Waking Up to Natural Light whilst Avoiding the Heat with Blinds

I am not at all a morning person so thank God our kitchen has skylights so that the morning sunshine into the house is gradual and guaranteed without my doing anything. It means that whilst I am putting the kettle on and preparing breakfast, still in a comatosed state, I can already see what I am doing, before I summon up the courage to open up the window blinds and actually face the day, something that happens only after caffeine has been consumed.

My toaster broke last year, and I have been grilling toast ever since, which has been a rude awakening as it means I need to be alert enough to ensure it doesn't burn, but thankfully I bagged myself a toaster bargain recently which means I get to stay sleepy for longer, and on school days I only wake Aaron once breakfast is ready. This isn't a school day here though and Aaron loved the new toaster as much as me:

Luckily he is also VERY sleepy first thing, so I get to guzzle caffeine, whilst he gradually wakes. I wake him a whole hour before school, as mostly we walk to school and walking with a half awake child wouldn't really work. He has got into a lazy habit of late though, of standing on his scooter and expecting me to push him. He's still crazy active, still an outdoor boy, so really not sure what that's all about. I've been doing it for a couple of weeks even today. My arm gets so sore I have to swap arms halfway to school. Before you say I am spoiling him dear reader, I know very well with Aaron that it's only a phase and a classic case of "this too shall pass".

Back to the mornings though I've always been grateful for our skylights as they provide heavenly amounts of natural daylight be it Winter or Summer; basically all year round. It's nice and welcoming to walk into a kitchen that's already "morning" before you've even opened the blinds.

However, on a day when nobody is at home, to ventilate the house with windows flung open, those same skylights are the source of heat. Heat that our traditional window blinds keep out. A shaded room is a cool room, be it naturally shaded due to its orientation, or clever management of the sunlight. Unfortunately as much as I dearly love our skylights, the sign that Summer is truly finally here (despite our erratic cold days that keep interspersing the sunshine), is that the kitchen is getting very warm. So warm in fact that Daddy for the first time in 2015 opened the skylights yesterday. I should have got him to crack open champagne and proclaim "I declare Summer 2015 open". With Summer not yet being at its peak though, opening the skylights provides a beautiful breeze, and job's done!

However, history tells me, the temperatures have a long way to go yet, and it's upwards, and that's when those skylights that are currently a source of ventilation, also become the source of the heat that means our kitchen becomes a suntrap.

Hence I am on the lookout for VELUX blinds. The skylight windows look lovely as they are:

So blinds would not be for aesthetic reasons, but rather to provide the same benefit that sunglasses do. They've not been a priority thus far, as Spring has not been nearly as hot or sunny as 2014, but I know a bad Spring can be the sign of an amazing Summer to come.

So my beautiful skylights which light up my favourite room, with my favourite kind of light: natural light, can also become the source of the heat that means for a few weeks of the year it's light a greenhouse.

Having looked at the VELUX website, I'd say the Roman Blinds would be my choice. They come in 20 contemporary fabrics and they even mean that I could shade the room without losing the LIGHT:

Choose a darker colour sceme for dimming out the light; use transparent, light fabrics to create beautiful effects in the room or opague fabrics to soften the light. We’ve made sure that every option is available!

Sounds great to me.

My immediate priority though is Aaron's birthday and I am in full-on birthday party planning mode. He's an only child AND it's his first birthday party so I am in unchartered waters. Yes you need to wish me luck. Instead of being nervous about food, entertainment, venue, party bags, etc... I am nervous about guests. Will they turn up? Hardly anyone RSVPs... is that normal? Must start approaching people in the playground in the coming days, so that I prepare the right amount of food and favours.

Oh and by the way, Aaron's going to turn five, and in the photo above he is only 13 weeks. Sniff, my boy! Growing up fast. Too too fast!

Bye for now, snowed under Supermum ;-)