming from sunlight can cause damage and fading to your furniture and flooring. You’ve probably invested a lot of money on new hardwood floors and furniture, but the sun seeps through your windows every day, increasing the risk of damage. Your furniture and floors can look faded and worn after years of sitting by uncovered windows.
Fortunately, there are some simple solutions that will keep your home safe. Here are a few of the best options available that will help give light protection.
Cover or Move your Furniture
If you like to keep the windows open all day because you enjoy the fresh air or you have children and pets at home, consider this option. Perhaps you have indoor plants that require constant sunlight, so the windows always have to remain open to the sun. What you can do is move your furniture to a more shady area and cover sunny spots on the floor with rugs. These solutions, however, are more temporary and you may find yourself wanting to reposition your furniture down the road.
Get the Best Window Coverings
Shades, blinds, drapes, these are all window treatments that offer differing levels of light control. The different levels of light blocking go from light filtering, to room darkening (less light enters), to full blackout. So, you will have plenty of options to choose from in terms of protecting your interior, and we would like to introduce you to some of our favorites.
Roller Solar Shades
One of the most efficient window coverings there are is roller shades. They come in a single fabric material that comes in a roller tube, and roll over your window when you want to close them. `solar roller shades are a specialty fabric that allows sunlight to penetrate them, but at a muted level.
Unlike blackout roller shades, solar fabrics are weaved to allow light to pass through. They are usually given in a percentage, with the lower percentage being weaved tighter to maximize uv protection.
Another great feature of solar shades are their ability to allow you to see through them while maintaining privacy during the daytime and reducing glare. You will be able to see through to the side where there is more light. So if privacy is a major concern, you may need to pair it up with another window dressing like drapes so onlookers cannot see through them at night.
There are also exterior solar shades, which are the same as regular solar shades except they are rated for outdoor use. They are built to withstand weather conditions like rain and winds. They allow you to add a layer of protection to your interior from the outdoors!
Cellular shades are the ideal option if you also want to add energy efficiency. They are composed of hexagonal pockets that are stacked on top of each other. These shades offer the best protection against the cold and heat, as air is trapped in the pockets and creates a layer of insulation, preventing outdoor air (whether hot or cold) from getting in.
Unlike solar screens, cellular shades are opaque, coming in light filtering and blackout fabrics. Like roller shades, you simply have to open and close cellular shades to get the sunlight protection you are looking for.
Whether using shades or blinds, if you are using an inside mount installation on your window frame, you will be left with light gaps. These occur when the window coverings are cut shorter than the width, to ensure a fit inside the frame. What you can add along with the window dressing are light blockers.
These are easy to install, and you don’t have to do any additional drilling. They are attached to the side of your window frame using an adhesive. With the light gaps blocked, you are able to place your furniture anywhere, as you no longer need to worry about them getting damaged from excess sunlight and UV exposure.
Final Thoughts
Sunlight is a wonderful thing. It creates so much energy and is an endless resource for us. However, we still want to limit the amount of exposure we and our belongings receive from it. Prolonged exposure leads to fading, and if not stopped, damage.
Our belongings in our home are all investments and personal trinkets that have meaning to us. Protecting them from the sun should be a priority, especially if your windows directly face east or west. Getting window dressings to cover these windows is a great solution to this issue, and as outlined above, it does not have to be done in one particular way.
