Last year, I set up one (sad, lonely) hog panel that curved out from the house and rested against the rail. On it, I fastened a roll of reed mat (available in the garden section) to shade the huge windows on the front of the house. It performed well, so this year I convinced my dad that we ought to cover the whole front great room windows, and the two on the west end of the house.
I got the 6′ x 15′ reed mats and cut them in half, because I don’t need them to go all the way down to the deck floor. (Also, I’m growing beans up from planters on the deck, so I’ll be rolling the mats up as the summer progresses, to get them out of the way of the beans.
We’re having “weird mountain spring weather” this month, which I just adore, but which photographs queerly.