Tired of how old looking your vinyl shutters are?  In years past the only real option available was to trash the old shutters and buy new ones. But thankfully, now days it is possible to actually restore your vinyl shutters till they look as good as new.  You can do this by painting vinyl shutters. You do need to choose a color that is close to the original color however, so you won’t be able to radically alter their appearance but just make them look better!

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, such as cheap plantation 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 even the cheapest shutters, such as vinyl shutters? Yes, providing you use the correct type of paint.

We all know what a skylight is, right?  Skylights are often placed in rooms that need more light, and they do a terrific job at allowing more light into a room. Oftentimes skylights are used to create visual interest in a room with a high ceiling or room with sloped walls, that is besides the predictable skylight in the attic room of course, and skylight blinds cover those windows.

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 or sticky back plastic as it is also called? 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.

Honeycomb blinds, also known as cellular shades or cellular blinds, are called such because they are made up of ‘cells’ in a honeycomb shape that cover your window horizontally. Traditionally, honeycomb blinds are made in such a way that they can only be lowered up or down, just like roller blinds for example, and they do not include slats that can be tilted to vary the light that comes into a room.  They can only be lowered or opened, with the amount of light coming into the room dependent on how high the blind is raised.

Cells vary in size, with some 3/8 inches and others ¾ inches, and a variety of sizes in between.  You can also choose between single cell or double celled blinds. With the single celled honeycomb blinds, there is just one layer of cells. With double celled blinds the cells are two thick for the whole blind.  Naturally there is better insulation and sound filtering when you install double celled honeycomb blinds.

While cellular shades do allow light to filter through into the room, it is usually a very gentle and soft light. Of course it is also possible to get blackout honeycomb blinds as well, if that is your preference. Normally you can choose between a sheer type of blind that allow light in while still filtering out UV rays. These sheer honeycomb blinds do not provide you with the best privacy however, as it is also possible for others to see into the room.  Light filtering or semi-opaque blinds allow gentle light to filter into the room, and depending on the color of blind you choose this can add a fantastic look to your room.  These provide much better privacy also than the sheer blinds.  Room darkening honeycomb blinds do just the same job as any other blackout blind–they keep the light, and the UV rays out of your home.

As with most blinds, they can either fit inside the window casing, or outside the window casing. The preference is really up to you and the style of blind that you are looking for.

They are becoming a very popular choice of window treatment these days, and as such it is usually possible to find quite good deals for these blinds online.  One thing that has made them so popular is that, due to the nature of the honeycomb style, they are naturally very energy efficient and saving, which is something everyone is looking for today.