Picture Window Shades & Blinds

A picture window is one large fixed pane that does not open. It exists to give you a view and daylight, which is what makes it hard to cover. There is no sash to hide hardware behind, the glass is usually wider than a single shade will build, and because the pane is fixed there is no ventilation to carry off the heat coming through it. Everything here is made to the size you measure and ships direct to you.

Which shades and blinds suit a picture window

Solar shades are the natural fit, because they are the only fabric family here sold by openness percentage. Our sunscreen fabrics run at 1 percent, 3 percent, 5 percent and 10 percent openness, blocking roughly 80, 70, 60 and 50 percent of light. A 1 percent or 3 percent screen on a west-facing picture window takes out the worst of the afternoon glare and still leaves you looking through it, which is the whole point of the window. A 5 percent or 10 percent screen suits a north or east aspect.

Light filtering roller covers the same daytime brief in a wider fabric range when the look of the room matters more than the view, and it reaches furthest in width. Blackout roller is the bedroom choice. Zebra suits a single dominant pane, since the alternating sheer and solid bands slide past each other and let you set privacy and view on one shade. Light filtering cellular is the one to add if the pane is also costing you heat, because the cell structure holds a layer of air at the glass that a flat fabric cannot.

Width is the constraint, and fabric can override the system

Light filtering roller fabrics reach 96 inches wide on our standard squared and round cassettes and 98 3/8 inches on the squared cassette, while blackout and sunscreen goods stop at 86 inches or 94 1/2 inches on the same hardware, because the heavier goods are milled on narrower rolls. A second rule catches people out: if the fabric is narrower than the system maximum, the fabric width becomes the maximum. Two of our series run on 90 inch and 90.6 inch rolls and cannot fill a 96 inch opening on any cassette, while most sunscreen goods run on 118 inch rolls and have the most headroom of anything we make.

Past a single shade's reach, the answer is two shades on one headrail, reaching 118 inches in total, available on our squared and round cassettes. Have them as a separate system, where each shade works independently, or on a middle mechanism, where one clutch or motor drives both so they stay in step and the hardware costs less. Cordless is not available on the middle mechanism, since one spring cannot drive two panels. If the pane is also over 100 inches high it moves to the 43 mm tube and the large cassette, reaching 118 by 120 inches. A 38 mm tube will not carry that drop.

Measuring and installing it yourself

Measure the opening itself rather than an old blind, and measure the width in three places, since a wide opening is the one most likely to be out of square. For an inside mount, take 1/4 inch off the measured width. For an outside mount, add about 3 7/8 inches to width and height so the shade overlaps the opening and closes the light gap.

Fitting needs a 6 mm drill bit, and the brackets mark at 1.1 inch screw spacing. Two anchor types ship in the box, so match the anchor to your wall. Two screws on opposite sides hold a normal shade, but each bracket has four pre-drilled holes and a wide picture window shade is heavy enough to use all four. Hook the valance groove onto the bracket latch, press back until it clicks, and confirm both top and rear have locked.

Order samples before choosing an openness percentage, since a 1 percent and a 5 percent screen are hard to tell apart in a photograph. Everything here carries a limited lifetime warranty against defects in materials and workmanship, with motors and controls covered for five years.