Winterizing Your Home: How To Prepare Your Windows For The Cold Weather
BWS Design • Sep 23, 2016

Summer has come to an end and the first hints of Fall are in the air. While the cooler temperatures feel good at the beginning of the season, they’ll soon drop to uncomfortable levels as Winter approaches. This is the perfect time of the year to start thinking about winterizing your home so you and your family stay cozy warm. One of the first, and most important areas to begin preparing for the cold weather is your windows. By employing some simple strategies, you can reduce cold drafts, maintain interior temperatures and even reduce your heat related energy use.

Insulated Window Coverings

Dressing your windows with insulated window coverings is one of the simplest ways to prepare them for cold weather. This might bring to mind images of heavy drapes that darken the room, hung high upon the window frame. Although drapes are one option, they are by no means the only option for insulated window coverings. You can also install cellular shades that offer an incredible amount insulation, in both hot and cold climates. A variety of blinds are also available that can be applied under draperies, or alone. What’s more, the types of materials, colors, patterns and sizes available are limited only by your imagination since most are custom made to your specs.

Repair or Replace

A key factor in any window’s performance is how well it has been maintained. If your windows are broken or if the panes of glass rattle in the frames, it’s time to consider replacements. This is especially the case in older homes that have single pane, wood frame windows. While these original windows look great, they’re not well insulated, meaning that heat loss is inevitable. Newer, double pane vinyl windows often have gas between the panes that helps to repel heat and cold, thus offering a higher insulation value.

Weather Striping

Take a good look at your windows and doors, and pay close attention to how tight they close. Are you noticing small spaces that are allowing air to flow in, or out, of your home? Check the point where the two portions of the window meet and look for an obvious gap. Any areas around your windows that do not seal properly should be treated with a simple weather striping. This easy to find, inexpensive material is applied by peeling and sticking, and can be cut with a pair of scissors. Be sure to treat all of your exterior doors in the same manner to assure they’re sealed tightly.

Calking and Sealing

One of the easiest things to overlook when it comes to your windows is the seal that is formed on the exterior of your home. This is where the window sill and frame attach and it’s a prime location for air leaks to occur. Take the time to fill in any gaps around the exterior of your windows with a silicone calk and be sure to check the entire perimeter of the window. Continue this treatment around the doorways as well. This is also a good time to seal up other areas of your home such as water and gas line entry points and any other holes or openings that you find.

Get Creative

Sometimes, you simply cannot replace the existing windows in your home because it’s a rental, or it may be too expensive. You can still do a few things to assure your windows won’t let you down this Winter. You could install plastic sheeting to the insides of the windows which creates a dead air space, thus increasing the window’s insulation value. Kits are available at a variety of locations such as hardware stores, national department stores and big box stores. The best part is they’re fairly inexpensive, and they’re surprisingly effective. What’s more, they’re incredibly easy to install and can be used on any size or type of window.

We hope you enjoy the beautiful Fall weather that’s on the way, but don’t get too comfortable, Winter is not far behind. If you’d like to learn more about winterizing your home, and preparing your windows for colder weather, please contact us. Our experts welcome the opportunity to help you find ways to keep your home comfortable for you and your loved ones.

By Autumn Hooper 07 Feb, 2024
Each year, styles in window treatments come and go. Trends that were hot last year may carry over to the new interior decor season or may be replaced by something new. In 2024, we are looking at a delightful set of trends in blinds, shades, and curtains that embrace the developing attitudes and popular colors that are already giving the year a unique stylistic personality. At Just Blinds, we are delighted to keep up with the trends, helping homeowners, designers, and property managers to create stunning spaces that align with the latest in window treatment trends. The Hot Trends of 2023 Blinds and Shades Last year in 2023, we saw a great collection of trends, many of which have evolved and strengthened with the new year. 2023 explored the innovations of cell shades and honeycomb shades for the benefits of insulation and light control. Motorization gained a prominant place in both home and office design, and decorators discovered the dynamic possibilities of shades that operate from both the bottom and the top on floor-to-ceiling tracks. Texture saw a real debut with natural colors like wood finishes, linen, dusty rose, and moss green. Though bold patterns also had their day in the sun. The Trending 2024 Window Treatments In 2024, you may recognize a few trends still going strong from the year before, which is good news for those who decorated last year because your style is likely still right on-trend. But we are also seeing new trends developing with elegant enthusiasm. Smart Home Blinds The trend for motorized shades has naturally evolved to favor smart home controls. With a simple voice command, you can take control of all the motorized shades in a room, in your entire home, or set each shade to exactly the height and opacity you desire. Warm Neutrals and Bold Natural Colors Color trends favor a more natural palette. Neutral colors are warmer, even the grays and charcoals have a honey undertone, while natural colors like mossy and forest green are growing stronger in hue paired with a jewelbox of flower petal colors. If you're following the Colors of the Year, you may have also noticed an adoration of ocean blues, and you can match those blues with slightly darker or lighter blinds for beautiful effect. Eco-Friendly and Sustainable Materials Natural materials and textures were popular in 2023, and 2024 takes this trend even further. Blinds made out of recycled materials are now on the rise alongside the growing popularity of blinds made from super-sustainable plants like bamboo, hemp, jute, and grass cloth. These offer natural colors, dynamic textures, and the delight of eco-friendly design. Gauzy Sheer Elegance Sheer curtains and semi-sheer blinds are also in fashion; a classic style that has been floating near the top of popularity for literal centuries. Sheer curtains and blinds maintain privacy while allowing sunlight into the room in a gently diffused glow. They also layer excellently with more robust window treatments. Creative Window Treatment Layering Speaking of layering, we are seeing an enthusiastic embrace of creatively layered styles. Wooden shutters, gauzy curtains, and black-out blinds are among the most popular layers, but decorators are getting creative with how they choose to to layer their window treatments, using both multiple fabrics and structures at the same time. Find the Blinds that Best Suit Your Needs How can you choose fantastic and on-trend blinds that perfectly suit your design needs? Fortunately, the diversity of this year's trends leave room for almost any personal sense of style and the individual needs of each room's windows. Start with the size of your windows and your room's existing color palette. Decide if you want to match, accent, or contrast the colors of the room. Then choose the opacity, privacy, and level of motorized control you desire. This should guide you toward a specific selection that will work well for your room. From there, it's a matter of specific features and your personal sense of style. Reach Out for Expert and On-Trend Advice If you are getting ready to decorate a room and want the perfect window treatments for 2024, we are only a phonecall or a visit away. Give us a call for expert advice in the right blinds or shades for each window in your home. Our on-trend window treatment experts will be glad to help tailor your window treatment design to your personal tastes, the latest trends, and the style of each of your rooms.
20 Jul, 2023
Is your AC bill keeping you down this summer? Is your home too hot? Window treatments can help cool your home, but you need to choose the right ones and use them correctly. Not all window coverings are made equal. Here are some of the best options to help keep your home comfortable and reduce costs this summer: Cellular or honeycomb shades. These are specifically designed to provide a high level of insulation that keeps the heat out of your home. They also don't block the view when completely drawn. As a bonus, you can get them in a wide variety of colors and patterns to match your home and in both top-down and bottom-up configurations. Drapery. Old-fashioned curtains can be surprisingly effective. Choose a medium color and have us add a white plastic backing to reflect heat out of your home. You can also use drapes to block some of the heat without excluding much light, allowing you to enjoy natural light flowing through your drapes. Fabric Roman shades. These are a distinctive option that really dresses up a room, and if you choose the kind with several layers they will definitely help keep the heat out. We have light filtering and blackout options and everything in between. Why Should You Use These Types of Shades or Blinds? The two reasons are to save money and help protect the environment. Good shades keep your home cooler and this means your air conditioning systems don't have to work as hard and use as much energy. In the northern hemisphere, it's most important to have heat-reducing treatments on your southern windows and you can allow more light in through windows that face north. Both cellular and Roman shades can also be motorized and even put on timers to close the shades when you are not there and then let light in when you return. The small amount of energy used by motorized shades is much less than that lost through naked windows. All of these shades can also add to the aesthetics of your room. Cellular shades are great to add a pop of color or a subtle pattern. Both drapery and Roman shades give a soft feel to your windows that then spreads to the rest of your room. What is the Best Choice? The best choice of the three depends on your personal aesthetics. Our designers can help you make the right choice. If you want motorized shades, cellular shades are the lightest and thus use the least energy, and can roll all the way up and down, leaving your windows completely unrestricted. Roman shades are more visible, but can be used to add fabric and color to a room. Many people still love the look of traditional window drapes. Note that you can also combine shades and drapes for the effect you want, both in terms of reducing heat loss and in terms of aesthetics. How Much Can I Actually Save? The amount you save depends on the kind of window covering you use and how much thermal gain your house typically experiences. The larger your windows, in general, the larger the benefit, especially south-facing windows. For example, medium-colored draperies with a white plastic backing can reduce heat gain by as much as 33% for that window. Most window treatments, though, reduce overall heat gain by about 10%. This can significantly reduce your bills, by $100 to $200 a month during the summer. Using the right window treatment can make your home more comfortable in the summer and save money while preserving the environment. For advise on which window treatments to choose for your home and to see our selection of blinds and shades, contact Just Blinds today.
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