Whether you’re building a new home, renovating an existing one, or simply replacing your windows, picture windows are an especially alluring option.
Suitable for a variety of spaces including living rooms, family rooms, kitchens, dining rooms, bedrooms, bathrooms, and basements, picture windows can transform the look and feel of your home. In addition to allowing abundant natural light, picture windows become an element of design in and of themselves by “framing” desired views.
Wondering whether picture windows are right for your home? Here’s a closer look at this popular window type.
What Are Picture Windows?
If you’ve ever walked into a room and been greeted with stunning expansive views, chances are you were looking out a picture window. Named for both their form and function, picture windows do exactly what their name suggests: create a “picture” out of the view.
Consisting of a single pane of glass, picture windows are wonderful for maximizing natural light and views. Furthermore, they usually feature low-profile frames to allow for more visible glass and broader views. While picture windows are often large and rectangular in shape, they are available in a wide range of shapes and sizes. As such, they’re appropriate for many different spaces. Meanwhile, picture windows come in many geometric shapes, and can also be customized specifically to your space.
If your primary purpose is to let in fresh air, picture windows are not the right choice as they are “fixed” in place meaning they do not open. However, if you’re seeking a statement-making architectural element that will let you soak in both natural sunlight and your natural surroundings, then they’re an excellent choice.
Additionally, picture windows shine when it comes to energy efficiency because they’re stationary and sealed directly to the frame.
A Beautiful Design Feature
All windows are inherently beautiful, but picture windows elevate the concept by offering an elegant fusion of form and function. Because while they don’t open, they do let in plenty of natural light.
Picture windows also offer a unique way to showcase your home’s scenery and natural views. While picture windows are in-demand by homeowners with stunning mountain, lake, or ocean views, they’re equally charming when displaying a home garden, immaculately landscaped yard, fall foliage, winter views, feathered friends, and other constantly changing natural and seasonal elements.
Picture windows are often used by interior designers to serve another purpose, as well. In rooms with high and/or vaulted ceilings, they can solve the common design challenge of how to decorate vertical space. By introducing picture windows into your design, you “open” up your walls and allow sunlight to flood into your space.
Meanwhile, the option to customize your picture window design also means they can be an excellent solution for rooms with particular design challenges or architectural constraints. In addition to making large rooms feel more welcoming with the warmth of sunlight, they can also make small rooms feel less claustrophobic.
And while picture windows are the embodiment of minimalism, they complement many interior design styles thanks to their sleek, clean aesthetic. Depending on your needs and goals for the space, picture windows can also be combined with other styles of windows.
The Many Benefits of Picture Windows
We’ve covered the aesthetic benefits of picture windows, which open up and brighten spaces while turning views into art. However, their benefits don’t end there.
At a time when more and more homeowners are seeking to turn their homes into tranquil retreats, picture windows offer a simple yet significant way to reap the profound benefits of time in nature. In fact, research shows that nature’s visual effects include stress reduction and physiological relaxation. The takeaway for homeowners? Gazing at your home’s natural views out of a stunning picture window doesn’t just feel good, it’s good for you.
Speaking of natural views, picture windows are also useful for facilitating seamless connections between your home’s indoor and outdoor areas.
Of course, picture windows don’t just offer views of plants, flowers, trees, and other natural objects. They also provide better sight lines of everything in your backyard or side yard, including pets and children playing outside. Rather than walking to the door every time you want to check on them, you can just glance out your picture window for the ultimate peace of mind.
But that’s not all. Other benefits of investing in picture windows include lower energy bills, easy and inexpensive care and maintenance, natural heat in the winter, and component-free cleaning. (If you’ve ever dealt with cleaning the dust and grime that collects in the nooks and crannies of a multi-paned window, you’ll recognize that this is a major perk!)
And because they don’t open, they’re also more secure against natural and human threats alike. Impact picture windows, in particular, offer superior performance in holding up to extreme weather. They’re also a deterrent to would-be home intruders in search of easy egress.
The same qualities that make impact picture windows more secure also make them quieter. If a more peaceful home is at the top of your list, then picture windows offer powerful partnership in achieving this goal.
Finally, picture windows are just as beautiful looking from the outside-in as they are from the inside-out. As such, they boost your home’s curb appeal—and even its potential resale value.
Elevate Your Environment with Picture Windows
If you’re selecting windows for your home, you’ve got many window style options from which to choose. While each has unique pros and cons, high-quality impact picture windows are in a category of their own thanks to their exceptional performance across everything from design aesthetics to energy efficiency.
