Sidelight Window Shades & Blinds

Sidelights are the tall, slim panes that flank a front door. They make an entry feel open and bright, and they also give anyone on the porch a clear look down your hallway. Most homeowners want to keep the light and lose the view, which means a shade that fits a pane often only a hand's width across, sits neatly beside the door, and matches whatever is on the other side.

Shades and blinds that suit a sidelight

Light filtering cellular shades are the natural fit. Ordered cordless, they build from 12 inches wide and 12 inches high, with no chain hanging down beside a door that people brush past every day. The fabric softens the light and blurs the view into the hall.

Light filtering roller shades give a flatter, simpler look and start at 11 3/4 inches wide on a manual clutch loop. Solar shades use the same roller hardware with a screen fabric, sold by openness from 1 to 10 percent, for a sidelight that faces strong sun and needs glare control more than full privacy.

Woven wood shades add natural texture to an entry, woven from bamboo, jute, reed and other fibers. On clutch and loop they reach 11 3/4 inches wide. The weave is open on its own, so beside a front door we suggest adding a light filtering liner, which backs the shade for daytime privacy while still letting light through.

Minimum widths: check before you choose a lift

Width is the constraint on a sidelight, and the minimum changes with the lift rather than the fabric. Manual clutch loop roller and clutch loop woven wood both start at 11 3/4 inches. Cordless cellular starts at 12 inches. A cordless roller needs 19 3/4 inches or more because the spring sits inside the tube, and cordless woven wood also needs 19 3/4 inches, so neither suits a typical sidelight. A motorized roller needs 20 1/8 inches or more and motorized cellular needs 23 inches. Zebra starts at 18.8 inches, which is why it is not on this page.

Some sidelight glass is narrower than 11 3/4 inches. In that case, look at the flat trim around the glass. An outside mount adds about 3 7/8 inches to the width so the shade overlaps the opening, which can lift a slim pane over the minimum and also closes the light gap at the edges.

Height is rarely a problem. Cordless cellular reaches 94 inches high, and light filtering roller on our 3 1/2 inch squared cassette reaches 137 3/4 inches on a manual lift.

Measuring and fitting a sidelight yourself

Measure the width at the top, middle and bottom, and use the smallest figure rounded down to the nearest 1/8 inch. Measure the height on both sides the same way. For an inside mount on cellular, the shade is made about 1/4 inch narrower than the opening to clear the frame. For woven wood, check the depth: it needs at least 1 5/8 inches inside the frame to mount and 2 5/8 inches to sit flush. Sidelight frames are often shallow, and when the depth is not there an outside mount on the trim is the cleaner result.

Roller and solar shades hang from a cassette bracket fixed with a 6 mm drill bit, with screw holes marked at 1.1 inch spacing and anchors for drywall or masonry in the box. Two screws on opposite sides hold each bracket. Hook the valance groove onto the bracket latch, press back until it clicks, and check that both the top and rear have locked.

Sidelights read best as a pair: the same fabric, the same color and the same stopping height on both sides of the door. If the door has its own glass, choose a shade for it in the same fabric so the entry looks planned rather than patched. Every shade here is made to your measurements and shipped direct to your door.