Garage Window Shades & Blinds

Garage windows get treated as an afterthought until the space becomes a workshop, a home gym or the place you park a car you would rather people did not look at. Then the problems arrive quickly: low afternoon sun across one wall, glare on the workbench, and a clear view in to the tools, bikes and storage you keep there. Garage windows also come in odd sizes, often small and set high, which is why off the shelf blinds rarely fit them well. The shades on this page are made to measure for the fixed windows in your garage walls, so each one is cut to the opening you actually have.

Which shades and blinds work in a garage

Solar shades are the first place to look if bright sun and glare are the main complaint. The screen fabric comes in openness levels from 1% to 10%. Lower openness blocks more light and gives more privacy by day, while higher openness keeps more of the view out to the driveway or yard.

Light filtering roller shades suit a garage used as a workshop or gym, where you want soft, even daylight and no clear view in. Blackout roller shades close the window off completely, which is the choice when privacy matters most or when you work in the garage after dark with the lights on, since a lit room is easy to see into at night.

We have left woven wood off this page on purpose. Natural fibres are not suited to damp spaces, and prolonged moisture can warp them, so a 100% polyester roller fabric or a poly and PVC solar screen is the safer choice for a garage that sees wet cars, a hosed floor or winter condensation.

Sizes and operating systems for garage windows

Small windows are where garage shades usually go wrong, so start with the minimum widths. A roller shade with a chain can be made as narrow as 11 3/4 inches. Motorized versions start from about 20 inches wide because the motor has to fit inside the tube, and cordless on our squared cassette starts at 23 5/8 inches. If your window is narrower than that, a chain operated shade is the answer.

At the other end, light filtering fabrics reach 98 3/8 inches wide on the squared cassette, while blackout and solar screen fabrics stop at 94 1/2 inches because the heavier goods are milled on narrower rolls. Any shade taller than 100 inches moves to a larger 43 mm tube and cassette.

Windows set high on a garage wall are awkward to reach every day. A motorized shade with a remote solves that, and the base motor can run from a solar charger so you are not taking the shade down to recharge it. If the window has a crank handle or a deep sill, ask for a reverse roll, which hangs the fabric off the front of the tube so it clears the hardware.

Measuring and installing it yourself

Decide first whether the shade sits inside the window frame or on the wall around it. For an inside mount, measure the width at the top, middle and bottom and use the smallest figure, then measure the height on both sides and use the smaller one. Give us the exact numbers and we make the small deductions at the factory.

Installation takes a drill with a 6 mm (0.2 inch) bit. Each bracket has four pre-drilled holes. Two screws on opposite sides are enough on a sound wall, and the extra holes are there for a weak wall or a wide shade. Two types of anchor come in the box, one for drywall and one for masonry, so use the one that matches your garage wall. The cassette hooks onto the bracket latch and clicks into place at the back. Check that it is locked at the top and the rear before you let go.

A garage window rarely needs anything fancy, just a shade that fits and stops the view in. Order samples to see a solar screen in your own light, then enter your measurements. We make each shade to size and ship it direct to your door.