The cheapest available is their Martha Stewart Sheer curtains. These panels are designed to slip directly onto a curtain rod, and the panels cost around $8 per panel.  If you are looking for sheer curtains, then you could hardly find any much cheaper than this. Online they have both white and brown sheer curtains available.

Their Curtainworks tab top panels come in quite an array of colors, ranging from plain earth colors to reds and Asian designed curtains. These curtains are all under $20 per panel, and the sizes range.  There are also some Martha Stewart pocket panel curtains available for less than $20 per panel, if you prefer to slip the curtain directly onto a rod rather than sliding the rod through tabs.

If you are looking for more expensive drapes you will probably want to check out the SHF and Curtainworks brands.  SHF has some beautiful patterned and solid curtain panels in a variety of styles and colors. They have tab tops and pocket panel curtains with matching tie backs. Naturally the fabric is heavier and harder wearing than the cheaper curtains Home Depot sells, making them more ideal for living areas, dining rooms and even bedrooms.

None of the curtains available are over $60, which makes it a fairly reasonable and viable option to choose your curtains at Home Depot, even if you have several or many windows you are hoping to cover. Remember though, when pricing curtains at Home Depot, that you pay per panel not per set of curtains. Thus if you need two panels you will need to purchase both, they do not come in a set of two. This gives you the option of even buying three or more panels if you have a particularly wide window. You can have two curtains panels at either side and one hanging down the middle.

Curtain panels are great to work with. They are really very easy to install and you have a wide array of options when it comes to decorating with them. For example, for wider windows you can buy four curtain panels, two of one color and the other two complementary colors and hang the darker panels on the outside of the curtain rod and the lighter panels on the inside of these, giving you a graduated and shaded look which can be very classy.

When buying Home Depot curtains you will have the option of having them come to install them for you. While this may be necessary if you are having shutters installed, usually most people are able to put up a curtain rod and hang curtains themselves. However, if you are having your entire house outfitted with curtains Home Dep may help make the task easier by installing them, and it will most definitely save you a good deal of time to have them install them for you. While not essential, it is great to know that option exists.

You can also order your curtains online and then go to the store closest to you to pick them up. This gives you the opportunity to pick up any other hardware or items you may need from Home Depot at the same time.

Before ordering your Home Depot curtains you will want to first of all measure your windows. Here is where you can be a little creative. If your windows are short, or narrow, you can order slightly larger sized curtains to help hide the fact that your window is fairly small. In order to do this you simply add to the measured width or length and buy curtains accordingly.  This is especially helpful if you have narrow windows. Remember to also buy a longer curtain rod, and when it comes time to hang your curtains all that you have to do is have them hanging, when opened, beside the window with a small overlap going onto the window itself. This will give the illusion of your window actually being wider than it seems to be.

If you are shopping for very expensive curtains or a specific design, complete with valance for example, then Home depot curtains may not be the best. But if you are looking for some good quality curtains at fairly reasonable prices, which are very easy to install then you really should take a look at the curtains Home Depot has to offer. The colors are great and the fabric they are made from ranges in quality and price, making it very easy to choose something that looks great and is affordable at the same time.

The first thing you need to ensure is that black is the right color for your blinds. You do not need to know all about blinds in order to figure this out. It is not that difficult to envision how a black vertical blind would look in any window. All you need to do is hang some black fabric or even black cardboard or paper in the window and then step back and see how it looks. You should be able to tell right away whether it will fit with your room’s décor or not.

Another consideration is what you will place in your other windows. Do you want all the windows to have black blinds? No? Then what color choices do you have for the other blinds? Some options to consider include:

• Alternating black and white blinds

• Black and Grey blind combination

• One black blind on the main window and white blinds with black pattern on the other windows

• Black blinds on one window, burgundy blinds on the others

• Black blinds on the main window with the other windows graduating colors from gray to white

Look through different home decorating magazines and check out different sites online to see if you can find more ideas on what complements black blinds.

The Black And White Look

Modern designs these days favor black and white, or black, silver and white. Rooms decorated in this manner can look very tasteful, however you will need to carefully match your furnishings and floor coverings in order to pull this look off. Some items you may want to consider adding to a room include black and white throw rugs, a glass topped metal table, white couches and chairs, metal bookshelves. Generally you would want to avoid wooden furnishing as much as possible as it tends to clash with this style.  Add some white vertical blinds into the mix also.

If your room is predominantly black and white think about your room accessories.  Why not try adding in some red or burgundy throw cushions, or even deep blue cushions. You need something to add a splash of color here and there, otherwise the whole room could look very sterile and cold.  Remember to add some colorful wall hangings and decorative items around the room.

The Best Black Vertical Blinds

While you can usually find aluminum or vinyl vertical blinds, if you are hanging vertical black blinds you may want to opt for the vinyl blinds with wide panes. This will help to soften the overall appearance of the blinds and thus the room, whereas aluminum blinds may add a sense of harshness or coldness that you usually do not want in living areas.

Black vinyl vertical blinds or black metallic vertical blinds also look better when hung on full length windows, especially if some light is able to shine through the blinds. Black blinds on small windows will often only make the windows appear even smaller than they are. So, as much as possible, unless you are sure that small black blinds would look great, stick to hanging them over wider, taller windows or patio doors. If you insist on hanging black blinds on small windows you may want to opt for black mini blinds or black venetian blinds with the slats going horizontally across the window instead to give an appearance of width rather than vertical blinds.

Where to Buy Black Vertical Blinds

Most home décor and supply stores will stock vertical blinds, however they may not all carry black vertical blinds. You may have to search online to see which stores are offering this type of window treatment. You can also usually find them online or in stores that deal exclusively with window treatments. Many times stores selling blinds will allow you to choose the color you want for your blinds, thus you can simply opt for black. Most main name brands specializing in blinds will offer black window treatments, oftentimes including big vertical blinds that are made with black panels.

If you are looking for discount vertical blinds you may find that white blinds are discounted more often than black. However, this is certainly not a set rule and a simple search online should help you to soon find any stores with sales on vertical or other types of blinds. It is possible to find cheap black vertical blinds, oftentimes these will be made from cheaper vinyl however. If you do buy cheap vertical blinds they may not last as long as those costing more would. Check out the strings holding the blinds together, the rod for opening and closing the blinds and the strength and thickness of the vinyl.

If you are hanging vertical blinds over a patio door, opt to buy something that is a little more expensive and better made as these blinds will get a lot of use and as such they need to be able to stand a fair amount of wear and tear. The same holds true if you have young children or pets, look for good quality hard wearing black vertical blinds.

My top pick when it comes to material for blinds for the bathroom is vinyl.  Vinyl is hard wearing, water resistant, easy to clean and in most cases vinyl blinds actually do look good. There are different choices of vinyl bathroom blinds. You can install vinyl venetian blinds, shutters, roller blinds and vertical blinds. My personal preference at the moment is vinyl bathroom venetian blinds. They look great; very clean and fresh. Blinds for bathroom or any humid areas, made from vinyl are easy to keep clean and they are also very easy to open and close.  You can in fact have them partially opened but still limit visibility from outside simply by having the louvers pointing downwards. Light will enter the bathroom yet you will have all the privacy you need.

Aluminum is another popular choice for bathroom window blinds. Granted, aluminum does not rust however it can corrode. This is not usually a problem, however, unless the blinds are damaged in some way.  For example, venetian blinds will sometimes bend if not treated gently and this can cause the blind to begin to corrode in that spot over time.  Aluminum is also fairly easy to clean and take care of and it is lightweight which is another advantage with bathroom window treatments.

If you must have a wood look in your bathroom, you would probably be better off buying faux wood or composite wood blinds for bathroom windows rather than actual wood blinds.  Wood, even if treated, often does not do very well in humid situations. It tends to warp and bend and will soon become ruined in a bathroom setting. Faux wood blinds do much better although they are often fairly heavy and a little unwieldy especially if you only have a fairly small bathroom window to cover. Bamboo blinds are another alternative if you want a wood choice for bathrooms. Bamboo stands up quite well to moisture however unless treated it will grow mold in time.

Roller blinds are a popular choice for bathrooms. Again, they are usually fairly easy to open and close. One drawback with bathroom roller blinds is that in order to provide total privacy they need to be fully closed which can then limit the amount of natural lighting coming into the bathroom. You also need to be careful in your choice of material, as plastics especially when rolled up tightly, as a blind is when it is opened up all the way, can become moist and slimy, which is not really that pleasant! They are cheap bathroom blinds, however which means that they can be replaced fairly easily without it costing a lot of money to do so.

Bathroom vertical blinds are a possibility, however you will need to choose fairly carefully as vertical blinds often have a space at the bottom which would allow room for people to see into the bathroom if they so desired!

Generally, fabric or material blinds are not really that recommended.  They can mold and mold is often very difficult to take out of most fabrics. Lightweight material can be used, it is normally not that expensive and you can make or buy very cute bathroom curtains though you need to be prepared to launder them fairly often and to replace them if they begin to grow mold or mildew. Home Depot curtains are fairly inexpensive and some would be great for a bathroom.  Something that I have seen used to quite good effect in a bathroom is a plastic curtain, made from similar material that the more expensive shower curtains are made from. It can look quite good, if you choose the pattern and the material carefully and they make great waterproof blinds.

One point to note is that not all bathrooms have a problem with humidity.  If your bathroom does not get overly humid, perhaps the climate is just not that humid where you live, then you really do have a lot more options when it comes to choosing a bathroom blind.  Another point that is worth noting is that the reasons for not recommending fabric or wood window treatments in bathrooms is because they do not do well in areas where there is a lot of water or humidity. However, you can find some treated woods that do well in wet areas; think of the wooden floors and walls in a natural spa for example.  Also, if you are prepared to replace your bathroom blinds and curtains as needed, you can choose whatever you like for your windows!

Some people like a clean and almost geometric look in their bathroom, while other people naturally prefer soft colors and filmy materials. If that is your preference, then decorate your bathroom—including your windows—however you like. It is your bathroom after all, and it is also great to make a bathroom just how you like it to be, so that you can relax at leisure and enjoy the surroundings. There are many different bathroom blinds ideas to choose from, and the final decision will of course rest with you; your preferences and your budget.

Where to Buy Bathroom Shades and Blinds

You can find bathroom blinds at most home supplies stores, such as Home Depot, Lowes, and any store that sells blinds and shutters.  You will find there are many choices, such as bathroom roman blinds, bathroom shutters and bathroom shades.  You can also buy bathroom blinds online, though you do have to remember, if buying blinds online, that you will be responsible for installing the blinds yourself.

You can also buy the material yourself and sew your own bathroom curtains for a fun afternoon project.  The choices really are limitless when it comes to decorating bathrooms and installing bathroom window treatments.

First up is a great entry on coffee tables. If you are looking for a coffee table for your home, then you want to make sure that you get a really solid one that will stand the test of time. An oak coffee table is a great way to add style and solid craftsmanship to your home.

Moving along to the bedroom, Futon mattress covers will help keep your futon mattress from becoming dingy, torn and tattered. With a cover, keeping a futon clean is much easier than it would be otherwise, and helps keep life simple and worry-free, just as it should be.

If you are interested in decorating your walls, here is an interesting idea:  Glass art can be  hung on the wall of any room in your home. However, since it is impervious to damp and other conditions, it is especially good for kitchens and bathrooms. With a little care, your glass wall art will last a lifetime, no matter where you put it.

Next, a couple of lighting entries:

If you are considering trying to run your home lighting and other appliances through alternative energy means then you must take into account the factors around. Even if you have access to plenty of sunshine, sometimes the cost of solar panels can be prohibitive. But there are plenty of alternatives.

Lighting generally has four primary functions – decorative, accent, task and ambient. Table, bed and floor lamps often fulfill three of these functions as they are decorative, adding flair to a room. They also enable tasks such as reading or knitting as well as adding ambient light to a room creating relaxing atmospheres.

Finally, a great tip on home appliance protection plans: Home ownership is highly regarded as the best asset that grows in value and also has an excellent utility value. No other asset can be used every day and still retain its value over time. Home ownership also comes with some additional responsibilities and expenses to cover. You need to maintain your home appliances and it costs money. There are several choices to get an appliance protection plan. the best option is to get home warranty service.  If you are buying a new home or do not have an appliance protection plan for your existing home, you should definitely consider home warranty services. You will save money and time as your appliance protection plan takes care of your appliance repair costs.

That’s all I have for this week’s carnival. If you enjoyed reading the articles, please drop a note and let either us or the author of the article know. Thanks!

A favorite blind in use these days, mainly due to it being very energy efficient, is the honeycomb blind.  This type of blind comes in single, double or triple cell, with the triple cell offering better insulation.

Another popular, all time favorite blind for skylight is the simple roller blind. This needs to be installed on tracks so that it is held down securely and rolls up and down easily. You can also buy blackout roller blinds to install on your skylight, which give added protection from sun damage.

Venetian blinds can also be used, and they work very well at regulating the light and temperature flowing in through the skylight.  They are also very easy to open and close, and only need to be secured at the top and bottom of the blind.

While pleated blinds can also be installed, many people find the fabric curtains to be fairly ineffective at both keeping out the hot sun and offering very much insulation at all. Remember, while your skylight is great during winter days at helping to heat up your room, providing there is a little sunlight, the heat coming through the skylight during a hot summer day can be almost intolerable.  You may not necessarily see the need for curtains or blinds during winter, but as soon as summer hits you will understand why you need to install decent window treatments. Actually, they are also needed and helpful to have during winter too, as if you close them up at night you will find that your room stays much warmer as the warm air has nowhere to escape. Pleated curtains are the type people usually choose, if they go for fabric curtains. Other con’s to using pleated curtains include the fact that they fade very easily when exposed to bright sunlight, and you have to take them down to clean and wash them.

If you are wondering about using plantation shutters for skylights, it is possible. However, you may find that the overall installation costs beginning with measuring, to having the shutters custom made, may be very expensive. They are also often quite heavy and unwieldy and most people find that a cheaper and lighter blind is more effective to use to cover skylights.

One reason for the blind being fairly lightweight is that you will need to be able to open and close the blind with ease.  There are several different ways how to open skylight blinds. The most common, and the least expensive is to buy a skylight blind handle or skylight blind opening pole, and do it manually.  This may not be as convenient as installing skylight remote control shades, but it is generally quite a bit cheaper.

Of course if you can install your skylight blinds with remote opening and closing abilities, you will find that this is infinitely easier to use. One caution though, anything that is automated may well break down. Problems have also resulted when the remote has mysteriously gone missing and the blinds cannot be opened for a day or two until the remote is recovered or replaced.  For some people convenience will win though, and it goes without saying that it definitely is great to be able to sit in your armchair and point the skylight blinds remote at the ceiling and have the blinds open for you.

Usually you can buy a skylight blind opening pole at the same time as you buy your blinds. They are very inexpensive. If you can, see if you can get one that is adjustable and that pulls out or slides in to adjust the length of the pole. Actually, you may even end up finding the opening pole handy for quite a few jobs around the home, not just opening and closing your skylight blinds!

One feature that people are very interested in these days when buying skylight blinds is the UV ray filtering properties.  With UV ray filtering, less harmful rays enter your home during the peak hours of sunlight during summer. This is a very important concern to many, and often the extra that you need to pay UV ray filtering skylight blinds is well worth it.

If you want to somehow have your skylight darken, then you will be looking for some type of blackout blind instead. Roller blinds definitely have the edge here, as they can be made to sit inside the skylight and once pulled down can definitely reduce the light coming in through the skylight tremendously. The skylight opaque blind can be very useful in rooms where you want to totally shut out the light for some period during the day and it is the best if you are wondering how to darken skylight.

One caution with installing window treatments, such as UV ray filtering skylight blinds, is that the better they are at blocking heat from the sun from coming in through the window, the higher the temperature between the glass and the window gets.  If this gets too high, to the point that it overheats, it can actually break the seal around the glass or even crack the window if the heat gets too intense. This is not common but it can happen and it is good to be aware of this before you install your skylight blinds.

It is not that easy to install most skylight blinds. An accomplished handyman could most certainly do it, but if you are not at all confident in your handyman skills you may want to arrange for a professional to come in and install them for you. This is important, as there is nothing worse than trying to install them yourself but instead botching the job to the point that you either ruin the blinds, or have to go ahead and have someone come in and do it anyway.

Skylight blinds can be ordered online, though special attention and detail needs to be given to the actual measurements you use to order your blinds. Keep in mind too, that some blinds may need trimming. Roller blinds are much easier to trim to fit than venetian blinds, for example.  Whatever your decision, make sure that the blinds fit in with the overall décor of your room too. Popular color choices for skylight blinds are white, cream and blue but you could choose any color you like providing it matches with your furniture and other window treatments.

Here are some details you may need to be aware of it you are wondering how to paint vinyl shutters. You will need a special acrylic paint for vinyl shutters that has urethane resins in it as well. This is not a super common paint, but it is easily found in paint stores (not at home centers though, like Home Depot–you need to go to a bigger paint store to find it.) The urethane resin in the paint is the key ingredient to making the paint stick to the vinyl, as it is by nature a very sticky substance which is great for painting on vinyl surfaces. Choose a color that most closely matches the existing color.

It is not a good idea to use regular exterior paint when you paint vinyl shutters.  Vinyl expands a lot during the course of the day, expanding with the heat and then shrinking back during the cooler night time temperatures. Most regular paints won’t be able to take all of this stretching and shrinking, and you will find the paint will soon start to peel.

Here’s a step by step guide on how to paint vinyl shutters.

1. Take your shutters down.  Keep all the screws together in the one place so that you can find them again quickly when it’s time to put the shutters back up.
2. Wash your Shutters:  Get a pail with soapy water, a good sponge and a scrub brush. Roll up your sleeves and go to work on them.   First of all soap them up and give them a scrub with the brush. Rinse the soap off and soap them up again. Keep doing this till all the dirt, residue and anything else left on the surface is gone. Give them a final soapy sponge up and rinse of thoroughly, making sure all the soap is gone.
3. Dry off the shutters and move to a spot that is out of the direct sunlight. You don’t want to paint your shutters under the sun.  Put on some gloves before painting, otherwise you may have a hard time removing the paint from your hands afterward.
4. Place your shutters down on newspaper and paint one side with the paint, being sure to get into the edges of the actual shutters themselves.  When dry, turn the shutter over and paint the other side.

Once your shutters are painted, it is a good idea to let them sit for a few days before re-attaching them to the exterior of your house again. This gives the paint time to cure properly, and dry well.  Don’t however put them in the sun, but rather let them cure outside in the shade or in the garage or somewhere.  So, can you paint vinyl shutters? Yes, providing you use the correct type of paint.

Of course the cheapest option when it comes to plantation shutters is to forego the idea of buying wood plantation shutters and to instead invest in some white PVC plantation shutters. These can look really good in a room, and they add a real bright and cheery appearance to a room. They look great in kitchens, of course, but can also look really nice in a bedroom and even in living rooms providing that your décor matches the style of shutter you are hanging.

Next in line comes the faux-wood plantation shutters. There is a huge difference here in the costs of different faux wood shutters. Difference in the design and the craftsman ship employed to build them can sometimes result in differences of $100’s when buying plantation shutters.  While you do want to save, you don’t want to buy such cheap plantation shutters that they don’t last, so be judicial in your decision when it comes to how cheap you are going to go with faux wood plantation shutters. While they may be cheap plantation shutters, you may find they are all together too cheap!

I would never really consider wood shutters to be cheap plantation shutters. Having said that though, it is possible to find discounted plantation shutters which do end up being fairly cheap.  For example, most larger stores like Lowes or Home Depot have resale lists where builders and contractors have had to return unopened blinds to the store due to mistakes they make when measuring for the blinds!  As they are returned goods, the store is forced to sell them at a huge discount. Great idea to check that out when looking for cheap plantation shutters.

Of course the cheapest is to order your plantation shutters online. The cheap plantation shutters offered online are just as good quality as store-bought ones, and the only real con to buying on line is that you have to measure very carefully and put the plantation shutters up yourself. If you are sure you can measure accurately and if you are confident that either you or someone you know can install the shutters for you, I would highly recommend going this route.  Many places will even offer free shipping!

There are some options however for buying cheap wood blinds, with pros and cons to each one. When making your decision it will really be all about what is available for you, what you can afford and most importantly what you feel the most comfortable with.

Buying Online: Without any doubt, you can definitely find the best prices for wood blinds by searching online for them.  There are often sales online also, and if you look around enough you should be able to find a supplier that also offers free shipping.

When you buy your blinds online, however, you don’t really have any way of returning them if you measure wrongly, for example.  You also have to either put the cheap wood blinds up yourself, or hire someone to do it for you, which adds to your costs.

If you measure for cheap wood blinds that you are going to purchase online, make sure to carefully follow the instructions given on the web site you are ordering from.  Use a very good measure (don’t try and do it with your kids school ruler!) and take the measurements a few times. It’s even a good idea to have someone else measure as well, to see if they come up with the same measurements. That’s really the main consideration when ordering online, as you don’t want to make a mistake with the measurement.

It is also sometimes difficult to get the exact match of color or wood stain when ordering online, but there are different ways around that. I’d suggest you buy all your blinds at once, or if you can’t afford that at least note down the style and item number and go back to the same on line merchant when it is time to order more cheap wood blinds.

Buying from a Store:  Home Depot has cheaper blinds, in general it seems, than Lowes for example. Other places where you can sometimes find cheap wood blinds include “Next Day Blinds” and “Budget Blinds”.  I’m sure there are a  lot of other shops that also sell blinds, where you can sometimes find good deals.

Recently I heard that Home Depot was only selling custom sized blinds, which has pushed the price for ordering blinds from them up a bit as you need to pay for them to come and measure and install. One thing you can do with Home Depot, and most likely other shops, is to pay for their workers to come and measure for the blinds, but then arrange to put the blinds up yourself, this can really cut costs considerably.

There are also sometimes coupons for Lowes or Home Depot offered, where you can get discounts on your blinds.

The pro of ordering from a shop, and having them come and at least measure for your wood blinds, is that they will take responsibility for any mistakes with measuring, which is great. Some shops also do actually offer free installation, so be sure to shop around.   Another pro is that you can actually go down and physically see the blinds and make a sure choice based on what is in front of you. The main con is the expense involved .

If you are really looking for cheap wood blinds, I think you will find it best to order online, from a supplier that offers free shipping.  Just be sure to measure correctly for them.

Part of their rise in popularity is of course due to the ease with which people from all over the world can check out shutter styles on line.  This makes styles that were once peculiar to a certain region or country suddenly becoming in vogue worldwide.  But that’s not the only reason that plantation shutters are popular.

They offer many benefits to homeowners.  First of all, the type of plantation shutters I am talking about are the interior shutters, usually made from either wood or faux wood, or occasionally from a harder plastic.  Traditionally, though, I think that plantation shutters should be at least wood or composite wood in order for them to look realistic.

Plantation shutters these days are made up of individual shutters that are sent into panels that are usually one to one and a half feet high.  While originally used to shelter homeowners from hurricanes and other weather conditions, or to protect a house from being looted and robbed by passersby by adding additional security to their oftentimes isolated homesteads, now days they are mainly used to add to a home or rooms décor.

There is not really much value in installing faux-wood plantation shutters over real hardwood shutters, aside from the fact that faux wood shutters generally are quite a bit cheaper than traditional wood shutters.  They are also usually quite a bit heavier, which is something you may want to take into consideration if you are planning on hanging them over large windowed areas.  Wood shutters are easier to manage, to open and close, due to the fact that the real wood shutters are usually lighter weight-wise.

Faux wood plantation shutters are a bit easier to care for. They don’t fade in the sun as much (although some finishes used on faux-wood shutters can yellow if exposed to bright sunlight) and they don’t warp when exposed to dampness or humidity as much as wood shutters do.

Few people are able to tell the difference, from a distance at least, between real wood and faux wood shutters, and in general the faux wood shutters look just as nice in a home as the real wood shutters.  Deciding on what type of plantation shutters to buy will really depend on your deciding first of all what you can afford, and secondly on what is of the most importance to you — their weight, whether you live in a humid climate, etc.

On a final note , if you do live in an area that is exposed to very bright sunlight, and you are planning on opting for wood plantation shutters, you may want to consider purchasing light colored wood shutters as these show a lot less fading from being exposed to the sun.  Thus, they will last longer without needing to be re-finished.

While a great addition to a room with a high ceiling, the inconvenience of a skylight can often be very bothersome to the people living or accessing the room. An unshuttered skylight sends tons of UV rays down and usually heats the room up more than is acceptable.  So, what is the solution to this? Applying frosted window film? No, skylight blinds, of course.

Skylight shades are usually set to run on tracks so that they can support the blind in any position and they usually have a handle that can either be operated manually or via a skylight window pole which is a much more manual way of operating the skylight blind.

There are different types of skylight blinds available. Some merely filter the light coming in through the skylight, while others offer total blackout. As with most blinds, you can have either inside our outer mount shades.

Light Filtering Skylight Blinds:  These type of skylight shades allow light to filter into the room via the skylight. Shades can be opened and closed, just like any other type of shade and depending on the amount they are opened or shut the same amount of light will be filtered into the room. These are great to use in rooms that are ‘used’ for either a bedroom or study, as you can control the amount of light that is filtered into a room.

Room Darkening Skylight Shades: Do just what their name implies. They darken a room! Light coming through a skylight window can sometimes be a hassle. Using skylight blinds to minimize this light can make all the difference!   These type of blinds are particularly useful in rooms used for media, TV, video games, etc.–anywhere where light would be intrusive.

It is important to note, though, that these do not totally omit all light from entering into a room, but rather significantly reduce the amount of light that enters a room.

If you are wondering how on earth you can open or close your skylight blinds, there’s no need to wonder any further.  The majority of these type of blinds, especially new blinds, are motorized meaning that you can open and close them by the use of a remote control.

Skylight blinds, especially remote controlled skylight blinds are not cheap. For example a 72″ x 84″ semi-opaque blind can cost up to $550. A normal light filtering shade of the same dimension can cost up to $950, while a room darkening blind will set you back a tidy $1200 plus.

Although it is expensive to buy, and difficult to install skylight blinds they do really look good in a room where you have a skylight and are actually often a necessity.