Windows have a massive influence on the style and personality of your property. By choosing the right window company design, you can also uplift your interiors by letting in more natural light. Furthermore, careful window selection will lead you to other practical benefits such as improving energy efficiency and increasing your home’s value.
In this blog, we share six practical tips to help you select the right window design for your home. Let’s get started!
Consider Your Home’s Architectural Style
Take a step back and look at your home’s architectural design. For instance, a classic casement window with rectangular or diamond-shaped grilles can perfectly preserve a traditional Tudor style home’s timeless charm. On the other hand, sliding windows beautifully complement properties with a contemporary design.
Matching your window designs with your home’s architectural style will prevent design elements from clashing with each other. Instead, it’s going to create a visually-pleasing look that enhances curb appeal. So, take a look at your home’s architectural style before choosing the right window design to ensure a more favorable outcome.
Clearly Define the Purpose of The Window
By establishing clear goals in the beginning, you are one step closer to finding the best window designs for you. What purpose will a particular window serve? Do you seek to have more natural light, increase ventilation, showcase a view, or simply boost the home’s aesthetics? For any of these purposes, here are a few helpful guidelines to choose the best window design.
Increasing Natural Light & Ventilation
If you seek to have more natural light in the house, opt for windows with a larger glass area. The natural light streaming from these windows will boost your mood and decrease your dependence on artificial lighting. Large windows that fully open (e.g. casement windows, awning windows) will also double as a good source of ventilation, whenever needed.
Showcasing a View Outside
Meanwhile, for simply showcasing a view outside, large fixed windows are an excellent choice, provided that you don’t need added ventilation in the room anymore. Fixed windows can also be placed between two operational windows as a window combination.
Other great options for showcasing a view are bay or bow windows. As projection windows, these will give a more in-depth look into the surrounding area, in a way fixed windows can’t. They also increase your interior floor area and make for a cozy and sunny sitting area or reading nook.
Boosting Aesthetics
Lastly, for windows installed for decorative purposes, consider getting unique shapes like circles, geometric shapes, and so on. These specialty shape windows are typically available as fixed windows but some are designed to be operational as well.
If it fits with your home’s architecture, you can also experiment with stained glass on specialty window designs to add a splash of dramatic, colourful light into the house. For instance, Palladian windows can provide a classic yet elegant effect to your home’s interior, especially if you have a large traditional home. Also, you can add a bay window if you want to make maximum impact on your interior design.
However, if you still want to look for more window design ideas that boost aesthetics, talking to an experienced home designer can be a good idea. They probably have design recommendations that you can consider in choosing the perfect window design that makes your home aesthetically appealing.
Windows That Complement Your Exterior Door’s Style
Doors and windows are both pronounced architectural elements. They’re one of the first things anyone sees, even from afar. This is why it’s important to ensure that these two elements are harmonious with each other. Also, having windows that complement your exterior door’s style will create uniformity among your home’s architectural elements, making your whole space look more coordinated.
Thus, when deciding which window design to get, it’s important to consider if it matches your front door’s colour, finish, and overall style. If you are building a new home, it is recommended to shop from the same windows and doors collection in order to reduce the likelihood of mix-matching styles.
You can also consider getting fixed windows above your door (i.e. transom windows) or along the side of your door (i.e.sidelights) to accentuate the door further while also illuminating your doorway. Once you find the right window design that suits your exterior door’s style, contact professionals specializing in window replacements to installing the new ones. Unless you’re well-skilled in the installation process, you need experts to ensure you get the job done correctly.
Make Energy Efficiency a Priority
Updating windows is one of the best ways to improve your home’s energy efficiency. According to Energy.gov, heat loss and gain through glass windows account for 25 to 30 percent of heating and cooling costs in most residential properties. Hence, investing in energy-efficient windows should be a priority for both new and existing homes.
A window becomes energy-efficient if the manufacturer included energy-saving features such as insulated glass units with an Argon filler, Low-E coating, and so on.
In addition, window design can also impact energy-efficiency. If all factors are equal, a fixed window insulates better than an operational window because fixed windows remain shut within the wall. This is why fixed windows are a good choice if you just want added window area for increased natural light or for showing a view.
However, there are other energy-efficient windows to consider. For example, hinged windows like casement windows and awning windows can also be a good choice since they’re designed for ventilation. When they’re closed, the single sash of the said window design is firmly pressed against its frame, reducing the risk of air leaks. Also, hinged windows can be paired with other design choices like picture windows to make them more functional and highly energy-efficient.
Use the Sun’s Orientation as a Guide
To fully maximize any kind of window design, plan out windows according to the pathway of the sun. Depending on where you live geographically, each side of your home (and the windows therein) will be prone to different sun exposures. Typically, you can expect the following:
- East-facing windows will receive morning light
- West-facing windows will receive afternoon light
- South-facing windows will receive bright light all-day
- North-facing windows will receive soft light all-day
If you are currently in the process of designing and building your home with an architect or contractor, you can use the above guidelines to plan your windows. However, these guidelines can also be useful for existing homes if you are trying to decide where to get an extra window for a room.
Window design can only take you so far. The magic happens when the right window design meets excellent placement.
6. Choose How You Want to Open Your Windows
Are you leaning towards a fixed or operable window design? If you want windows that open, how do you prefer to operate them? There are many different operable window designs that you can choose from. The most common window styles used in residential properties are the following:
Double-hung windows
This window design comes with two movable lower and upper sashes. This window design is highly recommended if you want to improve your home’s ventilation or for children’s bedrooms because you can lock the bottom sash, keeping them safe inside.
Sliding windows
This space-saving, modern window design does not need extra space to open because they simply slide over to open. They’re stylish, low maintenance, and suitable for modern homes.
Casement windows
Like traditional doors, casement windows are hinged to one side and can fully open. It’s a must-have window design if you want to let the sunshine in and optimal ventilation with uninterrupted views of the outdoors.
Awning windows
This particular window design has a single sash hinged at the top, allowing you to swing the window upwards. An added bonus for this window design is you can leave them open even during light rain fall due to its unique mechanism.
Conclusion
In this article, we’ve covered 6 helpful tips for choosing the best window design for your home. We’ve also emphasized that strategic window placement is just as important as window design, along with energy-efficiency considerations.
One last tip for your window shopping is to make sure that you are getting high-quality windows from a trusted window manufacturer, so that you can have beautiful windows that will serve you for years to come. And with that, you’re all set!
Which of these tips was the most helpful for you? Leave us a reply below.
