In the summer, most of the heat in a house will most probably come from sunlight. This means that if it gets too hot in your house during warm months, it will get really uncomfortable. But there are some things that you can do with your windows to make the heat more bearable and keep your house cool. Here are some of those tips.

• Blinds – If you have a little extra budget, then you should consider investing in blinds or shades. This is actually something that has been done for years but has probably also been forgotten because of new technologies like air-conditioning. Blinds can actually help reduce heat from the sun by up to 50% if installed in all the right places.

• Curtains – If you use curtains then you may want to close the ones covering the south and west side windows of your house. This is the best practice for the day and for any window that allows direct sunlight into your house. The windows should be closed as well so that heat doesn't travel in. Also keep your curtains thin and not too thick that these will absorb heat and keep it inside the house.

• Exterior shades – Ever heard of putting shade outside your window? It may seem a little silly at first but during hot weather months there is hardly any wind so these won't be blown away. What you can do is invest in bamboo shades that can be hung outside your closed windows. Now you may not see what's outside but you are blocking close to 80% of the sun's heat traveling into your house.

• Use your green thumb – You don't have to be an expert gardener to plant a tree. And this is exactly what you should do in certain parts of the house that allow direct sunlight through your windows. Again, most direct sunlight will probably hit the south and west sides of your house so plant trees there that will grow and eventually be able to block the sunlight from coming in. Think about it as your contribution to the environment as well. You might not have to use air conditioners anymore after planting a few trees around the house.

• Tint – One other way to block a lot of direct sunlight from coming in is to tint your windows, much the same way that you tint your car windows. Of course this will leave some of your house windows looking ugly and drab but you can hide these windows with curtains.

If this is something you don't think you will like, you can also try using stained glass instead of regular glass on your windows. Just be sure to use the darker colors so that heat doesn't travel through.

And lastly, if you do use tint, one option is to use the kind that has a mirror-like surface facing outside so that light is reflected off of your house. The great thing is that from the inside your house you will still be able to look out like there is no tint at all.