Susan Day Designs

You have so many choices today for blocking the sun’s heat and glare, with style and beauty!

Scroll on for ideas using Roller Shades, Cellular or Honeycomb Shades, Shadings like “Silhouettes,” and Roman Shades.

In general, shades are window coverings that unroll or unfold from the top, then mostly disappear when not in use. Think of your grandmother’s classic roller shades! These are back, but with a twist – you can have shaped edges, decorator fabric laminated to them, or high-performance mesh fabric that preserves your view while cutting the UV rays.

If you need total privacy but don’t want to cover your window during the day, consider a CELLULAR SHADE. These draw up into a compact, nearly invisible headrail, and are a great choice to hide under a beautiful fabric top treatment. They can be made TOP DOWN/BOTTOM UP to give you privacy below but let in daylight above. With today’s concerns about cords and child safety, their CORDLESS OPTION makes them an ideal choice for many applications.

Graber makes a super-versatile version of these shades called SYNERGY that lets you combine features like ROOM DARKENING and LIGHT FILTERING in the SAME window treatment!

Who hasn’t seen beautiful WINDOW SHADINGS that look like blinds made of airy, sheer fabric?

SILHOUETTES by Hunter Douglas are one brand of these, and like a roller shade, they roll up and disappear into a headrail. When down, you can choose from many degrees of light control, view, and privacy. A truly elegant product.

My favorites, of course, are fabric ROMAN SHADES – a super versatile treatment. While raised, they look like a top treatment, but when released with a cord (like blinds), they cover your window for total privacy. They can be FLAT, fuller and HOBBLED, or poufy and BALLOON. They can even be motorized, or made of the high-performance mesh fabric to preserve view but cut glare and UV rays.

Try trims or fringe at the hem for a dressier, more fun look!