Blackout Shades & Blinds for Bay Windows

A bay window pushes out from the wall with a wide center window and two angled side windows, and each pane lets light in from its own direction. In a bedroom or media room that makes a bay hard to darken. A shade on the center window does nothing about the dawn light coming through the sides, and any gap at the edges of a window shows up as a bright line in a dark room. Getting a bay properly dark means a blackout covering on every window, fitted closely to each opening, and chosen so the three still look like one. This page brings together our made-to-measure blackout shades and blinds for bay windows.

Blackout options for a bay window

ZeroGlow leads this page. It is a 25 mm blackout cellular shade held in an edge-to-edge frame that presses into the window opening, with a rubber weather strip around the frame that seals it against the sides. It is cordless, needs no drilling into the trim, and can travel up and down the glass or side to side. Fit one in each window of the bay for the darkest result. Choose from White, Black, Beige, Light Gray, Dark Gray and Straw fabric, with three frame colors.

Blackout cellular shades give the same honeycomb look on a standard headrail.

Blackout roller shades are a single flat panel that rolls up into a squared cassette.

Blackout roman shades add soft folds, which suit a traditional bay with a window seat below.

Woven wood shades bring natural texture. Add the blackout liner, which closes off the open weave and is fitted to both the shade and the valance.

A few design notes. Use the same product and color on all three windows so the bay reads as one opening.

Sizes and limits for blackout in a bay

Blackout fabrics are milled on narrower rolls than light filtering ones, so they reach less width. On our squared cassette, blackout roller shades go up to 94 1/2 inches wide, against 98 3/8 inches for light filtering. A cordless roller shade needs at least 23 5/8 inches of width, which can rule it out on a narrow side window; a manual chain roller starts at 11 3/4 inches and a motorized one at 20 1/8 inches. Any roller shade over 100 inches high moves to a larger tube and cassette.

Blackout cellular shades with cordless lift go from 12 inches wide up to 94 inches wide and 94 inches high. Motorized cellular shades need at least 23 inches of width and stop at 79 inches high.

Woven wood tops out at 96 inches wide on every operating system. A wider center window takes multiple shades on one headrail, up to 118 inches in total, though a shared valance still stops at 96 inches.

ZeroGlow is built to the exact size of each opening, in inches or millimeters. For roman shades, send us your sizes and we will confirm what can be made.

Measuring and installing them yourself

Measure each window of the bay separately. For blackout, an inside mount is usually the better choice in a bay, because the side windows meet the center at an angle and outside-mounted shades can collide at the corners. Measure the width at the top, middle and bottom and the height on both sides, and send us the exact opening rather than taking anything off yourself.

ZeroGlow installs without tools: join the frame corners on a soft, flat surface, fit the rubber weather strip around the outside edges, then press the frame into the opening. Roller and roman shades mount on a cassette bracket. Screw each bracket through at least two of its four pre-drilled holes on opposite sides, hook the valance onto the bracket latch and press it back until it clicks, then check that both the top and the rear are locked.

Compare blackout options for your bay here, order samples to check the fabric in your own light, then send your sizes and we will make each one to measure and ship it direct to your door.