Energy costs have been steadily climbing year after year. Business owners (like homeowners too!) would love to see lower energy costs, but saving money by never running the heat or air conditioning is not very practical – especially in Minnesota!  Improved energy efficiency is on everyone’s minds as a way to save money and live better and in commercial setting, to please your customers and employees too!

Depending on the type of business, commercial buildings can be home to just employees, or employees and your customers. If your business is serving the public in any capacity, you need the surroundings to be comfortable, functional and safe so people will stay longer–buying, playing, eating and spending 🙂 With employees, the environment must also be safe, functional and comfortable. This leads to higher productivity and happier employees!

BB Commercial Solutions (BBCS) knows that a big part of comfort is temperature, and temperature can greatly impact your customers. Unless you’ve given some focused thought to sunlight control and “taking your business’ temperature,” you may inadvertently be minimizing comfort, slowing productivity and reducing profits.

WINDOW COVERINGS CAN MAKE YOUR BUSINESS MORE ENERGY EFFICIENT. 

It’s a well-known fact that natural light has powerful effects on health, impacting mood, alertness and sleep habits. Many modern buildings have walls of windows to let in beneficial natural light – however, big windows can also generate excessive heat during summer and cold during the winter, driving up energy costs as you try to maintain a comfortable year round temperature.

The U.S. Department of Energy projects that heat gain and loss can be reduced by 25% with proper window treatments designed for energy efficiency. Energy efficiency in the workplace includes blocking sun and glare, reducing heat/cold exchanges with the outside, and UV protection for furniture, artwork, equipment, products and inventory. A more neutralized temperature will lessen the need to run heating and air, saving on energy costs. 🙂

Window treatments that improve energy efficiency include:

• Solar Shades and Screens – block up to 99% of sun’s heat and glare
• Roller Shades – infinite choices of color, fabric and texture to match any décor, easy to use, room-darkening capabilities
• Cellular shades – light-filtering to blackout, provide privacy and reduce heat loss in the winter and heat gain in the summer
• Graphic Shades – energy-efficient messaging for brand enhancement
• Window film and tinting – UV protection, privacy options in decorative and security films
• Blinds – sun blocking when closed; all our commercial blinds offer flame retardant qualities and are certified green
• Shutters – real or faux wood in myriad colors, cordless operation beautifies your space
• Drapes – add style, privacy and sound control as well as insulation; can be light filtering or sun blocking

Used alone or paired together, each of these solutions can improve the energy efficiency of your business by giving you more control. Adding motorization to blinds, shades, shutters and drapes increases ease of control with wall-mounted or handheld remotes as well as timers and sensors that automatically respond to temperature and time settings.

BBCS: THE BEST WINDOW COVERINGS PROVIDER FOR YOUR BUSINESS! 

BBCS is your one-stop shop for commercial window treatments whether you are one storefront or a national chain of stores.

• BBCS can design window covering solutions to help reduce your energy costs up to 30%.
• Our products meet LEED (green certification), ANSI (American National Standards Institute) and NFPA 701 (National Fire Protection Agency) standards.
• Our clients cover a variety of industries: Subway, Marriott Suites, Chase, Gold’s Gym, Super Cuts, Travel Centers of America and Walgreens as a sampling.
• BBCS partners with some of the biggest names in the commercial window coverings business to offer the largest selection of products; for example, Levolor, SWFcontract, Bali, Somfy, Phifer and Graber.

BB Commercial Solutions is a division of Home Franchise Concepts(HFC), the parent company of Budget Blinds, the largest custom window coverings franchise in North America. With BBCS, you get over 20 years’ experience, the largest selection of window treatments meeting or exceeding national standards for business, volume pricing advantage and the strongest warranty in the industry.

When you’re ready to increase the energy efficiency of your business, we are ready to help. To talk with a BB Commercial Solutions professional about which products are the best solution for your commercial and business needs, call (651) 351 – 7620 today Don’t delay…summer (and the heat) is on its way!

Covering glass doors with window treatments can be challenging, especially if you want the doors to match or coordinate with nearby windows. Traditional blinds, shades and drapes that are beautiful on windows can present some unique problems with doors:

• Blinds on doors are notorious for shifting and banging every time the door is opened…
• Curtains or shades can add unwanted bulk as well as dangling cords…
• Vertical blinds are not everyone’s cup of tea, plus you have the shifting/banging of a blind…

Happily, shutters are an ideal solution for covering doors of all types, including French doors, sliding doors and patio doors, and they make excellent shuttered closet doors.

Budget Blinds offers many styles, colors and finishes in shutters so you can find the perfect custom solution for your doors, with real wood shutters, composite shutters, Plantation shutters or aluminum shutters. We will help you find the right shutter to address any challenges you may have with covering doors:

• Movement – doors are opened and closed many times a day and require unimpeded access
• Door knobs or handles that get in the way of traditional window coverings
• Maybe you want to downplay the door so it becomes more background than feature
• Maybe you want to spotlight your beautiful French doors or patio doors
• Privacy, lighting and ventilation

Movement

Shutters are securely attached directly to the door so there is no possibility of movement. Unlike blinds or shades that have a top attachment, framed shutters surround the glass for permanent placement.

Door knobs and handles

Custom cutouts can accommodate any type of door handle. Other options are to switch to a regular door knob that will not require so much space, or add a stem extension to a handle, lifting it so the shutter can fit underneath while still allowing full operation.

Highlighting or downplaying a door’s architectural features

Keeping shutters the same color as the door will help them blend with their surroundings. In a room of neutral colors, bright shutters will become a focal point, commanding attention.  Conversely, matching shutters will help to create a seamless color palette.

Privacy, lighting and ventilation

Adjustable louvers, with slat sizes of 2-1/2”, 3-1/2” and 4-1/2”, give shutters superb light and privacy control. The wider the slat, the more open the view, and closed shutters provide complete privacy and light blocking. You can adjust for any value in between by manipulating the louvers.  A divider rail allows for separate top and bottom adjustment for even greater light and privacy control–the top half can have open louvers to let in natural light, with the bottom half closed for privacy.

Additionally, hinged, bi-fold or sliding panel shutters can cover a wide expanse of glass, including doors and windows, and offer the option of a completely open view by folding out of the way. Especially on patio doors, shutters allow for good ventilation; you can open the door and adjust the shutters to let in just the right amount of air.

Lots of color and finish options to choose offer an incredible array of design options, and their clean, classic look is compatible with any home décor style.

• Always cordless, they are a child-safe option for any home
• If you love curtains, add a valance above the door for a pop of color, or coordinate with other window treatments in the room by using the same fabric
• Wider slats create a more modern look, narrow slats are more traditional
• Real wood shutters are highest grade North American hardwood, harvested from certified forests to help conserve the environment
• Composite shutters look like real wood, but are made from synthetic materials so they are highly moisture resistant for areas of high humidity like kitchens and bathrooms
• Plantation shutters offer timeless style, with tilt-rod or hidden-tilt control
• Motorization is available on many styles for the ultimate in convenience

Don’t let challenging doors keep you from having beautiful, coordinated window coverings throughout your home. Call 651 – 351 – 7620 to schedule your FREE, in-home consultation! We bring samples and design guides as inspiration so you can have the best-dressed doors in town! 🙂

Always on-trend and stylish, Budget Blinds also offers innovative window fashion design with blinds, shades, soft treatments like drapes and valances and exquisite decorative drapery hardware to ensure that you get the perfect window coverings for your home.

Give dad a space to call his own, and see if he doesn’t invite you in

Father’s Day rolls around once a year and the focus is totally on DAD, showing him how special and important he is:

• Dinner at his favorite restaurant
• Thoughtful gifts that say “I love you”
• Treating him to a game or sporting event

Consider how great it would be to make every day feel more like Father’s Day!  No, not a 365-days-of-Father’s Day gift frenzy, but maybe a man cave or personal space for him to kick back and relax.  Dads are all different, but any dad would love a place of his own for movies, hobbies and video games, or enjoying absolute quiet or loud rock-n-roll.

Having a space that’s decorated by dad for dad is rejuvenating and satisfying. He can pick the colors and furnishings to reflect a side of himself that may not be evident in the rest of the house (the deer head and sports trophies will finally have a home). Ruffled curtains in the dining room are lovely, but for his space…black, room-darkening roller shades to cut TV glare! 🙂

Just remember, man caves are not necessarily isolation wards; many times the man cave becomes a favorite family spot for hanging out with dad!

The man cave of his dreams

Budget Blinds  is the expert for all types of window coverings, including blinds, shutters, shades, drapes and more, so his space can reflect his personal taste.  Our cutting-edge smart home technology gives control at the touch of a button.  Motorization is perfect for hard-to-reach windows and to increase energy efficiency by opening and closing window coverings even when you’re not home.

• Tech dad will love remote-controlled window coverings throughout the house, and especially in his man cave so he doesn’t have to get up to close the blinds
• Masculine colors and textures in window coverings, like natural woven wood shades or charcoal gray Roman shades will complete the look
• An outdoor shed can convert into a peaceful hideaway, with aluminum shutters that repel weather and control light and privacy, so it’s comfortable all year long

Gift certificates need to be purchased from the local business where you live or, if it’s for a distant dad, you can do a ZIP code search for the franchise in his area by going online – BudgetBlinds.com.

For presentation on Father’s Day, you will receive a gift certificate package including a full-color mini brochure and a gift card with gift amount and contact information for the local franchise in a custom envelope!