Modern indoor awnings and shutters offer a simple, yet elegant way to cover your windows. Both practical and stylish, these innovative window coverings are available in a range of options and offer a number of unique benefits for your home.
Indoor awnings and shutters, as their name suggests, are mounted inside the window opening and can therefore be a great tool for regulating light levels, ranging from gentle filtering during the light of day to total block out for total darkness so you can sleep at night.
Indoor awnings, specifically internal blinds and shutters can help greatly in keeping your house warm in winter and cool in summer. These minimal, yet sophisticated window coverings achieve this by blocking excess heat in summer and trapping the warmth in winter. Some styles of shutters are actually known to insulate up to 70% more than timber. They will also reduce the noise level, sometimes by a minimum of 50%, allowing you to bring a sense of calm, quiet comfort to your home.
The best thing about these window coverings and accessories is that they can be coordinated and harmonised to create an individual look – a style statement for your home. A fashionable style of interior blinds or shutters can be the main attraction of a room. By selecting the right style and colour scheme for your blinds or shutters, you can accentuate your home and decor. Many suppliers can measure, produce and fit indoor awnings just for your windows to perfect the decor in your room.
Internal Blinds
Internal blinds are the main form of indoor awnings. These window coverings can add sleek and stylish design to any room, and come in a wide range
of materials, colours, styles and patterns.
In most cases, the material used in internal blinds can be sunscreen mesh fabric, translucent fabric, a block out fabric, or may consist of horizontal slats (venetian blind).
A blind with a solar screen mesh fabric blocks harmful UV rays, but not the view. A blind with a translucent fabric offers you privacy and will also allow filtered light to enter your room; but this type of blind will block. Blinds made from sunscreen mesh and translucent fabric materials may not be a good option for bedrooms, but they often work great in living and family rooms.
A blind made from a block out fabric material blocks nearly all incoming light and prevents anyone seeing inside. Unfortunately, such a blind also blocks the view. A blind with a block out fabric can be perfect for bedroom windows.
A venetian blind comes with horizontal blades, which you can adjust to achieve the desired effect.
Types of Internal Blinds
The most common types of interior blinds include:
A roller blind consists of a rectangular swath of fabric material fitted on a roller consisting of a wooden dowel or metal tube, which comes mounted between two brackets. A spring mechanism or a chain pulley system rolls the fabric up and down to allow light control. The blind can be hand-operated or motorised.
Today’s modern roller blinds feature inconspicuous hardware, and often don’t have the typical side hem. They may be finished with a smooth aluminium bottom rail or with any of the conventional trims. This gives them a sleek and contemporary look.
Internal roller blinds are available in a vast array of styles, designs, fabrics and colours to enhance the interior appearance of your property while reducing glare and protecting your family and furnishings from the damaging effects of the sun’s UV radiation. Some of the popular options include roller blinds with decorative see-through sheers, translucent fabrics, and textured blackout fabrics that can be custom made to suit your home and individual decorating style. Double blind styles, which offer a sunscreen fabric to block harmful UV radiation during the day while maintaining the view as well as the ability to drop a full blackout fabric for adequate privacy at night, are also available.
One of the best roller blind style is Helioscreen, which is manufactured in Sydney. This model offers one of the best forms of adjustable sun control solution, and is specifically designed to offer greater flexibility and convenience for your home. It uses only the finest materials and components, and is manufactured on site to ensure that all of your needs are met.
Venetian Blinds
Venetian blinds are slatted, which means they consist of a number of horizontal strips or blades attached in rows. These blinds are nearly always made of vinyl or metal, but wooden options exist (wooden blinds); and are available in a wide range of colours.
The best venetian blind varieties are usually those that are colour coordinated (i.e. the tapes, cords and other components are all supplied in toning colours) and come with hold-down pins to steady the blind and prevent from blowing in the breeze or banging when a nearby window or door lands on it.
Vertical Blinds
Unlike the cord-supported horizontal slats of a Venetian or conventional mini-blind, a vertical blind consists of veins that hang down vertically from the head rail that houses its mechanical components. It is an extremely practical and attractive window covering, which is ideal for large window openings. It is also very flexible when it comes to controlling light and maintaining privacy. To regulate light while retaining some degree of your privacy, all you have to do is to tilt the vertical pieces of blind material to your desired angle.
A vertical blind can be mounted in a number of ways, such as on the wall, window fascia, ceiling or window frame – which adds to its flexibility.
This type of blind, as the name suggests, is derived from red cedar – a plantation-grown tree found in North America. Its slats, bottom rail and fascia are all made of red cedar and feature a clear lacquer finish. But it still offers two colour options – light-medium or medium dark, since the slats are graded as much as possible. Its headbox consists of steel which, together with pull cords and tilt cords, is usually colour coordinated. The red cedar fascia is fitted on site with clips, which allows for removal during window painting or cleaning.
Pleated Blinds
A pleated blind is made from a single piece of pleated fabric. This type of internal blind can be operated manually or using a built-in motor. The manual varieties come with a cord that is woven between each pleat. To raise the blind, all you have to do is to pull this cord which, in turn, stacks the pleats into a neat, compact pile. Cordless, motorised units feature a discreet cord woven into the fabric material. These pleated blind models may operate using a bottom-up motion or top-down motion, which allows for maximum control when it comes to regulating light levels and privacy. They are particularly well-suited for hard-to-reach areas, such as skylights.
Pleated blinds feature a range of materials, from translucents to blackout fabrics, and can be customised to fit virtually any type of window.
Shutters
Shutters are a form of internal blinds typically made from broad slats. These indoor window coverings can be decorative or functional, and feature a variety of materials such as wood, plastic, vinyl, steel or metal. They are extremely versatile when used as an interior decor element. They don’t require any form of embellishment and will complement any style of decor from conventional to contemporary. Shutters can add charm to rustic, cottage and nautical themes decor styles as well. Besides accentuating the decor, shutters can also provide some functionality, for example, to manage light or protect privacy.
Some of the best types of shutters include:
Basswood Shutters
Basswood is one of the types of wood material for shutters. It is sturdy and warp-proof; and also has a uniform grain that makes it ideal for staining. In addition, this timber doesn’t produce excess resin – which can have a negative impact on the finish of the timber.
It produces shutters that are lightweight, sturdy and extremely resistant to warping. These shutters also come with very strong joints and come in a range of configurations, including fixed, sliding, bi-fold or hinged, making them quite versatile.
The best thing about basswood shutters probably is the fact that these window coverings give you complete control when it comes to regulating the amount of light, heat and air entering the room. By adjusting the angle of the blades, you are able to achieve your desired levels of light, heat and air flow.
Cedar Shutters
Cedar shutters are crafted from red cedar and painted and stained to give them a more traditional look. These shutters are also durable, warp-proof 
and very versatile; and can be customised to suit your needs and personal tastes.
Thermo 25 Shutters
Thermo 25 window shutters are a new revolutionary awning product that is simple, yet strong, practical and stylish. These shutters are crafted from a carbon/glass-fibre-reinforced-polymer and feature an aluminium insert, which gives them added strength. They not only have an elegant and appealing look, but also offer numerous benefits, including: strength, durability, excellent insulation, noise reduction, versatility, safety, ease of maintenance, and environmental benefits – just to name a few.
Thermal 25 shutters are easy to clean and highly resistant to moisture, humidity, termites, UV rays, etc., and this makes them particularly well suited for damp areas such as kitchens and bathrooms. Their clean, simple and minimalist look produces a clean, architectural appearance that is ideal for sleek, contemporary interiors. If you’re looking for a type of internal blind that is elegant, clean and smooth to complement character and add value to your living space, then this is it.