Home office window treatments can be a tricky design challenge. You want your office to be bright enough that it doesn’t feel like a cave, but not so bright that you’re faced with constant screen-glare issues. The goal is to incrementally filter light, but a lot of common window treatments for home offices don’t allow for that sort of mid-range light filtration.
Even more problematic? The amount of light you want in an office depends entirely on what you’re doing at that moment. To solve the problem, we took some time to explore a few common home office activities and the window treatments that work best for them. (Even better: All of these window treatments are useful for home offices, and all could probably provide the coverage you need for any office task.)
Situation 1: Meeting with a Client
You have a big meeting with a client coming up, and it’s one of those bright, hot North Carolina days. The light coming through the window is causing screen glare and heating up the room, but it’s too early in the year to turn the A/C on full blast! Which window treatment will help this situation?
Solar shades are roller shades made with a high-tech solar screen fabric. They allow you to control the light coming into the office and do an excellent job of reflecting solar heat away from your windows. Don’t worry; their partial transparency will allow some cheerful sunlight to brighten up the room and put your client in a good mood. You can even get solar shades in different light- or heat-reducing fabrics, depending on your office’s specific needs.
Situation 2: Working on a PowerPoint Presentation
You’re making a last-minute presentation for a potential client. The light through your windows is casting glare on your screen. You try turning the screen, but it doesn’t seem to matter which direction it’s facing. Your eyes start to hurt; you’re developing a headache. Which window treatment will solve this problem?
The window treatment classic, wood blinds, will be your savior here! In addition to giving your office an air of warm sophistication, they offer the best individual light filtration of any window treatment. Since the blinds can be raised or lowered and the slats can be rotated 180 degrees, you have complete control of exactly how much light you let in and where it goes.
Situation 3: Reading Reports
Your office tasks today consist entirely of catching up on company reading: budgets, reports, and quarterly statements. You don’t want your office to be dark enough to put you to sleep, but you don’t want the sunlight or the outside view to be distracting. Which window treatment will help keep you awake and focused?
For reading printed materials, Roman shades are an excellent window treatment option. They offer a nearly unlimited range of fabrics and a full range of opacities, so you can choose them for style and based on the amount of light you want to filter through them. This means, when your day is overtaken by reading materials, you can shut out the outside world to concentrate while still getting all the benefits of soft, ambient light.
Have a home office situation we haven’t covered here? Feel like the window treatments for home offices you’ve seen haven’t fully met your needs? Come to Strickland’s window coverings showroom today to discuss your office needs with our window treatment specialists.