Blind help please

lena · Aug 07, 2014 1:43 pm

I want to get blinds for our loungeroom. I am after roller blinds a blackout blind for night and a sunscreen one at the back, for the day to let the sun in but not allowing anyone else to see in. The person we are buying from said you should get a white sunscreen one and then the colour blackout one. Is this correct or does it make no difference to get the same colour for both? I will be getting brown.

deluxes · Aug 07, 2014 1:58 pm

I think the maximum light transmission for the sunscreen one comes from the white ones. But I think you should go with what you believe suits.
You'll still get light filtering through a brown coloured sunscreen blind.

Bluesuede · Aug 07, 2014 2:25 pm

Here's a test for you - ask them for two samples and then hold them up in your window. You'll find that you will be able to see MORE of the outside view from inside during the day through a dark sunscreen mesh roller blind than through a white one.

lena · Aug 07, 2014 2:29 pm

makes complete sense that more light would come through the white. I am worried about grubby little fingers touching them though. With 4 kids it will happen the curtains that are there now are yuck from them grabbing them to look out of them. BUT the loungeroom does need as much light as possible as it is quite dark as it is.

TinaG · Aug 07, 2014 3:08 pm

We have a cream sunscreen one- you can't see through it from the outside at all (during the day), but still can see out from inside, have light and get a breeze through.

Bluesuede · Aug 07, 2014 3:24 pm

lena

makes complete sense that more light would come through the white.

Why?

A black sunscreen blind and a white sunscreen blind that are constructed of the same material but are a different colour only, have holes of identical size. The amount of light coming through those holes is identical.

There is not light transmitted through the fabric, and if there were, white reflects more light than black so you'd expect LESS coming through a white thread than a darker colour. It is just the perception of looking at a white colour from inside that you are getting more light when in fact you are looking at more reflected light from INSIDE the house, not outside.

If the view from inside is more important than reflecting internal light then get the darker colour because it allows your eyes to see what is visible through the gaps more than white fabric will. (For that same reason - reflection of light).

snufl · Aug 09, 2014 11:16 pm

We were in the same situation as you. We weren't concerned about blocking heat, we wanted privacy during the day but to retain as much view as possible. I did heaps of research and found 2 things that influence the perceived clarity of view, the colour and openness of weave of the fabric. Trust me, go dark, not white for the sunscreens unless you are trying to block heat. Ask them for samples and hold them up, you will see the difference.

We got Merimy at Beautiful Blinds to send samples. They were tiny but held up to a window we could see a big difference. We ended up with dark colour sunscreen blinds with 10% openness.

We absolutely love them. They cut glare but we still get plenty of light. There is a cycleway outside and without them we'd get no privacy during the day. With them we can sit right in front of the windows and people outside cannot see us at all. The only other thing I'll mention is that flyscreens with these blinds will distort the view somewhat.

Here are a couple of photos but they are grainy so the view from inside the house is clearer than it looks here. Hopefully will at least give you an idea. Outside all you see is reflections on the glass.

Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ 03 by snufl, on Flickr

Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ 01 by snufl, on Flickr