Mobile home window coverings can offer not only privacy and décor for your residence, but also can help lower your utility bills by reducing your energy consumption.
When you are shopping for window coverings, you need to adapt your choice to your decorating style, your tastes and needs, your budget, and the amount of brightness you wish to have in your room. For the kitchen, faux wood blinds and wood blinds are easier to maintain than curtains or pleated blinds. A more rigid blind is easier to clean. For the bedroom you can choose an opaque blind for a more restful sleep. Fabric blinds, curtains, or rigid horizontal blinds are good options because they offer greater opacity. In the living room you can use horizontal blinds for increased privacy. If privacy isn’t an issue you can choose drapes or shades with a color similar or completing the wall color. In the bathroom, a waterproof horizontal blind is a good choice.
Window Coverings
Shades
Window shades are easy to install and they come in a variety of colors and materials. In the summer they work best to lover energy consumption by blocking the sunlight. In the winter they stop heat lost if you mount them close to the window in such a way that they reach the sides of the window. Roller shades are modern, minimal, and sleek, an elegant way to cover your windows. They are both stylish and practical. Roller shades are priced from $120 and up.
Blinds
Blinds are one the contemporary window treatments that offer good versatility. You can raise and lower them the same way as the shades, but they also have slats and you can move them to allow more air and sun to pass through. In the summer blinds are less effective than shades because they still allow some light to pass through the slats. In the winter you can minimize the heat loss if you fit your blinds snuggly and close to the window glass. Wood blinds are an elegant and beautiful choice and they come in many finish choices. They are also a cheap choice because their prices start from only $60.
Draperies
Draperies can add luxury to your mobile home. They can also help to lower your energy bill. Draperies work well both in summer and in winter, when they are used properly. To maximize the energy savings you may use two drapery panels instead of one. On cold winter nights, you may close all drapes. Make sure your drapes are installed as close to the window as possible. The drapes prices start from $160.
Shutters
There are more types of window shutters, such as louvers, glass, solid panels, or fabric. They can be used either inside or outside of the window. Shutters are a good choice to add some aesthetics to your mobile home, to protect privacy and to control the amount of sunlight entering the room. They can also protect against the weather and provide security. The Cedar blade shutters cost from $70 per square foot and up, while the aluminum powder coated shutters cost from $100 per square foot and up.
Reflective Film
The reflective film treatment can be applied on your mobile home windows in order to cut the glare of the sun. This is a more permanent solution than shades, draperies, or blinds and you’ll not be able to remove film to allow more light inside. In warm climates reflective films can better reduce the heat gain. The cost of installing reflective window film is around $5-7 per square foot, or around $40-$60 per window.
How to install blinds
Installing blinds and shades is easy and you can do it yourself. Blinds can be horizontal or vertical blinds. Vertical blinds has the advantage that they can be custom made to fit any window size. You can install them with an inside or outside mount. The inside mount is located within the window frame while the outside mount is hung above the window frame. For an inside mount you need to keep at least 2 1/2 inches of depth in the window opening.
Place the headrail up to the window frame and make sure it is level. Mark the both ends and place the mounting bracket on the marked lines. Drill a starter hole for the screws and then install all brackets. At the ends of the headrail you need to install end caps. Use a level to make sure the headrail is level. Place the mounting bracket on the lines marking the end of the headrail. Drill a starter hole for the screws and install all brackets. Clip the headrail into the brackets. Install valance to conceal the metal headrail. Install the vanes and the wand.
