How to Help Black Out your San Diego Windows04/02/2018Tyson Williams There are several reasons you’d want to block light from coming through windows in San Diego. Say you need to block ambient street light, constant traffic going by, or regular sunlight, controlling the light from your windows is necessary for sleep and relaxation. Image courtesy of Room Resolutions For those in dire need of better sleep, here are a few ways San Diego homeowners can best control the light. Which Window Treatments Block Light The Best? Many San Diego window treatments claim to block light, and you can pretty easily divide them into three categories: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Take a look. Blackout Window Treatments – The Good The best window treatments to black out your windows should do these things: Effectively prevent light from entering. Adjust easily based on your needs throughout the day. Look great. The window covering that hits all these marks is San Diego plantation shutters. When you shut the slats, shutters form an almost complete seal on your windows, letting almost no light in. Sunburst Polywood shutters also come with built-in weatherstripping that covers the gaps around your window frame, making them even more effective. And unlike cheaper shutters, Polywood is guaranteed to split or crack, which can cause gaps that let light in. And unlike some gaudy DIY blackout products, shutters look amazing in any room. Rather than looking like a piece of hardware, they’re as fashionable as they are functional. A second option in the “good” category is light-blocking roller shades. These are made with thick and dense material to block out most of the sunlight, and extend to the edges of your window opening. There can be some small gaps around the edges of the shade where light may peak inside. But for a non-shutter product, light-blocking shades make the cut. Blackout Window Treatments – The Bad In the “bad” category we have window treatments that don’t quite go the distance when it comes to blacking out a window. Any kind of fabric window treatment, from drapes to curtains, will allow some light in unless they’re both incredibly dense and go beyond the frame of your window. Even heavy-duty blinds don’t fare well, because the slats on blinds don’t lock into each other like shutter louvers do. That means you’re going to get light, even if it’s at a very slight angle. Blackout Window Treatments – The Ugly Search for “San Diego window blackouts” on the internet and you might find some easy to use DIY sheets that you can hang up in your window frame to completely black it out. Most of them are customizable to your window’s dimensions, and adhere to the window frame via velcro or something similar. And for the most part, they do what they’re supposed to do. But there are a few problems with these products. First off, they’re kind of ugly. Most of these products sacrifice looks for function. So if you get a few of these blackout sheets, make sure to do it in an area that you don’t mind looking unstylish. Creative Commons by License Second, for being easy to install, you might want to pray that you don’t have to take them up and down often. The adhesive that keeps them adhered to the wall can wear off fairly quickly, which puts you right where you started: needing to block light. Let Sunburst Shutters San Diego Help You See To find out more about interior shutters and other window treatments to help black out your windows, get in touch with your San Diego shutter team. Use the form below or call us at 760-405-8887 today to set up a free, no-obligation consultation in your own house.