The qualit of light that shines through the sheer fabric of Hunter Douglas’s Luminette privacy sheers is amazing. There is no product quite like this gorgeous treatment. When more light control or privacy is needed, a simple twist of the wand closes the vertical louvers attached to the sheers.

Call today to see how this beautiful product will work in your home. http://www.excitingwindows.net/content/soft_shades/softshades.php

Shape the light with Luminette Sheers

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The last post in this series on maintaining privacy and view for ocean and lake front homes.

The window covering industry has developed a number of products in the last few years to address this need. Principally Hunter Douglas has developed what has become a whole new category of treatments called soft shadings.

These treatments are for the most part a combination of a blind and one or more sheer fabric layers. The best known is probably the horizontal soft blind called Silhouette. available in louver sizes from 2″-4″, the view through the sheer fabric is great, and privacy is assured by tilting the veins at night. The vertical pairing to the Silhouette is the Luminette. This beautiful treatment combines a fabric vertical blind with a crisp sheer outer facing. Open or closed this treatment is always beautiful.

The newest entry in this category is a product called Pirouette by Hunter Douglas again. This roman shade look alike is attractive as a shade, but continue to pull the cord and the roman ‘pleats’ gather together to uncover a sheer layer that provides day time privacy and UV/Glare control.

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Continuing our discussion of privacy control for beach and water front homes we have our next option;

2. Louvered treatments, both horizontal and vertical blinds are very functional for water front homes. This category includes the common mini and vertical blind as well as the very traditional wood venetian blind. The most popular option in this category today is the plantation shutter. Shutters are ‘furniture for your windows’ . they are beautiful by themselves and are incredibly functional. The larger louver preserves the view, and a flick of the wrist ensures privacy. All Horizontal blinds and shutters should have the louvers tilt horizontal or up at all times to protect from UV damage.

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As our business services most of the ocean and lake front communities from Camden Maine to Winnipesaukee to Cape Cod, we are often asked what is the best products to choose when the home is on the Ocean or lake front. In the next few posts I will share some of our experiences in dealing with the unique challenges of water front window treatments.

In this first post, I would like to layout some of these unique challenges.

• Obviously the primary challenge is preserving the view. That view is the reason these clients live where they do. Choosing a treatment that will obstruct that view, just doesn’t work.
• UV protection is often the second challenge we must deal with. Most often, whatever product is chosen for waterfront windows, the treatment is raised or drawn to the side during the day to preserve the view, allowing the harmful rays of the sun to do damage to home furnishings.
• Heat and glare go hand-in-hand with UV protection, offering the same challenges
• Privacy is a continual challenge as well. If a product is chosen that can be seen through during the day, than people outside of the home can see in during the evening hours if the lights are on in the home.
• Finally, security and weatherproofing are often considerations in the design process. Water front homes are often second homes and therefore empty much of the year. The higher winds that are common in these areas are also a problem as they blow against the large window walls and picture windows that these homes commonly have.

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