Building Better Sunroom with Roman and Roller Shades

In his recent article “25 Design Trends Coming to Homes Near You in 2016” Houzz’s Mitchell Parker writes that Sunrooms are a “top dream space” for many homeowners and “even those who don’t have the luxury of having or adding one, are finding a way to carve out a special sun-drenched corner in their homes.”  Arjay’s Window Fashions has helped create some of the most spectacular Sunrooms in Santa Barbara County.

Source: Pixbay  by user KCDM

Santa Barbara lends itself to Sunroom additions because of the ideal weather conditions – clear sky days and moderate temperatures make Sunrooms a popular Southern California home project.  While nothing can compete with natural sunlight for brightening your home, direct sunlight can also be damaging to home furnishings and artwork.  An additional challenge is controlling unwanted heat created by direct sunlight in the summer months when cooling loads are a concern – this is where Roman Shades and Roller Shades come in. Both products can be installed over the windows so that they can be completely rolled or stacked off the glass to allow beautiful “wanted” light into your home or dropped into place when the sun is shinning directly through the glass to control “unwanted” light.

Source: Flickr by user Poshsurfside.com

Roman Shades

Roman Shades provide more of a design element than do Roller Shades because they offer several different design elements themselves.  For example, Flat Structured Roman Shades provide a simple clean appearance, while Hobbled Roman Shades leave a more elegant design impression due to the additional material used to create the teardrop shaped hobbles.  Any Roman Shade will require more space above the window than a Roller Shade, but providing you have enough room, Roman Shades will satisfy most any design scheme.  Roman’s cascade up and down and the material stacks on itself and gathers at the top of, or over, the window.  Arjay’s also has an unlimited amount of colors, textures and levels of opacities to chose from when designing both types of shades.  Roman Shades can be operated manually or motorized or raised and lowered with a child safety “cordless” feature.

Roller Shades

More utilitarian than Roman Shades, Roller Shades offer clean lines and pure functionality – the shade rolls up into a very small space and effortlessly rolls down to cover the window with a single even sheet of material.  The material roll can either be left exposed or concealed within a fascia, cassette or under a cornice.  Although not as decorative as Roman Shades, Roller Shades are generally considered more durable and the materials are often times better suited to deal with direct sunlight.  The performance of many materials are actually rated for their ability to reduce solar heat gain, making the selection process easier for those who are trying to achieve the greatest heat reduction. Like Romans, Roller Shades can be operated using motors and controlled with remote controls, automation systems and timers.

Completing Your Sunroom

It doesn’t matter if you visit our showroom or make an appointment to have one of our Designers come to your home, Arjay’s can help you make the best shade and material decision for your Santa Barbara Sunroom – you can also look at our products on-line.  Along with helping you design your window coverings, Arjay’s team of certified installation technicians can install them.  Arjay’s has helped hundreds of Santa Barbara residents select the ideal window treatment for their home improvement projects and we look forward to helping you with your project! Visit us on line to make an appointment or call 805.642.2300.