Short answer: no inside mounted shade is truly blackout on its own, because light always leaks at the edges. Real darkness comes from an outside mount with generous overlap, side channels, or layering a shade under a drape.
The rest of this covers the options that actually work in that situation, what to decide before you order, the mistakes we get called out to fix, and how the Texas sun should change your choice.
What works, and why
Outside mount with overlap
The simplest fix. Mount above the opening and extend past it on both sides so there is no edge for light to come around.
Side channels
Tracks at each side that the shade runs in. The closest to genuine blackout you can get from a shade alone, and the right answer for a media room.
Cellular blackout shades
Blackout fabric plus the insulating cell. Good for a west facing bedroom where heat and light are both problems.
Layering
A roller or cellular shade with a drape over it. Handles light and softens the room, and it is what most bedrooms end up with.
What to decide before you order
- Whether you need true darkness or just much less light
- Whether the room takes morning or afternoon sun
- How much wall space there is above and beside the opening for an outside mount
- Whether anyone in the room sleeps during the day
Material, and why it matters more than style
The format of a treatment is a look. The material is what decides whether it still works in three years. Getting this wrong is the most expensive mistake available, because a custom treatment is not returnable and a warped one gets replaced.
Real wood
Lightest, takes stain beautifully, and belongs in dry living areas. It moves with humidity, so it is the wrong answer near a shower or a sink.
Faux wood and composite
Handle moisture and hard sun without warping. Heavier, which matters on a wide span, but they are why most Texas kitchens and bathrooms end up with them.
Fabric shades
Softer and warmer in a room, and the only option where openness factor lets you tune view against shade. Choose a weave rated for sun on a hot wall.
Vinyl and aluminium
Cheapest, and they behave like it on a west facing window. Fine on a shaded north opening in a room nobody uses.
Light control, privacy and the night time problem
Daytime privacy and night time privacy are different problems, and a lot of disappointment comes from assuming one treatment solves both. A weave that gives perfect privacy at noon can go transparent once the lights are on inside.
- Decide per window whether you need light filtering, room darkening or blackout
- Check whether the window needs to work after dark, not just during the day
- Remember that any inside mount leaks light at the edges, by design
- Layering a shade under a drape solves most cases that one product cannot
Mistakes we get called out to fix
- An inside mount sold as blackout, which always leaks at the edges
- Blackout fabric with no plan for the gaps, which is the same brightness at 6am
- Ignoring heat, so the room is dark and still too warm to sleep in
- Cords in a child's bedroom, which should be cordless or motorized as standard
The Texas factor
West and south facing glass takes the worst of the afternoon here, and it is the single thing that should drive the specification. A treatment that is perfect on a north window can fade, warp or simply fail to do its job on a west wall.
- Check which way each window faces before choosing material
- Moisture rules bathrooms and kitchens: faux wood or composite, not real wood
- Anything on the hot side should be specified for sun, not chosen on looks
- Shading the outside of the glass beats shading the inside, every time
How we would approach it
At the consultation we look at which way the window faces, what the room is used for, how the opening is built and whether it is square and deep enough for the mount you want. Then we measure every opening ourselves and quote from those measurements.
- Samples brought to your home so you see them in your own light
- Every opening measured on site rather than estimated
- A written quote based on those measurements
- Installation by the same team that measured
- Remade at no cost if it does not match the approved measurements
Let us measure it
The consultation is free, we bring samples you can hold against your own light, and we measure every opening on site. You get a written quote from those measurements.
