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Cooking Friends » General Discussion » The Old Homestead » Room Darkening Window Panels

Room Darkening Window Panels

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1Room Darkening Window Panels Empty Room Darkening Window Panels Sun May 19, 2013 7:58 pm

bethk

bethk
Admin

I've been struggling trying to figure out what to do with the windows and patio doors to block the sunlight when we're not here for the summer. I saw an ad in one of my magazines for some Better Homes & Gardens room darkening window panels - sold at Walmart. So this morning I went to check them out.

I was surprised to see they are a fairly thin material and not the old fashioned rubber backed curtains I remember from years ago. I wasn't sure how they would work but thought they came in colors I could use and they were only abour $14/panel (54"W X 84"L). Both bedrooms have nice Levelor honeycomb shades but they're not very good at blocking out the heat of the sun. The master gets hot first thing in the morning from the east sunrise and the spare bedroom faces west so by evening it's pretty warm in there, even with the a/c on.

I put the curtains up and was amazed at how the thin material actually DID seem to block out the sunlight. So, I'm pretty pleased. I even thought the master was dark enough if I wanted to lie down some afternoon and take a nap...well, it's more likely Dane will do that but he doesn't need dark to sleep ~ he can fall asleep in a chair sitting in the back yard! lol But it always seems to me to be cooler if it's darker. And that alone makes it worth the investment.

2Room Darkening Window Panels Empty Re: Room Darkening Window Panels Sun May 19, 2013 10:46 pm

JanaAZ



We're having trouble finding the right window treatments. We have extra large windows and don't want to block the view. From about 4pm to 6pm the sun gets so bad that the house goes up about 5-10 degrees.

We have the cellular shades in many of the rooms and find that they do block out the heat and sun. I think these have special protection on them, though.

Unfortunately for us, since our windows are not 'standard size' nothing ends up being affordable. We want to put on a screen door that is craftsman/prairie style to match the home. We found a place that custom makes exactly what we want. Unfortunately, we need a door that is 90 high and 44 wide and the biggest door they make is 80 x 36. Sheesh. So we continue to look for both window stuff and doors. What a pill.

3Room Darkening Window Panels Empty Re: Room Darkening Window Panels Mon May 20, 2013 8:00 am

bethk

bethk
Admin

I understand, Jana ~ that's why I went to Walmart. We're not going to be here full time for a while and I just want to have items to "make do" with for right now. Actually, I don't see us staying here forever...but that's another story.

At home in Ohio I have the top down / bottom up cellular shades that are sun/light blocking. They are on the large south facing bay windows and when closed, we can watch TV or movies without the sunlight getting in at all. They also block a huge amount of the heat.

4Room Darkening Window Panels Empty Re: Room Darkening Window Panels Fri May 24, 2013 2:15 am

UNCLE JIMMY

UNCLE JIMMY

You girls will get a kick out of this one! Tina almost divoriced me!

She was working weekends, and It was a hot week. I said to myself..enough wth the sun reeking through the snny side windows, and one big one is the kitchen. That one was the proto type test, and I was so happy Tinawould appreciate the cooler kitchen.

I took a roll of the wide Reynolds wrap aluminum foil, and in a Man Gift Wrapping manner, I taped the foil on the windows.

WOW...It worked great....but...
Tina was due home, and all I could hear was the car horn tooting in the front of th house. I go outside, and she says to me.."Did you go outside and see what the hell the side of the house looks like?" I said,Why"
Tina said,"The windows and the house, look like a Lasagna Pan covered with foil and ready to go in the oven!" ... That **** has to GO! NOW!"

It did look like **** from the outside, and you could see where I put in little pieces to fill in. One piece tore, and I just put another piece over it.hahahaha

She did say the kitchen was cooler, but she said it gave her clausterphobia.LOL

We went to the H Depot, and we bought the windo film that was the mirror on the outside, but the stuff was still able to let us look outside. It was like that One way Mirror glass. It was funny as ole heck! As least for me!

Two years later, we went to rip off the film, and it was baked onto the window glass. It took us hair dryers and alcohol, and Paint thinners to get that darn stuff off the stupid glass. The new film they have today is a lot better, and comes off easily.


5Room Darkening Window Panels Empty Re: Room Darkening Window Panels Fri May 24, 2013 12:48 pm

JanaAZ



So....we had a guy out to give us estimates on window coverings in 2 rooms. We have 3 windows approx. 70x46 in our eating area and 4 arcadia doors in our family room. All we wanted is something to cover the windows for a few hours when the sun was unbearable and then open up so we'd have our view. We looked at a few things and he came up with an estimate.

Okay, so now you can sit, hold on to your chair, grab an aspirin if you're prone to heart attacks.....you got things? Okay, the quote he gave us was $5700+. Once tax is added it's well over $6000. I said how much could we save if we installed them. He said 'oh, I'll install them for free'.

So, we continue to hunt down affordable window treatments. At a house we built in Chicago, we got estimates for things and them ordered them online saving thousands. Unfortunately, they don't offer the same things anymore, so I need to search more later today.

6Room Darkening Window Panels Empty Re: Room Darkening Window Panels Fri May 24, 2013 1:58 pm

NormM

NormM

I wanted to put blinds or shades on my bedroom window that is two windows at the corner of the room to keep out heat on warm days and keep it in on cold days but it, they are not standard sizes. They are too long and I'll have to have something custom made but still I don't expect them to cost more than a couple hundred dollars.

http://r2j1cp@gmail.com

7Room Darkening Window Panels Empty Re: Room Darkening Window Panels Thu May 30, 2013 4:46 pm

Crybaby

Crybaby

It did look like **** from the outside, and you could see where I put in little pieces to fill in. One piece tore, and I just put another piece over it.hahahaha

I really had a good laugh at this, Jimmy. Whenever Brian makes a really stupid, tacky suggestion for something around the house, I usually reply, "That'll happen right after I move a freaking sofa out on the balcony," and he starts howling.

I often remind him of the apartment he got before we were together with some guy I couldn't stand. They had no curtains so he broke a box apart and taped the box pieces over the front window, which looked out onto the front of the house from his bedroom. The first time I came over, I told him, "I really like your brown corrugated curtains but next time you do that, why don't you turn the word "Tide" to the inside and they will look a heck of a lot better!" Guys!!!

8Room Darkening Window Panels Empty Re: Room Darkening Window Panels Thu May 30, 2013 5:04 pm

UNCLE JIMMY

UNCLE JIMMY

Crybaby wrote:
It did look like **** from the outside, and you could see where I put in little pieces to fill in. One piece tore, and I just put another piece over it.hahahaha

I really had a good laugh at this, Jimmy. Whenever Brian makes a really stupid, tacky suggestion for something around the house, I usually reply, "That'll happen right after I move a freaking sofa out on the balcony," and he starts howling.

I often remind him of the apartment he got before we were together with some guy I couldn't stand. They had no curtains so he broke a box apart and taped the box pieces over the front window, which looked out onto the front of the house from his bedroom. The first time I came over, I told him, "I really like your brown corrugated curtains but next time you do that, why don't you turn the word "Tide" to the inside and they will look a heck of a lot better!" Guys!!!

Oh! Crybaby...That is so funny! I have used newpapers on the windows when we were painting the inside rooms. Inside Rooms?? Geeze, I don't thing we have any Outside Rooms?? I naturally took the papers down after painting was done. I sorta liked it that way. Tina said, the house looks like a Ghetto From the outside. I said, so Good, let them look!"

9Room Darkening Window Panels Empty Re: Room Darkening Window Panels Thu May 30, 2013 5:20 pm

UNCLE JIMMY

UNCLE JIMMY

NormM wrote:I wanted to put blinds or shades on my bedroom window that is two windows at the corner of the room to keep out heat on warm days and keep it in on cold days but it, they are not standard sizes. They are too long and I'll have to have something custom made but still I don't expect them to cost more than a couple hundred dollars.

Norm...I used Blinds Direct on line for our blackout honeycomb shades. They work great, and they made them to fit exactly within the 1/8" inch.
The length I measured also, and they were made to my exact specs.
They were reasonably cost effective ordering on line, and the company packaged and shipped them out carefully. It's not your run of the mill K-Mart or WalMart shades / blinds. The size of the honeycomb is selectable too. We bought the 3/4 inch size.

10Room Darkening Window Panels Empty Re: Room Darkening Window Panels Fri May 31, 2013 8:24 pm

UNCLE JIMMY

UNCLE JIMMY

This is the setup in the Livingroom.
Tina wanted shutters on the bottom half, and the top half I had the shades cut to exactly to fit.
We love them because they insulate for heat Loss and heat Gain.
Plus they are complete darkening.....as the picture shows. At the time I took the photo, the sun was west at about 6:00 PM EDST.

Room Darkening Window Panels Shadesandsalad005

See How they are made like a Honeycomb....

Room Darkening Window Panels Shadesandsalad003


Now, these blinds in the kitchen are not 100% darkening. They will be replaced with the Honeycomb shades for the fall.

Room Darkening Window Panels Shadesandsalad010

I ordered these On Line from "Blinds Direct" Very Happy

11Room Darkening Window Panels Empty Re: Room Darkening Window Panels Fri May 31, 2013 10:08 pm

bethk

bethk
Admin

I've got the room darkening honeycomb blinds in my south facing bay windows in Ohio...LOVE EM !

I really splurged and got the top down ~ bottom up ones. That's because I don't care to have people looking in my windows and there are lots of times I like to drop the top windows to let the breeze come in. With the shades dropped down to allow for the air flow it's still too high for anyone to see in.

12Room Darkening Window Panels Empty Re: Room Darkening Window Panels Sat Jun 01, 2013 11:45 am

Crybaby

Crybaby

bethk wrote:I've got the room darkening honeycomb blinds in my south facing bay windows in Ohio...LOVE EM !

I really splurged and got the top down ~ bottom up ones. That's because I don't care to have people looking in my windows and there are lots of times I like to drop the top windows to let the breeze come in. With the shades dropped down to allow for the air flow it's still too high for anyone to see in.

I love that kind of shade, B.

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