But time won.
The south side (right side if you're looking at it) of our house gets very warm. The sun just beats down on it all day and there are no trees (yet) to make any natural shade. We thought
about getting some curtains made with blackout fabric, but who wants long curtains, or drapes, in a bedroom?
(except young women in their 30's who decorate like their mothers in their late 50's - but that's another post.)
So that option was out. So we looked online at blackout shades. We were intrigued by the 3/8" Double Cell Blackout Shades from Selectblinds.com. So we ordered the free samples to get a look and feel of them. We procrastinated for a while because they're not cheap and we were too busy with other improvements. We finally broke down and ordered them. Here's a picture of them.
Not too bad, right? So, let me give you the good, bad and ugly about these pricey little gems.
Pros:
- Wow. They really work. I mean, the room is at least ten degrees cooler than it used to be. It's amazing.
- The installation was so, so, simple to complete. I think I did the second one in about ten minutes. (I was super "cautious" with the first one so it took a little longer. Not to mention I just don't have a ton of necessary tools at my disposal.)
- They're very lightweight.
- They're very good quality.
Cons:
- You have a few choices for mounting: inside, outside and something else. We ordered the inside mount, obviously, but if you order inside mount the blackout isn't 100% blackout. And no one told me this up front. You see, my window measured 34 and 1/4" wide, well, because I got inside mount, they adjusted the measurement to 33 and 3/4" wide. No one really knows why, but there's a gap on each side of the window. The rep told me (after I called them post-installation) they take off standard measurements for inside mount. I wish they would have told me that when I ordered them.
- They look like mini-blinds. And that's never good.
- They're made of paper. Which makes me nervous.
- It's either up or down with these things. No light filtering. Either you have them down like mini-blinds or they're up letting all the heat pour in.
- They're pricey, about $100 per window, for a standard window, plus shipping. One of the windows in the other room is huge, so who knows how much that will be?
When it comes down to it, would I recommend them to you to purchase? Absolutely!! Especially if you live in the heat, although I hear it keeps you warmer in the winter too. They've done wonders for Celie's room. We plan on getting two more for the nursery and then one gigantic one for the dining area.
I hope you enjoyed this review. The next Product Review will feature the Febreze Home Collection!
