Cellular Shades & Blinds with Side Tracks

Cellular shades are good at holding light back across the face of the glass. The weak point is the edges. A standard shade hangs from a headrail with a little clearance on each side so it can travel freely, and on a bright morning that clearance shows up as two thin lines of light running down the sides of the window. In a bedroom, a nursery or any room where someone sleeps through the day, those lines are often what does the waking. That is why people go looking for cellular shades with side tracks: a shade whose edges are closed off instead of left open. This page collects the two ways we tackle that gap.

Two ways to close the edges

ZeroGlow is our answer when the edges matter most. It is a 25 mm blackout cellular shade built into a slim, edge-to-edge frame, so the shade travels inside its own surround instead of hanging loose in the opening. A rubber weather strip runs around the outside of the frame and seals it against the sides of the window opening. The lift is cordless, and you choose whether the shade moves up and down the glass or side to side, so the room can still take daylight when you want it. The fabric comes in White, Black, Beige, Light Gray, Dark Gray and Straw, with three frame colors to choose from.

Blackout cellular shades suit windows where a frame inside the opening is not practical, for example glass set flush with the wall. They hang from a standard headrail, so the side gap is handled by how you mount them rather than by a frame.

A design note: a frame reads as part of the window, so choose the frame color closest to your window trim and let the fabric do the rest. Pale fabrics such as White or Beige keep a nursery or a light bedroom calm during the day, while Black or Dark Gray lets the window all but disappear in a dark room at night.

Sizes and limits to check

ZeroGlow is made to the exact size of your opening, measured in inches or millimeters, and it is designed to sit inside the opening, so it needs a window with a recess around the glass. Each window gets its own frame.

For blackout cellular shades, the limits depend on how the shade operates. Cordless shades build from 12 inches 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. 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.

On a headrail shade, mounting outside the opening is the closest thing to a track. Adding 3 7/8 inches to both the width and the height lets the shade overlap the opening on every side, which cuts down the light that reaches the edges. You can add more than that if you are especially sensitive to light gaps.

Measuring and installing it yourself

Measure each window on its own. For ZeroGlow, measure the opening where the frame will sit and send us that size. For a blackout cellular shade, decide on inside or outside mount first, because it changes what you measure.

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 assembled frame in the window opening and press the front gently until it is seated. Nothing is drilled into your walls or window trim.

Every shade on this page is made to your measurements and shipped direct to your door. Choose ZeroGlow when the light at the edges is the problem and the window has a recess to hold the frame, and a blackout cellular shade mounted outside the opening when it does not. For more ways to get a room fully dark, see our total blackout and blackout window insert pages.