At Hartley Window Coverings, we tend to liken premium exterior window shades to high-end sunglasses. Just as Ray Bans or Salt Optics can be a stylish way to make a trip to the beach more comfortable, so too can our exterior shades be an attractive way to shade your home or patio. What’s more, with dozens of products with dozens of options, you can choose screen shades that perfectly compliment your home, and customize them to thoroughly meet your needs. 

In this informative post, learn about the many advantages of our exterior window shades, and discover how having them installed in a place like Santa Rosa, California isn’t just a nice thing to have, but an extraordinary way to make the most of your home. 

The Benefits of Installing Exterior Shades in Santa Rosa

Reduced Glare

In the same way that designer sunglasses protect your eyes from sun, so can exterior shades protect your home from the sun’s rays. By significantly cutting down on the sun’s glare, exterior shades can enable distraction-less screen reading and television viewing. With exterior shades, you’ll be able to finally watch entertainment in peace, exactly as you would at the theater. 

Enhanced Privacy

Because exterior shades can be made to be almost entirely opaque, they can also double as privacy-screens—preventing would-be snoopers from seeing you from outside your home. That said, because they’ll still provide some degree of transparency (depending on their openness factor), they’ll continue to preserve your outside views while keeping you unseen.

Energy-Efficiency

If you live in Napa, Marin, or Sonoma County, you know how warm summers and rising temperatures mean rising electricity costs to keep your home cool. Fortunately, exterior shades offer not only an investment in your home’s curb appeal, but can also help lower your energy bill. 

By blocking harmful UV rays and absorbing short wave radiation, exterior shades can help you cut down on the energy required to keep your home comfortable. In fact, exterior shades can cut down 95% of solar heat before it hits your window, which can translate to huge energy savings. In the summer, exterior shades can lower the temperature of a room by as much as 20 degrees, while helping to significantly insulate your home in the winter.

Improves the Interior View

One often overlooked benefit of outdoor shades is that they’re just that: outside. By placing window coverings on the outside of your home or business, you can leave the inside unencumbered, which can open up new opportunities for stylizing your interior view. 

Whether you opt to embellish your windows or walls, outdoor shades can pave the way for artwork, painting, or shelving that’s all the more visible. Likewise, they’re also a great choice for when you can’t find interior shades to match your interior décor. 

Concealed When Closed

Another great feature of outdoor shades is that they allow for unobstructed views from the inside out when fully closed. Unlike interior window shades like draperies, shades, or blinds, exterior window treatments are completely hidden from view when closed. This makes them a great option when you have an extraordinary view from the inside out, and don’t want anything detracting from it. 

Bonus: You Can Use Exterior Shades to Create a Private Patio Oasis

One trend that many Santa Rosa homeowners have taken to in recent years is using exterior shades to create what we call a “private patio oasis.” 

By enclosing their patio or porch with exterior shades, homeowners are able to fully or partially enclose their patios to create versatile, weatherproof ‘all-season rooms.’ Typically, homeowners will use our energy-efficient exterior solar shades to block wind and rain, as well as to retain the heat–allowing them to make use of their patio even in the off-season. We’ve even seen some homeowners go as far as remodel their patio for four-season use, installing everything from space heaters (in the winter) to comfortable patio furniture and patio appliances.

If you would like to enjoy your porch or patio year round, give us a call to speak to a designer who can work with you to make it happen. Our top quality exterior shades can be retrofitted with a sophisticated zipper track system to keep the screen from being pulled from the track, which can keep them taut in windy conditions, as well as insect free. They’re also great insulators and can not only retain heat, but keep cold air outside. And with motorization options, they can be controlled via remote control and by smartphone.

Contact us to learn more today!

Get Your Santa Rosa Exterior Shades Today!

Looking for exterior window shades in Santa Rosa, California? Want the best?

If you want window treatments that can withstand the elements, without sacrificing style or your interior view, our high performance solar shades are the perfect choice! Made using high quality fabrics that block heat, light, and glare, they're among the best exterior shades on the market. 

What’s more, our extensive inventory is also one of the largest in the industry! Not only can you choose the style and color of your solar shades, but also the type of fabric, their housing, and their size, up to 32 feet wide. You can also choose your ideal opacity level (the “openness factor” of the weave), so get their visibility level just right.

We also provide motorized exterior shades, with or without automation options, giving our customers numerous options for controlling their shades. Whether you want to operate your shades with the touch of a button, with your smartphone, or, even with your voice, you can!

Contact us today to learn more about our extraordinary selection of exterior window shades, or to schedule a FREE home consultation.