Windows are one of the best ways to allow natural light into your home during the daylight hours or let a cool breeze wash over your home. There are a lot of styles to choose from – from more traditional styles to thoroughly modern appointments – and picking the right style will go a long way toward creating the home of your dreams.
New Windows for Your Home
Whether you’re redesigning or beginning from scratch in a new home, new windows can make a room come alive, define certain aspects of a room by allowing more floor-to-ceiling light in, and set off the style of an entire estate. So, let’s take a look at a few traditional and modern styles that are in vogue:
- Casement Windows
Casement windows are a homage to simpler times, but they’re definitely in swing right now. These windows allow a lot of light to filter into your rooms, and they open and close based on a hinge, usually at the bottom left of the casement window itself.
With casement windows, there’s not much of a frame obstructing your view to the outside, making these windows great for allowing your family to bathe in ambient light and not miss a beat when picking up the natural surroundings.
For all of these reasons, casement windows are trendy right now out West and make the perfect complement to a ranch-style home.
- Awning Windows
Awning windows are somewhat similar to casement windows, except with awning windows, you typically open and close them vertically rather than horizontally.
These kinds of windows go great in a living room with couches and open spaces since they bring in so much natural light. You can let in more or less fresh air based on how much you crack open awning windows, and the hinge typically runs vertically along the bottom to allow easy access.
In terms of working well in larger spaces, awning windows should be a consideration alongside french windows and picture windows.
- Bow Windows
Bow and bay windows work great for setting off the exterior of your home, and they lend an intimate, cozy feel to a living room or bedroom.
- Transom Windows
These windows work wonderfully as a one-off style in a hallway or when you’re looking to allow more fresh air to enter one of your bathrooms. That’s because transom windows can be – what’s termed as – operating, which means that they can be designed to open up and allow more fresh air to enter your home.
Conversely, some transom windows are known as non-operating, and this style would work well for a hallway where you want to receive more light but not necessarily access to the outside. For this reason, a transom window could work very well if you have kids: You want them to experience the outdoors without actually being outdoors!
Transom windows can be placed above more oversized picture windows, but what we’ve been just describing would be standalone transom windows.
- Picture Windows
Picture windows allow in a large amount of ambient light and work well in living spaces because they let all of your guests take in the beauty of the outdoors. These kinds of windows are non-operational, meaning there are fewer hinges to repair or replace, and the costs are usually more manageable.
Picture windows can also allow more heat gain in the window, thus cutting down on utility bills. For those hotter summer months, we recommend window tint for your windows to help you save on cooling costs.
