Basement Window Shades & Blinds

Basement windows are the awkward ones. They are short, often long and narrow, they sit high on the wall near the joists, and they are frequently too small for anything sold in a stock size. They also have to do two jobs that fight each other: give you privacy at a window sitting right where people walk past, and not make an already dark room darker. Every shade here is made to your measured opening and ships direct to you.

What actually fits a basement window

Cellular shades are the default recommendation, for two reasons. The first is size: cordless cellular builds down to 12 inches wide and 12 inches high, and on top-down bottom-up versions the minimum height drops to 8 inches, which covers the short hopper openings that defeat most window coverings. The second is that cellular is the only construction here that traps a layer of air against the glass, which matters more on a below-grade wall than anywhere else. Light filtering cellular is the usual pick, since it screens the sightline from the yard while still passing daylight into a room that has little to spare. Blackout cellular is the choice for a finished basement bedroom or a media room.

Roller shades cover the openings cellular cannot. A manual roller builds down to 11 3/4 inches wide, the narrowest minimum of anything we make on a cassette system, which is what a long slot window beside the furnace needs. Blackout roller suits a basement bedroom, light filtering roller a laundry or utility area. Woven wood is worth considering in a finished basement for the texture it adds to a room with no architecture to speak of, ordered on the clutch loop system, which also reaches 11 3/4 inches.

Minimum widths are the constraint down here

On most windows you are checking whether a shade is wide enough. In a basement you are checking whether it is narrow enough, and that is where orders go wrong. The minimum changes with the lift system, not just the product. Manual roller starts at 11 3/4 inches. Cordless roller needs far more, 19 3/4 inches on our standard squared and round cassettes and 23 5/8 inches on the squared cassette, because the spring has to fit inside the tube. Cordless cellular is the forgiving one at 12 inches. On woven wood, clutch and loop reaches 11 3/4 inches while cordless needs 19 3/4 inches and a wand needs 24 5/8 inches.

Motorizing a basement window is where most people hit a wall. A motorized roller needs 8 to 10 inches more minimum width than the manual version of the same shade, landing around 20 1/2 inches, and motorized cellular at 38 mm needs 23 inches. Many basement openings are simply narrower than that. If you want a motor on a narrow window, woven wood on the standard DC motor is the exception worth knowing, since it drops to 12 3/4 inches minimum width where the lithium and AC motors need 25 1/4 inches.

Measuring and fitting them

Measure the opening itself rather than an old blind, and measure each window separately even where they look the same. For an inside mount, take 1/4 inch off the measured width to clear the frame. For an outside mount, which often works better on a basement window with a shallow or irregular frame, add about 3 7/8 inches to both width and height so the shade overlaps the opening and closes the light gap.

Fitting is straightforward, but wall type matters more down here than upstairs. You need a 6 mm drill bit, and the brackets come with two types of expansion anchor. Basement walls are often masonry or concrete rather than drywall, so choose the anchor matching the wall in front of you instead of the one sitting on top in the bag. Screw spacing is marked at 1.1 inches and each bracket has four pre-drilled holes, with two screws on opposite sides enough on a sound wall. Lock the valance groove onto the bracket latch, press back until it clicks, then confirm both top and rear are engaged before you let go.