When looking for new window coverings for your Austin home, you’re probably thinking about colors, insulation, resilience and more. But another thing to consider is safety.
Recently, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) found specific window coverings to be among the top 5 “hidden hazards” in homes across the country, having been the cause of a number of injuries and fatalities among small children and infants. To increase awareness and help families find ways to increase safety around the home, October is National Window Covering Safety Month.
No matter if you’re looking for window coverings for children’s bedrooms, or redecorating a space in which kids could visit from time to time, Sunburst Shutters Austin can help ensure your house is as safe as it can be.
How Might My Windows Be Dangerous?
The primary hazard to kids in regards to window treatments in the home is dangling cords. Whether a part of blinds, shades, or another window covering, these cords have accounted for hundreds of injuries and deaths to small children over the last decade from asphyxiation.
Window Treatment Cord Safety
If you can, replace any corded window coverings in your home with non-corded replacements. Cordless shades, cordless blinds, and shutters are all fantastic alternatives to corded window coverings, removing the most hazardous component of windows for the kids in your house.
Plantation shutters–more than any other window treatment–are a perfect choice for kids’ bedrooms, and not just because they aren’t offered with cord options. Sunburst plantation shutters have been designated as a safe pick by window safety and family organizations including Parents for Window Blind Safety.
Dangerous Window Covering Finishes
For solid window treatments, some kinds of finishes, paints or stains may release fumes that may negatively affect young children. Polywood® and Ovation® plantation shutters discharge no fumes from any finish or stain, and are 100% safe for every space in your house.
Falling Through Windows
Ask any parent and they’ll tell you that kids are natural climbers, and the last place you want a kid climbing is near a window. Fabric window treatments do almost nothing to keep a child from falling out a window, but plantation shutters can provide a firm, stalwart barrier that protects your child from coming into contact with the window.
The Little Things You Can Do For Safe Windows
Picking the proper window treatment is the most critical decision you’ll make in enhancing window safety in your home, but there are things you can do as well:
-
In children’s rooms, keep the bed or crib away from the window. The distance helps decrease likelihood of any accidents.
-
Don’t keep any furniture that can be easily scaled near windows that may be hazardous.
-
Double check that all window treatments are solidly secured to the window frame or wall to prevent accidents.
-
If cords are unavoidable, make sure they’re pulled as highly as possible, tightly and out of reach of any children. An additional way to keep cords out of reach is to retrofit them with this easy guide.
Let’s Design Safer And Smarter, Austin
If you have questions about how safe your windows are, we’re more than happy to help. Call us at
512-549-6077 or fill out the form below to set up your free consultation, during which we can walk you through all your options to ensure that you rest easy in your home.