July 2020 - McNeill Palm

Window Shutters in New Homes

July 27, 2020 by McNeill Palm Team

If you are wondering whether window shutters in Santa Rosa Beach, FL should be installed in your new home, you may be thinking that they are an outdated window treatment option that won’t work well in a more modern décor. However, window shutters are one of the most popular window covering options in both older and brand new homes for several reasons.

Window shutters have been around for a very long time. In fact, window shutters may be one of the earliest types of window coverings in history. The Greeks used stationary marble window shutters in their earliest homes to keep the elements and outdoors pests out of their homes.

Window shutters have come a long way since them and they are now found in many homes across the United States. Why should you consider window shutters for your new home?

One reason you should consider window shutters for your new home is that you have a wide range of styles to choose from. You can choose single panel window shutters like plantation window shutters to use for large windows in living rooms, dining rooms, great rooms, and bedrooms to achieve a classic casual, but elegant, look.

You can choose café shutters for kitchen or bathroom windows to allow ample light into the room, while providing optimal privacy. You can choose tier on tier shutters for bedrooms and home offices to have maximum light and privacy control.

Additionally, window shutters are made from many types of different materials, which gives you many options for having them complement or accent the décor of your new home.

Wood window shutters are a very popular option because they make rooms feel warm and cozy. With several different types of wood stains and almost any color you can imagine available, wood window shutters can easily be incorporated into the modern look of your new home.

Wood window shutters, however, must be maintained on a regular basis. This means more frequent cleaning and restaining or repainting every few years. Additionally, because wood is a living material, it absorbs moisture and will contract and expand depending on its moisture content.

Not only can moisture damage your wood window shutters, but it also creates a favorable environment for mold and mildew, which can be hazardous to you and your family’s health, to grow. In a high-humidity climate, wood window shutters probably are not the best option.

However, composite window shutters are an excellent alternative to wood window shutters. Composite materials are more durable than wood and they will not absorb any moisture at all. And, best of all, they can be ordered with coatings that look like wood (faux wood), so that you get the beauty and warmth of wood with the worries about frequent maintenance, damage, or hazards to you and your family.

Window shutters also fit well into new homes because they enhance the energy efficiency you’ve already had built into your home. Your new home is thoroughly insulated, and one of the most insulated parts of your home is your windows. You’ve bought energy efficient windows and they’ve been installed and insulated to maximize their energy efficiency.

Window shutters will increase the energy efficiency of your windows because they are installed snuggly inside the window frames, ensuring that no air escapes or gets into your home, which will keep your home comfortable, no matter what time of year it is, and will keep your energy bills low.

If you’d like learn more about window shutters in Santa Rosa Beach, FL, you can talk with our knowledgeable team at McNeill Palm.

Window Blinds and Privacy

July 20, 2020 by McNeill Palm Team

Window blinds in Santa Rosa Beach, FL are a window treatment installation that you should consider if you want you home to have increased privacy. With window blinds, you have complete control over light and privacy all day and all night.

Window blinds are uniquely designed for light control and privacy. You have the ability to allow the maximum amount of natural light in during daylight hours by raising the window blinds completely. While this option decreases the amount of privacy you have, it does give you the option of filling your home with the warmth of natural sunlight during the day.

However, if you’d like the combination of natural light and privacy, you can leave the windows blinds closed and simply adjust the slats so that you have natural light coming in, but you and your family are protected from outside passersby peering into your home, ensuring that you have adequate privacy during the day.

At night, leaving your window blinds completely closed, you can also close the slats to ensure maximum privacy. Since window blind slats can be close up or down, you can further enhance your privacy to accommodate the level of your home that you are on.

For example, if you are on the first level of your home, turning your window blind slats down will give you privacy. However, if you are on the second (or third) level of your home, having the window blind slats turned down allows people who are looking up to be able to see into your home to a degree.

Therefore, for rooms on higher levels in your home, you can achieve maximum privacy by turning your window blinds slats up. This prevents people who are looking up from seeing anything inside your home.

Window blinds are easy to adjust, and adjustments can be done very quickly. In fact, if you have motorized window blinds and you have smart integration, then you can simply adjust your window blinds with your smartphone any time of the day or night.

One reason why you should give serious consideration to having motorized window blinds installed in your home is for the safety of your children and your pets.

Because non-motorized window blinds have hanging cords that are used to raise and lower them, they can be a hazard for young children and for pets who may be tempted to play with them. While playing with the window blinds cords, children or pets can become entangled in them, which can result in serious injuries or even death.

With motorized window blinds, which are also known as cordless window blinds, this hazard is eliminated entirely. There are no hanging cords to get entangled in, which ensures that the little ones and the pets in your home are safe when they are around them.

Window blinds are a great option for enhancing the privacy and security of your home. Because they give you a wide range of options for light control, with varying levels of privacy, depending on your needs at any given time, they work well for every window in your home.

There are many styles of window blinds to choose from. Window blinds are manufactured in many different types of materials, which enables you to choose from a large color palette that can accent or complement any color schemes and décor that you already have in your home.

If you’d like to learn more about window blinds in Santa Rosa Beach, FL, you can speak with our experienced staff at McNeill Palm.

A New Window Deserves a New Window Covering

July 13, 2020 by McNeill Palm Team

You may not think about a window covering in Santa Rosa Beach, FL when you have new windows installed in your home. You may be tempted to reinstall your old window coverings. But, before you do, think about the reasons why you had new windows installed.

One reason for installing new windows is that your old windows didn’t function properly. They may have been difficult to open and close. If they were wood windows, they may have been damaged by moisture and mold and mildew growth may have been a problem. Your home’s foundation may have settled enough that your old windows no longer sat squarely in their frames, which created drafts and energy loss.

You may have simply installed new windows as part of a larger home improvement project to update your home to a more contemporary look.

However, whatever reason or reasons that motivated you to have new windows installed in your home should likewise motivate you to have new window coverings installed.

Like windows, window coverings age over time. They lose their luster and they may be broken or not function the way they are supposed to. They may simply be old enough that they make your home look drab from the outside.

Window coverings play many important roles in your home and, in conjunction with your new windows, new window coverings can give you many benefits.

One reason why homeowners have new windows installed is to increase the energy efficiency of their homes. When a home is energy efficient, the interior of your home is always comfortable and the cost of keeping it comfortable is considerably lower.

New window coverings can enhance the energy efficiency of your new windows. One example is cellular (honeycomb) shades. The design of these shades makes them a very effective window covering to increase the energy efficiency of your new windows.

Window coverings, like everything else, have seen many technological advancements in the last couple of decades. Just like the new windows you’ve had installed in your home new window coverings will be easier to operate and easier to maintain.

With features like smart technology integration and motorization, new window coverings will give you many increased benefits in control of light, control over when they are open and closed, and control over the security and privacy of your home.

With smart window coverings, you have the ability to control your home’s window coverings whether you’re away from home for a few hours or away from home for a few weeks. You have the ability to open and close smart window coverings from your smartphone, which can make your home more safe from potential break-ins.

Burglars usually stake out homes before they actually break in to rob them. They watch for lights, for window coverings movement, and for other signs that indicate someone is or isn’t in a home. If you open and close your smart window coverings throughout the day, it will appear that someone is home, and your home is less likely to be a target of thieves.

When you have new windows installed in your home, you automatically increase the value of your home and you increase your home’s curb appeal. However, to make sure you don’t diminish those benefits, you need to have new window coverings installed so that they contribute to the increased value and curb appeal of your home.

If you’d like learn more about a window covering in Santa Rosa Beach, FL, you can talk with our knowledgeable team at McNeill Palm.