Cellular Shades & Blinds for Bedrooms

Most bedroom windows have three jobs that pull against each other. At night the room has to go dark and private. In the morning you want daylight without giving the street a view of the bed. And the window is often the coldest spot in the room in January and the warmest on a summer afternoon. Cellular shades and blinds handle all three better than a flat fabric, because the honeycomb cells hold a layer of air against the glass and the shade folds into a slim stack at the top when it is raised. Every shade on this page is made to the width and height you measure and shipped direct to you.

Blackout or light filtering cellular for a bedroom

Blackout cellular shades are the usual pick for a main bedroom, a nursery, or any room where someone sleeps past sunrise or works nights. The fabric itself passes no light, so what you notice afterward is only the thin line around the edges, which the mounting choice below deals with. Light filtering cellular shades suit a guest room, a home office corner or a bedroom you also read in during the day. They glow softly and still block the view in, so the room stays private with the shade down.

The lift matters as much as the fabric. Cordless is the simplest choice and keeps cords away from the bed or crib. Top down bottom up lets you lower the top rail to bring sky light in over the headboard while the lower half stays closed, which is the easiest way to wake up to daylight on a street-facing window. A motor lets you close every window from bed, with battery or plug-in power, and a solar panel is available to keep a battery motor charged on a sunny window.

Sizes and lifts to check before you order

Cellular limits change with the lift, so choose the lift first and then check it against the window. Cordless shades build from 12 inches wide up to 94 inches wide and 94 inches high. Cordless top down bottom up runs from 12 to 98 inches wide and up to 94 inches high, and it can go as short as 8 inches, which helps on a small window above a dresser. A bead chain lift goes furthest: from 18 inches wide up to 197 inches wide and 157 inches high, which covers a wide primary bedroom window in a single shade.

Motorized cellular is where bedroom orders most often need a second look. It needs at least 23 inches of width and stops at 79 inches high, while the same shade on a bead chain reaches 157 inches. If your window is taller than 79 inches, plan on cordless (to 94 inches) or bead chain instead. If drilling into the frame is not an option, for example in a rented bedroom, a no-drill mount is available on our cellular line.

Measuring and fitting cellular shades yourself

Decide on an inside or outside mount for each window first. An inside mount sits within the frame and looks tidy against the trim. Measure the opening and take 1/4 inch off the width so the shade clears the frame. An outside mount is the better choice when darkness is the priority: add about 3 7/8 inches to both the width and the height so the shade overlaps the opening on every side and covers the gap where light creeps in. Adding a little more overlap than that is fine.

Measure every window separately, even pairs that look identical, and note which room and which wall each measurement belongs to before you order. Older bedroom frames are rarely square, so a careful tape on each opening saves a reorder later.

For a calm bedroom, choose a shade color close to the wall rather than the trim, so a lowered shade reads as part of the room instead of a block on the window. Keep the same fabric and lift across every bedroom window so the house looks consistent from the street, and save contrast for bedding and rugs, which are easier to change than a set of made-to-measure shades.