Blackout Window Inserts & No-Drill Blackout Shades

Some rooms need to be properly dark in the middle of the day. If you sleep after a night shift, put a baby down at noon, or have a bedroom that faces the morning sun, a regular shade leaves a glow around the edges that is enough to wake you. A blackout window insert solves this differently. Instead of hanging in front of the glass, it sits inside the window opening and fills it from edge to edge, so there is nowhere for light to slip past. Nothing is screwed into the frame. This page brings together our made-to-measure blackout inserts and the shade we recommend alongside them.

Insert options for a fully dark room

ZeroGlow is our blackout window insert. It is a 25 mm blackout cellular shade held in a slim, edge-to-edge frame that presses into the window opening. A rubber weather strip around the outside of the frame seals it against the sides of the opening, which is what stops the light leaks you get around an ordinary shade. Because the shade lives inside the frame, it still opens: the lift is cordless, and you choose whether it travels up and down the glass or side to side. That means you can let daylight in on your days off without taking the insert out. The fabric comes in White, Black, Beige, Light Gray, Dark Gray and Straw, with three frame colors to pick from.

Blackout cellular shades are the choice for a window where an insert is not the right fit, for example glass set flush with the wall or a very large opening. They use the same honeycomb idea on a standard headrail and come in cordless, bead chain and motorized versions.

A few design notes. In a nursery or a bedroom with pale walls, White or Beige fabric keeps the window quiet during the day. In a media room or a shift worker's bedroom, Black or Dark Gray lets the window almost disappear when the room is dark. If several windows share a wall, use the same fabric and frame color on all of them so the wall reads as one.

Sizes to check before you order

ZeroGlow is built to the exact size of your opening, measured in inches or millimeters, so each window gets its own frame. It is designed to sit inside the opening, so it suits a window with a recess around the glass.

For blackout cellular shades, the limit depends on how the shade operates. Cordless shades build from 12 inches wide up to 94 inches wide and 94 inches high. Bead chain shades start at 18 inches wide and reach 197 inches wide and 157 inches high, which covers the largest openings in a single shade. Motorized shades need at least 23 inches of width and stop at 79 inches high, so a tall window with a motor is the combination to check first.

Measuring and installing it yourself

Measure each window separately, even when two look the same. For ZeroGlow, measure the opening where the frame will sit and send us the exact size. For a blackout cellular shade, note whether it mounts inside or outside the frame. On an outside mount, adding 3 7/8 inches to both the width and the height lets the shade overlap the opening and block more light at the edges.

ZeroGlow goes in with no drill and no tools, in three steps. Lay the frame on a soft, flat surface and join the corners. Fit the rubber weather strip around the outside edges of the frame. Then set the frame in the window opening and press the front gently until it is seated.

Compare ZeroGlow with our blackout cellular shades here, order a sample to see the fabric against your own window, then send us your measurements. We make each insert and shade to measure and ship it direct to your door.