Roller shades

What is a roller shade?

A roller shade is a single piece of fabric wound around a tube at the top of the window. Pull it down and it covers the glass; lift it and it rolls back up into a slim roll or a cassette. Roller shades come in fabrics from sheer to full blackout and are often called roller blinds in Canada.

Why roller shades are so popular

They do one job and do it cleanly. No slats to dust, no stacks of fabric at the top of the window, and when they are up, they practically disappear. That suits modern condos in downtown Halifax and Moncton as much as it suits a 1960s bungalow in Lower Sackville that just needs something tidy and dependable.

They are also the most flexible product we make. The same mechanism carries a light, airy sheer for a kitchen, a solar screen for a glare-heavy office, or a heavy blackout for a bedroom that gets the 5:30 a.m. June sunrise.

Choose your fabric

Light-filtering

Softens daylight and gives daytime privacy. Silhouettes may show at night with lights on. Best for living rooms, kitchens and home offices.

Room-darkening

Blocks most light. A good choice for TV rooms and guest rooms.

Blackout

Blocks light through the fabric completely. On its own it still leaves thin gaps at the edges. For a truly dark room, add side channels or mount the shade outside the frame so it overlaps the opening. More on blackout.

Solar screen

A woven fabric with a measured openness (1%, 3%, 5% or 10%) that cuts glare and heat while keeping the view. These have their own page: solar shades.

Moisture-resistant

Polyester and PVC-coated fabrics for bathrooms, basements, laundry rooms and coastal cottages where the air is always a little damp.

Choose how it looks at the top

• Standard roll. The fabric roll is visible at the top. Clean and minimal.
• Reverse roll. The fabric comes off the front of the roll, standing slightly away from the window. Clears handles and cranks on casement windows, which are common in Atlantic homes.
• Cassette or valance. A slim cover hides the roll. Neat in a living room, and helps block light at the top.
• Recessed pocket. For new builds and renovations, the shade disappears into the ceiling or a bulkhead.

Choose how it operates

• Cordless. Lift and lower by hand from the bottom rail. Simple, and safe around children and pets.
• Continuous loop chain. A beaded chain on one side, tensioned to the wall to meet Health Canada's cord safety rules. Best for larger, heavier shades.
• Motorized. By remote, wall switch, app, schedule or voice. See motorized options.

Where roller shades work best

• Bedrooms and nurseries, in blackout with side channels
• Kitchens and bathrooms, in moisture-resistant fabric
• Condos and modern homes, where a clean line matters
• Large windows and patio doors, as two or three shades side by side
• Offices, as solar or light-filtering shades with motorized zones

The honest trade-offs

• A roller shade is either up, down or somewhere in between. It does not tilt to direct light like a blind. If you want privacy and daylight at the same time, look at zebra blinds or top-down bottom-up cellular shades.
• A single layer of fabric does not insulate as well as cellular. For a cold, drafty room, cellular wins.
• Very wide windows (over about 3 m) may need two shades or a premium wide-roll fabric.

How we make them

Fabric is cut square on a long table, fitted to an aluminum tube sized for its weight and width so it does not sag, and hemmed with a weighted bottom rail so it hangs straight. Every shade is rolled up and down on a test frame in our Halifax workshop before it leaves, to check that the fabric tracks true and the edges stay clean.

Pairs well with: Blackout solutions · Motorized blinds · Solar shades Read next: Zebra blinds vs roller shades · Best blinds for bedrooms