Bring your windows to life with The Window Film Company [AD]

This is a paid partnership written in collaboration with The Window Film Company

Whenever I travel to Scandinavian countries, I’m always surprised how few homes have curtains, shutters or blinds. The reasoning I suppose is why would you want to block out much-needed natural light and views out? It’s such a different mentality to here in the UK, where we’re careful not to let anyone peek in, twitching at the net curtains and tilting our bespoke shutters to retain our privacy.

But what are the alternatives to heavy window dressings? Curtains are great for cosiness and blinds for completely blocking out light, but window film could also offer a clean, contemporary solution. Window films have long been used to prevent glare, help with overlooking and give a sense of security, but now with advances in film and printing technology, they tick the boxes in terms of style as well, providing a decorative flourish to your window with delicate patterns and eye-catching designs.

Established in 1998, The Window Film Company supply and install a range of cost-effective window film products, from a complete bespoke design solution to pre-designed options. They have everything from reflective films to combat heat (particularly useful for south-facing buildings), specialist UV films to guard against fading (if you don’t want you favourite armchair or piece of art to discolour), frosted window films and solid vinyls for privacy (useful for bathrooms), and computer cut logos or full colour graphics to add an element of kerb appeal to the slot of glazing above a front door.

Window film doesn’t just offer a functional alternative to curtains and blinds, it can also help you make the most of your space, creating a beautiful focal point to enjoy everyday. Here I’ve outlined just some of the pros of using window film to bring your windows to life:

Highlight period details
Have you got a beautiful bay window but don’t want to cover it all up? They’re always the trickiest of windows to know what to do with. Curtains conceal their architectural shape, while it can be difficult to know where to screw in blinds if there’s not much of a gap between the window frame and the cornicing. Use decorative window film to prevent passersby peering in, leaving the top panels of glazing free for views out. You’ll still get lots of natural light without feeling like you’re completely on display. Even better, it won’t detract from those lovely period details that you bought the place for, only add to their interest.

Aid privacy
In dense urban cities, you often can’t escape from a bathroom or bedroom being overlooked. The Window Film Company’s Frostbrite frosted film gives windows the appearance of acid etched or sandblasted glass, preventing views in or out, while still allowing light to pass through. A durable, professional standard window film, it can be cut to the size of your window or supplied by the metre, as a plain design or featuring a range of cut patterns or printed designs like below.

Conceal unwanted views
It also works the other way round too, you might not want to see the view outside your window everyday, if you look onto a brick wall, a passageway or car park. A view of a patterned window could actually be nicer than what is outdoors. I’ve seen some films use patterns inspired by nature to soften a window and bring an element of the outside in.

Window film can also help give a sense of security so you aren’t fearful that passersby might eye up your Mac computer or big, expensive TV. With patterned films you can play with transparency so you get little peeks of colour and light from outside coming in, while stopping anyone getting a proper look in.

Prevent glare and furniture from fading
Strong sunlight streaming through windows can be lovely on a summer’s morning but it can also have detrimental effects on your furniture, antiques and art over time. I know when I’ve cleaned the top of my wooden chest of drawers I’ve sometimes noticed marks where an object or book was placed. The Window Film Company has a range of specialist UV protection window films to help with fading, on top of their frosted designs already discussed. They cut out 99% of UV rays without dramatically altering the appearance of your glass (there’s even clear UV window film), which makes them ideal for sensitive period properties. Heat and light are also important factors to consider when it comes to fading, so it could be that you combine anti-fade film with frosted film, solar control window film, or black-out blinds too.

Bring a new lease of life to old windows
Replacing old windows can be a huge expense – when we were renovating our house, we only really had the budget for new sash windows to the front of the property, the back of the house still has ugly, old PVC windows. With a bit of simple DIY, patterned window film could provide a fresh new look without breaking the bank, detracting the eye from the outdated frames.

Window film isn’t just for windows
Frosted window film can also be applied to other areas throughout the house – from shower screens and door numbers and names, to glass cabinets and upcycled cupboards. The Window Film Company offers a range of cut designs, where you can get a pattern of your choice computer cut from the frosted film. Nearly two years in and we still haven’t got a door number on our house, I’ve got dreams of a smart, contemporary number in a bold font in the toplight above our front door. It’s just picking a font that’s the tricky bit!

All images courtesy The Window Film Company