The outdoor we make
Shades take the heat out, and drapes do it with fabric you can sweep aside.
Choosing
Compare Them Side by Side
A covered patio has a roof, and a roof only solves the sun directly overhead. The sun that makes a lanai unusable comes in at an angle in the late afternoon, under the roof and straight at the furniture, which is exactly when people want to be out there. Both of these treat that open side.
An outdoor shade drops down and covers the whole opening, which stops more heat and more wind, and it rolls away out of sight. Outdoor drapes hang at the edge and pull across by hand, so the view returns in one motion and the space feels softer.
Where you only want cover from a neighbor on one side, drapes are usually the better answer; where the sun is the whole problem, the shade is.
Both are a sun and weather product rather than storm protection, and neither is a substitute for shutters or impact glass. We would rather say that here than let anybody assume otherwise and find out in a bad week.
| Feature | Outdoor shades | Outdoor drapes |
|---|---|---|
| Stops heat and glare | Most | Some |
| Cuts the wind | Yes | A little |
| Opens in one move | Rolls up | Sweeps aside |
| Privacy on one side only | No | Yes |
Which One Is Right for Your Home
Pick a name to see what it does and how it looks in a room.
Outdoor shades
An outdoor shade drops down the open side of a covered patio. The roof already blocks the midday sun; the shade covers what it cannot, which is the low light from the side in the late afternoon, exactly when you want to sit out there. It also cuts the wind enough for a ceiling fan to be worth switching on, and it keeps some of the rain off the furniture. The fabric is built for sun and weather, not indoor fabric moved outside.
See outdoor shades
Outdoor drapes
Outdoor drapes hang at the edge of a patio and pull across by hand. They do much the same job as an outdoor shade and they feel different: fabric that moves in the air, and a view that comes back in one motion rather than a crank. They are also the better answer where you want privacy from a neighbor on one side only. The fabric is made to sit in the sun and get rained on, so the color holds and nothing grows on it.
See outdoor drapesFitting
What the weather does to outdoor hardware
Outdoor fabric is made for this. It is woven to hold its color in direct sun and to shed rain without anything growing on it, and it is not indoor fabric moved outside.
The part that fails first is almost never the fabric: it is the hardware, and within a few blocks of the ocean the reason is salt. Salt lands on an exposed metal part every day whether or not anybody opens anything.
That is why we specify sealed hardware on coastal jobs and avoid an exposed chain, and it is why a cheap outdoor shade on a beachfront balcony often fails in its second season while the fabric still looks new.
The other question is wind. An open balcony takes gusts that a ground floor lanai never sees, so the mounting and the side channels are specified for the position rather than for the opening size.
Where we fit them
Measured and installed across South Florida
Every outdoor on this page is made to one set of windows: yours.
I'd like to get startedAt your windows
We bring samples of every outdoor on this page to your home and hold them against your own glass, so you can see how each one looks in the room it is going into before you choose. Everything is then cut to your own openings, which is why it sits flush in the frame.
Fitted in less than 30 days
Most installations finish in less than 30 days after you order, fitted by our own experienced installers. The visit costs nothing, and by the end of it you will know exactly what your rooms are going to look like and what it costs.
Before you book
Questions about outdoor
We measure and install outdoor across Broward , Miami-Dade and Palm Beach .
Can I leave them down in a storm?
No. Outdoor shades and drapes are sun and weather products, not storm protection, and they should be rolled up or drawn back before high wind. Nothing we fit is a substitute for shutters or impact glass, and we will say so plainly rather than let anyone assume otherwise.
Will they keep the rain off the furniture?
Some of it. A shade across the open side stops rain blowing in at an angle, which is most of what gets your furniture wet on a covered patio. In heavy rain straight down, the roof is doing that work and the shade is not.
Do they keep bugs out?
Not on their own. An outdoor shade is a sun fabric, not an insect screen, although a shade in front of an existing screen does not stop the screen working. If bugs are the actual problem, a retractable screen is a different product and a better answer.
Can they be motorized?
Yes, and on a wide opening it is the usual choice, because a crank on a twelve foot shade is a two minute job every time. A motor on a wall switch does it in one press, and it can be scheduled to drop before the afternoon sun arrives.
I'd like to explore my options
Let's make your home feel complete. We will reach out and help you get started.
