Anti Glare Shades & Blinds

Glare is a different problem from heat or brightness. A room can be comfortable and well lit and still be hard to use because one patch of sky is bouncing off a TV, a laptop or a glossy table at the wrong time of day. Closing everything solves it and leaves you in a dim room. The shades and blinds here are chosen to take the hard light off the surfaces you look at while keeping the room bright and, where you want it, the view.

Which shades and blinds work against glare

Zebra shades are the most adjustable answer. Their sheer and solid bands slide past each other, so you can set the shade part open or part closed without raising or lowering it, and change it as the sun moves. That makes them a good fit for a living room where the glare shifts from the TV in the morning to the dining table in the evening.

Solar shades keep the view while cutting the light, and they are specified by openness. A 1% screen is rated at 80% shading, 3% at 70%, 5% at 60% and 10% at 50%. For a screen you work at all day, a 3% screen is a sensible starting point. Choose 1% for a west window that throws low sun straight across the room.

Light filtering roller shades soften the light without the screened look, with shading from roughly 45% to 70% depending on the series. Light filtering roman shades use the same fabric range in soft folds, which suit a bedroom or a reading corner where you want the window to feel dressed rather than technical.

Control, positions and size limits

Glare often comes from one strip of the window, so being able to stop a shade partway is useful. Our motors store six electronic limits, two end positions and four intermediate ones, so you can save the exact height that clears your screen and return to it with one press. The AC152-06 remote adds time control, which lets the shade move on a schedule before the sun reaches its worst angle. On zebra shades the motor can also fine tune the band angle.

For smart home control, choose a Matter motor for Apple Home, which also reaches Alexa, Google Home, SmartThings and Home Assistant. A Zigbee motor connects directly to five specific Echo devices; other Alexa setups need a hub. Remember that a motorized roller needs 8 to 10 inches more minimum width than the manual version.

On width, light filtering roller fabrics reach 96 inches on our standard cassettes and 98 3/8 inches on the larger squared cassette. Sunscreen goods stop at 94 1/2 inches on that cassette, but run on 118 inch rolls.

Measuring and installing them yourself

Measure each window separately. An outside mount, with about 3 7/8 inches added to the width and height, overlaps the frame and stops light sneaking in around the edges, which matters if the glare comes from a low angle. If a deep sill or a handle is in the way, a reverse roll hangs the fabric off the front of the tube to clear it.

Fitting is straightforward: a 6 mm drill bit, brackets marked at 1.1 inch screw spacing, and two anchor types in the box so you can match your wall. Use two screws on opposite sides of each bracket, clip the cassette on, and check that both the top and rear are locked before letting go.

A good test before you order: note when the glare is worst and where it lands. If it moves around the room, choose zebra. If it sits on one screen all afternoon, choose solar. Order samples, then have each shade made to measure and shipped direct.