The Best Window Treatments for Pet Owners in Virginia Beach
There’s an image pet owners in Virginia Beach know all too well: leaving your home only to glance behind and see your four-legged friend’s face peeking through the window as you leave. For pet owners with certain window coverings, regular trips to the window could spell disaster, as pets can cause some of the worst accidental damage to your window treatments.
So what can you do to protect against pet damage? The simplest way is to choose a pet-friendly window treatment that can handle even the rowdiest pets. Here are some of the best (and worst) window coverings for pet owners throughout Virginia.
Window Coverings That Aren’t Pet-Friendly
Let’s start by taking a look at what window treatments pet owners should not choose.
Corded Window Coverings
As is the case with window safety for children, cords can be one of the biggest issues for pet owners. Pets–especially cats–are known to play with dangling cords, which may mean damage to your window treatment or worse, injury to your pet.
Look into window treatments without cords, such as shutters that attach to the window frame or other window treatments that have a bottom-up top-down configuration or are motorized.
Metal Blinds
Photo courtesy Carlos Castro via Flickr (Creative Commons).
Metal blinds might be the worst window treatment for homeowners with pets. Not only do they typically operate via cord, but they’re very susceptible to damage from even the most gentle pets. Dogs or cats peeking through aluminum blinds can bend, warp, or even snap the thin slats, which means you’ll need to replace the entire window treatment.
Fabric Window Coverings
Fabrics might be something to stay away from, depending on your pet and the type of window covering. Long fabrics like draperies can “pool” on the ground, making them easy for dirty paws to stain. Fabric window coverings also have a tendency to collect pet hair which eliminates any aesthetic value they could add. Lastly, fabrics can tear, making them perfect targets for cat claws.
Our Recommended Pet-Friendly Window Treatments
Now that we’ve seen which window coverings don’t mix well with pets, we’ll go over some pet-friendly window treatments.
Wood and Faux-Wood Blinds
Almost all of the problems aluminum blinds have, wood and faux-wood blinds resolve for pet owners. No matter if your pet likes to poke its face through the window, durable wood blinds can handle more abuse than metal blinds. Plus, their typical wide slats make it less likely for pets to get their bodies tangled in between them.
But, be sure that if you choose wood or faux-wood blinds that you choose ones that are cordless.
Plantation Shutters - A Pet Owner’s Best Window Treatment
If damage to your window treatment or injury to your pet has you worried, plantation shutters can help assuage those concerns. Because they mount directly onto the window, there are no dangling cords or fabric that may cause trouble. And, even if your pet is able to reach them, Polywood® plantation shutters are scratch resistant and incredibly sturdy so damage is rarely an issue.
Plantation shutters can help keep pets happy too. Does your dog want to peek out the window as you head out? Shutters can let it do so without any chance of damage. Does your kitten want a patch of sunlight to lounge in? Simply tilt the louvers to let the light come through without losing any privacy.
Put simply, plantation shutters are the best window covering for homeowners with pets.
