I have some friends who moved into a home built at the height of irrational exhuberance in real estate. Its a quarter mile from the beach in Oregon. It is a single-story house that is very spacious, but not a full blown McMansion. Its distinguishing feature is its 15-18 foot flat ceilings (not vaulted or pitched). It was built this way to allow super large windows--wide and tall--to let the sun shine in. In the parts of the house with 18 feet ceilings, they windows rise from about waist height to about three feet from the ceiling. In the 15 feet areas, the windows rise to about two feet from the ceilings. The windows are multi-pane affairs with sash painted wall color--bone white. The windows are largely fixed with a pane or two in each that open for ventilation. It is always between 45-65F where they live. The house is nearly entirely furnished with 100 to 200 year old walnut furniture. These are giant, tall pieces that they brought with them from a large home in the Carolinas. These pieces look perfectly at home with the high ceilings, a reason the couple rented this home while trying to decide on whether to buy it, or build something from scratch in the area. They both love the huge windows and the views both near and far (coastal range) that they afford, plus the ample light they let in. Their problem is that they cannot agree on what to cover them with when they want some privacy.
She loves long, luxurious drapes.
He hates drapes.
He would like the windows covered for privacy from occasional street and pedestrian traffic. She prefers them open more than he, but wants to be a good mate and meet him half way.
Neither of them likes Levelor-style, horizontal blinds much.
What options do they have to consider for their windows?
They are fairly game, having sold one home, bought an 80 foot ketch and sailed the Americas for two years, before returning to shore in the Carolinas for ten years. Like many boomers, they are partly traditionalists and partly experimenters. Now they have come to the Pacific Northwest to slow down again and enjoy a cooler climate and live a quiet life and enjoy each other's company.
Are there any innovations in window covering that might work for them? Or is it just drapes vs blinds for windows, still? It is a little hard for me to fathom louvered shutters at this scale, but what do I know?
Suggestions?
We aren't told
what the site is like. I somehow picture the house slightly elevated from the street. If this the case, perhaps a view of trees and sky could be had from the upper half (or more) of the windows, while a fixed or movable translucent screen -- pull-up shades, or "cafe curtains," or frosted/textured glass -- would provide the desired privacy ?
The sills are already fairly high, for such extensive glazing -- so privacy shouldn't be too difficult an issue -- I would think.
The occupants will have discovered how their ceilings are shaded from outside light -- and the interiors correspondingly less "alive" ? -- by virtue of the spandrel of wall above the glass. Modernists were delighted to experience the effect of glass that went all the way up: the light that reflected upon the exterior extension of the roof (the eaves) continued almost unabated onto the interior ceiling plane. It was not only continuous material that "joined exterior and interior": it was continuous light as well.
So called "Smar Windows"...
So called "Smart Windows" have been developed. They're bascially like eye glasses that darken when exposed to light, except with smart windows, they're manually adjusted using electrical currents. Seems like a good option for this couple.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_glass
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