Light Filtering Shades & Blinds

Light filtering is the middle ground most rooms need. A bare window lets in hard sun and an open view in, while a blackout shade shuts both out. Light filtering shades and blinds sit between the two. They soften daylight into an even glow, take the edge off glare on a screen, and close the sightline in by day while the room stays bright. Every shade here is made to the width and height you measure and shipped direct to you.

Which light filtering shades and blinds to choose

Light filtering roller shades are the simplest and most versatile. The fabric rolls up into a closed cassette, and the range runs to 32 colors, from pale whites like Alabaster Grain and Pearl Veil through warm neutrals such as Canvas Cream and Wheat Glow to deeper tones like Fogstone and Shadow Haze. Light filtering roman shades use the same fabric family in soft horizontal folds for a more tailored look.

Light filtering cellular shades add structure, with the fabric formed into cells for a crisp, pleated face. A top down bottom up build lets you lower the top rail for daylight over the shade while the bottom stays closed at eye level. Zebra shades run alternating sheer and solid bands, so you can slide from a softly screened view to a closed shade without raising anything. Woven wood shades with a light filtering liner keep the texture of bamboo, jute or reed while the liner evens out the light behind it.

Pale fabrics glow in the sun and read almost white from the street; deeper colors frame the window as a feature.

How much light each fabric lets through, and the sizes they reach

Light filtering covers a range, so read the shading figure rather than the name. Our light filtering roller fabrics are rated from about 45% shading on the sheerest series to 70% on the denser weaves, and that difference is visible in the room. On woven wood, an unlined shade is roughly 50% see-through and a light filtering liner takes it to about 70%. That liner comes in nine colors and covers both the shade and the valance.

Light filtering fabrics are milled on wider rolls than blackout, so they reach further. On our squared cassette a light filtering roller reaches 98 3/8 inches wide, against 94 1/2 inches for blackout on the same hardware. A chain operated roller starts at 11 3/4 inches wide, motorized at 20 1/8 inches and cordless at 23 5/8 inches. Any roller over 100 inches high moves to the large cassette with a heavier 43 mm tube, which reaches 118 inches wide and 120 inches high.

Cordless cellular shades run from 12 to 94 inches wide and up to 94 inches high, and a bead chain cellular shade reaches 197 inches wide and 157 inches high. Woven wood tops out at 96 inches wide on every lift system.

Measuring and installing it yourself

Decide on an inside or outside mount first. For an inside mount, measure the width at the top, middle and bottom of the opening and use the smallest figure, then measure the height on both sides and use the smaller. Send us those exact numbers, because the factory makes its own allowances, including 1/4 inch off the width of an inside mount cellular or woven wood shade.

Roller, zebra and roman shades hang from two cassette brackets. Drill with a 0.2 inch (6 mm) bit, set the screws at 1.1 inch spacing, and use the anchor that matches your wall, since drywall and masonry anchors both come in the box. Hook the groove at the top of the valance onto the bracket latch, press it back until it clicks, and check that both the top and the rear are locked before you let go.

If a room needs to go fully dark at night, our blackout shades are the other half of the decision, and many homes use both: light filtering in the living spaces, blackout in the bedrooms. Order a few samples, hold them to the glass at midday, and pick the one that gives you the light you want.