How to Protect Your Apartment from the Sun: 8 Examples

Everything depends on how you feel about the sun: do you like waking up to sunlight falling on your face, or would you rather open your eyes in the dark, even if it's a bright summer day outside. But even if you're a devoted sun worshipper, you'll need one of the ways to shield your home from its hot rays in summer.

1. Shutters

Wooden shutters not only protect the room from sunlight but also decorate the window frame. Shutters can be external or internal; in both cases, you need to keep in mind that you'll require free space to open and close them easily.

Design: Marina Kutzukova

2. Blinds

Horizontal wooden blinds also serve as window decoration and, unlike shutters, do not require space. Contrary to popular belief, they look great not only in country houses but also in city apartments. For balconies and loggias, it's hard to find a better option.

Design: Sergey Bakharev

3. Floor-to-Ceiling Curtains

Long curtains made of heavy materials like velvet, dense natural silk, or linen look luxurious and can become the main decoration of the room. They have another advantage: floor-to-ceiling curtains, like all vertical elements, visually lift low ceilings.

Design: Irina Kireeva

4. With a Drapery

The traditional option, loved by our mothers and grandmothers for its elegance and practicality: curtains paired with a drapery make them more voluminous.

Design: Nadezhda Zотовa

5. Austrian

The curtains with a wavy bottom edge were invented by decorators of Austrian royalty, so they became known as “Austrian” throughout Europe. For royal chambers, they were made from heavy expensive fabrics, and the edges were decorated with fringe. These curtains can be made from any fabric, remembering that the lighter and stiffer the fabric, the fuller the folds will be.

Design: Anna Vasilyeva

6. Roman

Another invention of ancient Romans, preserved almost unchanged until today. The design of Roman curtains is very simple: when unfolded, they form a smooth fabric panel, and when raised, they create neat horizontal pleats that stack on top of each other. Such curtains look great in both classical and modern interiors.

Design: Soul Concrete

7. Roller

A simple and convenient option that became popular thanks to the Swedish brand IKEA. Roller curtains can be mounted on the ceiling or window frame, they are easy to use, inexpensive, and effectively block out harsh sunlight while allowing daylight in.

Design: Natalia Yashuzakova

8. Smart Glass

Even windows can now be smart. Smart glass (electrochromic glass) is a modern alternative to any curtains or blinds. It has the ability to change its optical properties: light transmission, and the degree of heat absorption or passage.

What does it look like? In the morning, your windows are completely transparent, during the day they deflect sunlight, and in the evening they become opaque to outsiders. Smart glass also helps save electricity, which is usually used for cooling or heating the room. But it also comes at a premium price.

Design: Elena Soloveyeva