Want to reduce glare on your television when watching a movie? Need custom room-darkening shades for your bedroom to help you sleep more soundly? Hunter Douglas offers a range of light-blocking shades for the right amount of room darkness. But with so many options, deciding what room-darkening shades to buy can be challenging. Roller? Roller? Cellular? Cordless? Liner or no liner? Here are a few tips to help you make the best decision.

Best Blackout Shades

While every Hunter Douglas window treatment provides a measure of light control, some room-darkening shades offer more benefits than others. A key consideration is fabric type and color. Sheer fabrics typically soften and filter sunlight, semi-opaque fabrics provide privacy while letting in some sunlight and opaque fabrics almost completely block all light. We say "almost" because these fabrics darken a room but do not entirely eliminate light—so they are not considered blackout shades.

Light-Blocking Features

You can also help block natural light by mounting window treatments outside the window frame, or by adding drapery or side panels.

Light-Blocking Liners

Another option for blocking light is a room-darkening liner, which is available on many of our window shades. We offer two types of liners: an attached liner and an Independent Operable Liner.

The attached liner is sewn directly into the shade fabric and is a good option for rooms where the amount of natural light in a room is secondary to room darkening, such as kids’ rooms.

The Independent Operable Liner provides more flexibility. As its name suggests, it operates independently from the shade, so you can enjoy light-blocking when you want it in addition to varying levels of light throughout the day.