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Renewal by Andersen
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Excellent
Customer Reviews
Great
Extended Warranty Available
No
1
Renewal by Andersen
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Champion Windows
Material Options
Okay
Customer Reviews
Excellent
Extended Warranty Available
No
2
Champion Windows
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Power Home Remodeling
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The Best Blackout Blinds for Windows of 2024
- Bali Blackout Cellular Shades
- Levolor Light Filtering Cellular Shades
- Levolor Roller Shades
- Allen + Roth Cellular Shades
- Levolor Room Darkening Cellular Shades
Bali Blackout Cellular Shades
From Participating Partners
4.5
Our ratings take into consideration factors like price, warranty, customer rating, number of color/texture choices, custom sizes available, smart blinds, motorized options and pro installation available. All ratings are determined solely by the editorial team.
Warranty
Limited lifetime
Customer Rating
Excellent
Professional Installation Available
Yes
4.5
Our ratings take into consideration factors like price, warranty, customer rating, number of color/texture choices, custom sizes available, smart blinds, motorized options and pro installation available. All ratings are determined solely by the editorial team.
Bali Blackout Cellular Shades
Warranty
Limited lifetime
Customer Rating
Excellent
Professional Installation Available
Yes
From Participating Partners
Why We Picked It
Pros & Cons
Levolor Light Filtering Cellular Shades
4.5
Our ratings take into consideration factors like price, warranty, customer rating, number of color/texture choices, custom sizes available, smart blinds, motorized options and pro installation available. All ratings are determined solely by the editorial team.
Warranty
Limited Lifetime
Customer Rating
Good
Professional Installation Available
Yes
4.5
Our ratings take into consideration factors like price, warranty, customer rating, number of color/texture choices, custom sizes available, smart blinds, motorized options and pro installation available. All ratings are determined solely by the editorial team.
Levolor Light Filtering Cellular Shades
Warranty
Limited Lifetime
Customer Rating
Good
Professional Installation Available
Yes
Why We Picked It
Pros & Cons
Levolor Roller Shades
From Participating Partners
4.5
Our ratings take into consideration factors like price, warranty, customer rating, number of color/texture choices, custom sizes available, smart blinds, motorized options and pro installation available. All ratings are determined solely by the editorial team.
Warranty
Limited Lifetime
Customer Rating
Good
Professional Installation Available
Yes
4.5
Our ratings take into consideration factors like price, warranty, customer rating, number of color/texture choices, custom sizes available, smart blinds, motorized options and pro installation available. All ratings are determined solely by the editorial team.
Levolor Roller Shades
Warranty
Limited Lifetime
Customer Rating
Good
Professional Installation Available
Yes
From Participating Partners
Why We Picked It
Pros & Cons
Allen + Roth Cellular Shades
4.4
Our ratings take into consideration factors like price, warranty, customer rating, number of color/texture choices, custom sizes available, smart blinds, motorized options and pro installation available. All ratings are determined solely by the editorial team.
Warranty
Lifetime
Customer Rating
Great
Professional Installation Available
Yes
4.4
Our ratings take into consideration factors like price, warranty, customer rating, number of color/texture choices, custom sizes available, smart blinds, motorized options and pro installation available. All ratings are determined solely by the editorial team.
Allen + Roth Cellular Shades
Warranty
Lifetime
Customer Rating
Great
Professional Installation Available
Yes
Why We Picked It
Pros & Cons
Levolor Room Darkening Cellular Shades
From Participating Partners
4.4
Our ratings take into consideration factors like price, warranty, customer rating, number of color/texture choices, custom sizes available, smart blinds, motorized options and pro installation available. All ratings are determined solely by the editorial team.
Warranty
Limited Lifetime
Customer Rating
Great
Professional Installation Available
Yes
4.4
Our ratings take into consideration factors like price, warranty, customer rating, number of color/texture choices, custom sizes available, smart blinds, motorized options and pro installation available. All ratings are determined solely by the editorial team.
Levolor Room Darkening Cellular Shades
Warranty
Limited Lifetime
Customer Rating
Great
Professional Installation Available
Yes
From Participating Partners
Why We Picked It
Pros & Cons
Summary: The Best Blackout Blinds for Windows
Company | Company - Logo | Forbes Home Rating | Forbes Advisor Rating | Warranty | Customer Rating | Professional Installation Available | Learn More CTA text | Learn more CTA below text | Learn More |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bali Blackout Cellular Shades | 4.5 | Limited lifetime | Excellent | Yes | Get Free Estimates | From Participating Partners | |||
Levolor Light Filtering Cellular Shades | 4.5 | Limited lifetime | Good | Yes | Buy Now | On Amazon | |||
Levolor Roller Shades | 4.5 | Limited lifetime | Good | Yes | Get Free Estimates | From Participating Partners | |||
Allen + Roth Cellular Shades | 4.4 | Lifetime | Great | Yes | Buy Now | On Amazon | |||
Levolor Room Darkening Cellular Shades | 4.4 | Limited lifetime | Great | Yes | Get Free Estimates | From Participating Partners |
What to Look for in Blackout Blinds
Choosing the best blackout blinds for your home can be overwhelming. There are a huge number of options, styles and features to consider, not to mention the importance of choosing the right color scheme and correctly sizing the blinds to your windows. To make your life easier, here are a few key things to know when you are researching blackout blinds.
Light Filtering vs. Room Darkening vs. Blackout Blinds
One of the biggest misconceptions when it comes to blackout blinds is that they are designed to let absolutely no light into your home. While you can find blinds that function this way, what most homeowners actually want is significantly reduced lighting—not a complete lack of it. When purchasing shades, you will see three common options: light filtering, room darkening and blackout.
Light Filtering Shades
Light filtering shades transform harsh, bright sunlight into a dim soft glow. These shades can allow more or less light into your room depending on the treatment style, but will let much more light in than room darkening or blackout blinds.
Room Darkening Shades
Room darkening shades fit right in between light filtering and blackout. Since true blackout shades are expensive and not always the best choice, room darkening is a great option for those homeowners who want more privacy and less light without spending a ton.
Blackout Shades
Blackout shades are designed to cut the majority of natural light entering a room and are a great choice for bedrooms, home cinemas or rooms with light-sensitive artwork. True blackout shades are designed with additional linings and darker backings, and are sized to minimize gaps between blinds and windows.
Cellular vs. Roller Shades
Once you have decided on the perfect level of light control for your home, the next choice you will need to make is in the type of shades for your room. The two most common types when it comes to blackout shades are cellular and roller shades. Other types of blinds like vertical, slat and wood blinds cannot fully block light or allow as much control.
Cellular shades are made of a single, continuous piece of pleated fabric, allowing them to fold up as you close them. The honeycomb-shaped pattern of air pockets (called cells) help diffuse and/or entirely block the light and are a great choice for insulating your home. These shades come in both single and double cell styles, the latter having two air pockets which will further insulate your home against uncomfortable temperatures during the summer and winter.
Roller shades are a much more affordable option but do not offer the same level of insulation as cellular shades. Roller shades are made from a single piece of fabric which, when unused, rolls up around itself at the top of your window. These shades typically present a more affordable option, especially when compared to blackout cellular blinds, but they are less stylish and do not offer the same level of temperature insulation.
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Continuous, Cordless or Motorization
A final consideration when choosing the best blackout shades for your home is the way you control the shades. When you think of blinds, you may think of long cords guaranteed to be easily tangled, damaged by pets and/or unsafe for young children. These days, shades are still offered with cords but are much more commonly found with continuous, cordless or motorized control options.
Continuous cord blinds forgo the easily tangled cord by using a continuous looped pull cord, which stays attached to the window frame. These pull cords are easier to operate, especially for heavier fabrics or larger windows, and won’t get tangled or endanger pets or children.
Cordless blinds make the work of raising or lowering your shades as easy as gently pushing up or pulling down on the bottom rail of the blinds. A tension rod or lifting mechanism is installed inside the top or bottom rail of the blinds, countering the weight of the blinds and making them easy to raise or lower.
Motorized blinds are a newer and more advanced choice, especially for those who might have shades in hard to reach places or who have mobility issues that make raising and lowering the blinds difficult. Motorized blinds can also usually be controlled by a remote, a smartphone app or even paired with smart home technology to allow control via Google Home, Amazon Alexa or Apple HomeKit.
Methodology
To determine the best blackout blinds for windows ranking, the Forbes Home editorial team analyzed third-party data on 23 different products, with each company’s star rating determined by evaluating a variety of metrics, including:
- Price (25%)
- Customer rating (25%)
- Warranty (20%)
- Number of color/texture choices (10%)
- Custom sizes available (5%)
- Smart blind options (10%)
- Pro installation available (5%)
Get Free Estimates For Windows Installation
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THIS IS AN ADVERTIsem*nT AND NOT EDITORIAL CONTENT. Please note that we do receive compensation for any products you buy or sign up to via this advertisem*nt, and that compensation impacts the ranking and placement of any offers listed herein. We do not present information about every offer available. The information and savings numbers depicted above are for demonstration purposes only, and your results may vary.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Are blackout blinds worth it?
Blackout blinds are a great choice for anyone struggling to sleep through the night because of too much light, is easily disturbed by light or works nights and must sleep through the daytime. These blinds are also a great choice in home theaters, offices or other rooms where daylight can be a disruption.
What is the average cost of blackout blinds?
The cost of blackout blinds will depend a lot on the quality of the product. The most affordable costs as little as $.80 per square foot , while higher end shades average around $5 to $10 per square foot.
Do blackout blinds work well?
To make a room truly free of any external light may require more than blackout blinds, but blackout blinds often work much better than other options to darken a room.
Information provided on Forbes Home is for educational purposes only. The products and services we review may not be right for your individual circ*mstances.
Forbes Home adheres to strict editorial integrity standards. To the best of our knowledge, all content is accurate as of the date posted, though offers contained herein may no longer be available. The opinions expressed are the author’s alone and have not been provided, approved, or otherwise endorsed by our partners.
Chauncey CrailContributor
Chauncey grew up on a farm in rural northern California. At 18 he ran away and saw the world with a backpack and a credit card, discovering that the true value of any point or mile is the experience it facilitates. He remains most at home on a tractor, but has learned that opportunity is where he finds it and discomfort is more interesting than complacency.
Samantha AllenEditor
Sami Allen is an editor with a decade of experience in editorial and who is currently the managing editor at Forbes Home. She got her start in lifestyle writing and editing at Oprah Magazine and more recently sharpened her home repair and design skills at websites like The Spruce and HomeAdvisor.
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