Living Room Blinds

No single product does all of that equally well, which is why this collection covers every main type. The way to choose is to decide which of those jobs matters most at your window, then pick the blind or shade built for it.

Glare and the TV

Screen glare is the most common living room complaint, and it comes from direct sun on the glass rather than from daylight in general. Two kinds of shade deal with it well.

Solar shades cut glare while you keep the view: they eliminate annoying reflections on televisions and computer screens without turning the room dark. A low openness – 1% or 3% – in a darker color gives the strongest glare control. For a room used as a home theater, a blackout roller shade goes further and takes the light out altogether, so you can eliminate screen glare for a true cinematic experience.

A faux wood blind works too, if the sun moves across the window during the day: tilt the slats to angle light away from the screen without raising the blind.

Keeping the View, Protecting the Furniture

If the view is the reason you chose the house, a solar shade is built for that window. The screen fabric softens the light while the outside stays visible, like looking through sunglasses. The more open the fabric, the clearer the view; the tighter it is, the more protection you get.

That protection matters for furniture. UV is what fades upholstery, rugs and wood floors, and our Premier solar shades state exactly how much they block: 99% at 1% openness, 97% at 3%, 95% at 5%, 90% at 10% and 86% at 14%. The 10% and 14% fabrics are the ones to choose when the view is the priority; 1% to 5% when a sunny window faces west or south.

Privacy After Dark

This is where living room shades are most often misjudged. Anything you can see out through by day, people can see into at night once the lights are on inside. Solar shades do not offer nighttime privacy, and the same is true of unlined woven wood and light filtering sheer fabrics.

For a street-facing living room used in the evening, choose something that closes fully:

• Faux wood blinds tilt closed for privacy and open for daylight, all with one wand.
• Cellular shades in blackout fabric close fully, and top-down/bottom-up versions let you lower the top for sky while the bottom stays closed. Light filtering cellular fabric glows softly by day but shows shapes at night.
• Zebra shades in room darkening fabric shift from an open view by day to solid bands at night.
• Lined woven wood: our Signature Cordless Woven Wood Shades take a privacy or room darkening liner, so after dark the street sees a silhouette at most while you keep the natural texture.

If you love the view by day and need privacy at night, a solar shade layered with drapery is also a classic answer.

Large and Picture Windows

Wide windows are where product choice matters most, because every type has its own maximum width. Roller and solar shades are the widest shades in most of the range – up to 103 inches on our classic rollers, 115 inches on Premier solar and 120 inches on our Signature and ProGrade lines. Faux wood blinds reach 96 inches, Roman shades 115 inches and zebra shades 94 to 96 inches. Most cellular shades go to 72 inches, while our 7/16-inch Double Cell shade reaches 144 inches with a cord-loop control.

Past those widths, split the window into two or three shades that line up across the glass, or use a wider format. Our Signature Cordless Woven Wood Shades can be built as two shades on one headrail up to 144 inches, with three by special request. For a sliding door that opens off the living room, vertical blinds draw sideways and reach 192 inches wide; a wide roller or solar shade is the cleaner-looking alternative if you prefer it.

Choosing a Style for the Room

• Faux wood blinds are the classic choice: warm, practical, easy to clean, and the look of painted or stained wood.
• Roller shades give the cleanest, most modern line, in light filtering, room darkening and blackout fabrics.
• Zebra shades add a contemporary striped look with adjustable light.
• Roman shades bring soft fabric folds and a more decorated, finished feel, with a thermal liner option for drafty windows.
• Woven wood shades add natural texture that no printed fabric matches.
• Cellular shades trap insulating air against the glass, the practical choice for a room that runs hot or cold.

On color: light, neutral shades keep a living room bright and give a uniform look from the street, while a color close to your walls or trim makes the window recede. Windows you see together in one room should match; separate zones of an open plan can differ.

Controls

Faux wood blinds, woven wood shades and most of our cellular shades are cordless. For a living room with several windows, or a tall window behind the sofa, consider motorized shades: many of our roller, solar, zebra and Roman shades can be motorized, and one multi-channel remote runs the whole room.

Measuring and Ordering

Measure each opening in three places for width and height and give us the narrowest width – we take the deduction. Our measuring guides walk through inside and outside mounts for each product. Order free samples and look at them against your furniture in daylight and lamplight before you commit. Every blind and shade is built to your measurements, shipping is free on most orders, and you can add our optional MeasureSafe™ Guarantee in case a measurement goes wrong.