Opaque Shades & Blinds

Opaque is the word people use when they want a window covering nobody can see through, not even a silhouette. It sits between privacy and blackout: the main goal is that the street, the neighbors or the parking lot cannot see in at any hour, and a dark room is a bonus. This page gathers the shades we make with fully opaque fabric or an opaque liner so you can compare them in one place.

Shades and blinds with no view through

Blackout roller shades are the simplest opaque window covering we make. Our blackout roller fabrics are specified at 100% blackout, so the panel does not show shapes or light through it in either direction.

Blackout cellular shades do the same job with a honeycomb fabric. They suit a bedroom or a cold room where you want a softer look than a flat roller.

ZeroGlow is the opaque option for renters and anyone who would rather not drill. It is a 25 mm blackout cellular shade held inside an edge-to-edge frame that presses into the window opening, with a cordless lift. Fabric comes in White, Black, Beige, Light Gray, Dark Gray and Straw, the frame in three colors, and you choose whether the shade travels up and down the glass or side to side.

Blackout roman shades bring opaque fabric in soft folds for a living room or dining room where the window is part of the decor.

Woven wood shades become opaque with a liner. On their own the weaves are about 50% see-through, a light filtering liner takes them to about 70%, and a blackout liner makes them fully blackout. The liner goes on both the shade and the valance, and the blackout liner comes in nine colors.

A design note. Opaque fabric reads as a solid block of color when it is down, so choose it like a wall finish. Keep one color on every window you can see from the street so the house looks consistent from outside.

How much each system lets through, and how big it goes

Opacity is set by the fabric, not the hardware, which is why light filtering fabrics at about 45% to 70% shading are not here. Everything on this page is 100% blackout fabric or a blackout liner.

Size limits move with fabric and lift. On our standard squared cassette a blackout roller shade reaches 94 1/2 inches wide and 118 inches high, and a fabric milled on a narrower roll sets a lower maximum. Blackout cellular shades depend on the lift: cordless runs from 12 to 94 inches wide and up to 94 inches high, a bead chain reaches 197 inches wide and 157 inches high, and motorized reaches 126 inches wide but stops at 79 inches high. Woven wood caps at 96 inches wide on every lift system, with cordless reaching 106 inches high and clutch, wand and motor reaching 118 inches.

Measuring and installing them yourself

Measure the opening width at the top, middle and bottom and the height on both sides. For a cellular shade mounted inside the frame, the width is reduced by 1/4 inch to clear it. For an outside mount, add about 3 7/8 inches to both width and height so the shade overlaps the frame and closes the light gap at the edges, which is the choice to make if a streetlight is the reason you are shopping.

ZeroGlow installs without a drill. Lay the frame on a soft, flat surface and join the corners, run the rubber weather strip around the outside edges of the frame, then set it inside the window opening and press the front of the frame into place.

Roller and roman shades hang on a cassette bracket fixed with a 6 mm drill bit. Hook the valance onto the bracket latch, press back until it clicks, and check that the top and rear are both locked.

Start with the fabric, then pick the lift and mount. Order samples to check them against your own glass, send your sizes, and we will make each shade to measure and ship it direct to your door.