If you live in the United Arab Emirates, your home must have two things: air conditioning and window treatments.
You must have curtains or blinds in the UAE. In other parts of the world, window treatments may be lovely when you need a room dimmer, require privacy, or want to enhance your interior design. However, in a Middle Eastern country like the UAE, they are an absolute requirement. Without them, the glare and heat of the sun can become unbearable.
In the UAE, you ask which window treatment you’ll use, not if you need it – which brings you to this next question. Which should you choose between blinds/shades and curtains/draperies?
Like most things, the answer boils down to personal preferences. However, you can use the discussion below as a guide to help you decide.
- Heat Gain Reduction
It’s always warm in the UAE, even in winter. While it’s hot outside, air conditioning keeps the interior cool and comfortable. In this environment, which is better for your home: curtains or blinds?
Curtains and drapes are excellent for your luxury interior design and also keep heat in and cold out. Therefore, they’re a fantastic option in cold climates. Can curtains and drapes keep heat out? Yes, they are capable of that, too. Studies show white plastic-backed, medium-colored drapes can cut heat gain by 33%.
That said, in the desert tropical climate of the UAE, blinds (particularly shades or the non-louvered blind variants) do an excellent job of keeping heat out. Choose reflective blinds to reduce heat gain even more.
If you want curtains instead of blinds, hang two draperies. Two layers of curtains can further minimize heat gain. The curtain on the window side can absorb the heat from outside, while the room-facing curtain can help maintain the cooler temperature inside.
- Sunlight Control
The UAE typically gets between eight and 11 hours of sunshine every day. Do blinds or curtains give you better light control?
Clusters and blinds can keep the sun’s glare at bay when completely closed. Of course, some factors determine their effectiveness. For instance, even when fully drawn, sheer curtains will only ever be capable of filtering light, not blocking it. Likewise, face-fitted blinds may have spaces on the sides (not to mention spaces between slats) that may let light in.
If you want to block light completely, choose blackout curtains or blinds. However, if you prefer better light control, louvered blinds (vertical or horizontal) are the better option. They let you tilt the slats or louvers to open them fully or slightly, allowing precise control over how much natural light can get into a room. If you want the maximum amount of natural light, you can draw your vertical blinds to the sides or roll your horizontal blinds up to reveal your windows.
Tip: If there are areas in your house you’d rather keep dark all the time, install heavy drapes on your windows. However, install blinds where you need flexibility in the amount of natural light.
- Energy Efficiency
Blinds are the most energy-efficient window treatment option, as they can cut heat gain the most. In fact, some blind variants contain a honeycomb cross-section that serves as a buffering air layer, reducing heat conduction through the windows.
They’re called insulated cellular shades. They provide the highest amount of insulation and, thus, the best energy efficiency among window treatment options.
Thick, layered curtains and drapes can provide excellent insulation and energy efficiency.
- Style and Aesthetics
Blinds and shades come in various designs. There are opaque and translucent blinds and solid-colored and printed variants.
Blinds can be recess-fitted (installed right on the window pane, inside the window’s recessed area) or face-fitted (mounted over the window frame, not inside the window cove or recessed area). Shades and horizontal louver-type blinds can be rolled up and down, typically gathered at the top of the window, while vertical blind slats may even be gathered accordion-like to one side.
For all their variety, however, blinds are still limited in design options compared to curtains and draperies. Curtains and drapes can come in all types of fabrics and, thus, offer an almost endless array of translucency levels, textures, embellishments, colors, patterns, and styles.
Suppose your room has a patterned, accent wall made of colored concrete with bold texture and color. Since your feature wall has a bespoke design, finding a window treatment to complement it can be more challenging. That said, you can get curtains and drapes custom-made to match your room’s focal point perfectly. That is not something you can easily do with blinds and shades.
Because of their fabric construction, curtains are much easier to make according to specifications. You can cut them to size according to the width and length of your windows, embellish and style them according to your room design, and make them in as many layers as you want.
Moreover, even if you don’t have the time or patience to create custom-sewn curtains, there’s already a wide variety of designs available commercially. Finding a ready-to-hang curtain that fits your room’s aesthetic should be easy.
Blinds or Curtains
Do you need to choose between blinds and curtains in Dubai? Consider your preferences regarding heat gain reduction, light control, energy efficiency, and aesthetics. That will help make the decision easier.
