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Block outside light with blackout shades for better sleep in bedrooms, less glare on TVs, and more.

Blackout Blinds and Shades

A blackout shade does one thing that no light-filtering or room-darkening shade can match: it stops light from passing through the fabric entirely. That changes what a room can do. A bedroom stays dark enough for restful sleep even when the sun is up. A nursery holds its darkness through afternoon nap time. A media room stays glare-free without closing every curtain in the house. The fabric itself blocks the light, and the rest of the design, from the shade style to the mounting method, determines how close you get to total darkness.

At Blindster, every blackout shade is custom manufactured to your window's exact measurements, available across cellular, roller, and roman shade styles, and backed by the Fit or Free Guarantee. Whether you need a single bedroom shade or a full-house solution, there is a blackout window cover built for the level of darkness your room requires.

Blindster offers blackout fabric across its most popular shade families. The right style depends on whether you prioritize insulation, aesthetics, or a clean modern profile.

Blackout Cellular Shades

Cellular shades are the strongest choice for blackout performance because their honeycomb construction creates the smallest light gap of any shade type when inside mounted. The cells themselves trap air between the window and the room, so you get insulation and light blocking in a single treatment. The Deluxe Blackout Single Cellular Shades feature 3/4" cells with blackout fabric and multiple lift options including cordless, top down bottom up, and motorized. For maximum insulation alongside blackout light control, the Deluxe Blackout Double Cellular Shades use two stacked honeycomb layers for the thickest thermal barrier in the Blindster range.

For a budget-friendly blackout cellular option, the Super Value Blackout Top Down Bottom Up Cellular Shade combines cordless operation, top down bottom up control, and blackout fabric at an accessible price point. And for a drill-free installation, the No Tools Cordless Blackout Single Cellular Shades use premium-grade 3M adhesive brackets that install without any tools or screws. Browse the full cellular shades collection.

Blackout Roller Shades

Blackout roller shades offer a sleek, modern profile with fully opaque fabric that rolls up into a compact tube at the top of the window. The Deluxe Blackout Fabric Roller Shades are one of Blindster's most customizable options, available with cordless spring roll, continuous cord loop, slow-rise, and motorized lift systems. You can also choose between a visible roller or a cassette valance that conceals the tube for a finished look, and between standard roll (fabric closest to the glass) and reverse roll (fabric facing the room).

For hands-free operation, the Motorized Deluxe Blackout Fabric Roller Shades add a rechargeable motor and remote control to the same blackout roller platform. Explore the full roller shades collection.

Blackout Roman Shades

Roman shades bring a softer, more textile-forward aesthetic to blackout light control. Rather than offering a dedicated blackout roman shade, Blindster makes blackout achievable through an optional blackout liner that attaches behind the decorative fabric. The Premium Plain Fold Roman Shades and the Premium Soft Fold Roman Shade both support this liner upgrade, giving you the warmth and texture of a roman shade with the light-blocking capability of a blackout treatment. Browse the full roman shades collection.

LEVOLOR Blackout Cellular Shades

For homeowners looking for a premium blackout option with smart home integration, the LEVOLOR Blackout Single Cellular Shades and LEVOLOR Blackout Double Cellular Shades offer LEVOLOR's full feature set, including cordless, top-down/bottom-up, motorized lift, and Wi-Fi connectivity for app control and voice assistant integration. These are the go-to for homeowners building a connected ecosystem who also need serious light blocking.

The terms blackout, room darkening, and light filtering describe how much light passes through the shade fabric itself. Understanding the distinction helps you avoid overpaying for more darkness than you need, or under-buying and ending up dissatisfied.

Light Filtering

Light filtering fabrics softly diffuse incoming light, reducing glare and providing daytime privacy without darkening the room. The fabric allows a gentle glow to pass through, which keeps the space feeling bright and naturally lit. This is the standard choice for living rooms, kitchens, and home offices where you want light control without sacrificing brightness.

Room Darkening

Room darkening fabrics block between 95% and 99% of light passing through the shade. They significantly reduce incoming light and provide strong privacy, but they do not achieve complete darkness. For many bedrooms and living spaces, room darkening fabric provides more than enough light control for comfortable sleep and privacy. Explore the full room darkening shades collection.

Blackout

Blackout fabrics block 99% to 100% of light from passing through the material itself. This is the strongest light-blocking option available and is specifically designed for rooms where darkness is the priority: bedrooms, nurseries, media rooms, and home offices with persistent glare. It is important to understand that even with blackout fabric, some indirect light may still enter around the edges of the shade, particularly with an inside mount. This is normal and occurs because the shade needs a small gap between its edges and the window frame to operate freely. For the strongest possible light blocking, pair blackout fabric with an outside mount that overlaps the window frame by two to three inches on each side, or layer drapery panels over the shade to cover the side gaps.

Three things determine how dark your room actually gets: the fabric, the shade style, and the way it is mounted.

Shade Style and Light Gaps

Cellular shades produce the smallest light gaps of any shade type because the headrail and bottom rail sit close to the window frame, and the fabric does not need extra clearance to roll or fold. Roller shades require slightly more clearance for the rolling mechanism, which can create marginally wider gaps at the sides. Roman shades with a blackout liner behave similarly to cellular shades in terms of gap size. If eliminating edge glow is your top priority, blackout cellular shades with an inside mount in a deep window frame give you the tightest fit.

Inside vs. Outside Mount

Inside mount shades sit inside the window frame opening, creating a clean, built-in look. However, the shade must be manufactured slightly narrower than the opening to operate freely, which leaves small gaps on each side where light can enter. Outside mount shades are installed above and wider than the window frame, covering the gap entirely. For the darkest possible result, Blindster recommends an outside mount with at least two inches of overlap on all sides. The measuring guide covers both configurations step by step.

Insulation and Energy Efficiency

Blackout shades do more than block light. The denser fabric and, in the case of cellular shades, the honeycomb cell construction also reduce heat transfer through the window. Double cell blackout cellular shades provide the strongest combination of light blocking and insulation in the Blindster range, making them a practical choice for windows that face direct sun or rooms where climate control is a priority. Explore more energy-efficient shades.

Every blackout shade in the Blindster range is built around fabric that stops light at the material level, paired with hardware designed for smooth, reliable operation.

Blackout Fabric

Cellular shades use non-woven polyester with a mylar or metallic lining inside the honeycomb cell that blocks light transmission. Roller shades use a fully opaque fabric with a light-blocking backing. Roman shades achieve blackout through an optional liner that attaches behind the decorative face fabric. In all cases, the fabric blocks light through the shade material itself. The gap around the shade's edges is the remaining variable, which is addressed through mounting method and overlap.

Lift Systems

Blackout shades at Blindster are available with cordless lift, continuous cord loop, top down bottom up, and motorized operation depending on the product. Cordless lift is the most popular, providing a clean look and child safety compliance. Top down bottom up adds the ability to lower the shade from the top for flexible light control during the day while keeping the bottom closed for privacy. Motorized lift adds remote-controlled operation for hard-to-reach windows or rooms with multiple shades. Explore all cordless blinds and shades.

Day/Night Combination

For rooms where you want both light-filtering and blackout capability in a single shade, Blindster offers day/night cellular shades that combine a light-filtering fabric at the top with a blackout fabric at the bottom. You can position each independently, using the light-filtering section during the day and the blackout section at night, all in one cordless shade.

Blackout performance depends on precise fit. A shade that is even a quarter inch too narrow leaves a strip of light at the edge that defeats the purpose. Blindster custom manufactures every blackout shade to your exact measurements, eliminating the guesswork that comes with off-the-shelf stock sizes. The Fit or Free Guarantee means that if your measurements are off, Blindster remakes the shade in the correct size free of charge.

Every order ships free, falls under the 60-Day Satisfaction Guarantee, and includes all necessary mounting hardware and installation instructions. If you want to see how the blackout fabric looks and feels before committing, Blindster ships up to 10 free samples within one business day.

Frequently Asked Questions

The difference is in how much light the fabric allows through. Regular shades, often called light-filtering shades, diffuse incoming light and provide daytime privacy while still letting a gentle glow into the room. Blackout shades use a dense, opaque fabric or a metallic-lined construction that blocks 99% to 100% of light from passing through the material. Room darkening shades fall between the two, blocking 95% to 99% of light. The practical result is that blackout shades create a significantly darker room than light-filtering or room darkening options, which is why they are the standard recommendation for bedrooms, nurseries, and media rooms. It is worth noting that even blackout fabric cannot eliminate all light in a room, because some indirect light may enter around the edges of the shade.
The best blackout shades depend on what else you need the shade to do besides block light. For the strongest combination of light blocking and insulation, the Deluxe Blackout Double Cellular Shades are hard to beat, with two honeycomb layers, blackout fabric, and the tightest light gaps of any shade type. For a clean, modern look, the Deluxe Blackout Fabric Roller Shades roll up neatly and nearly disappear when raised. For budget-conscious buyers, the Super Value Blackout Top Down Bottom Up Cellular Shade delivers blackout performance with cordless TDBU operation at a lower price point. For hands-free convenience, the Motorized Deluxe Blackout Double Cellular Shades add remote-controlled motorized lift.
Both can achieve strong light blocking, but they work differently. Blackout curtains rely on heavy, layered fabric that drapes over and beyond the window frame. They are effective at covering side gaps but require a curtain rod, take up more visual space, and can collect dust in the folds. Blackout blinds and shades sit closer to the glass, use less material, and offer a cleaner, more structured profile. Cellular blackout shades add insulation through their honeycomb construction, which curtains do not provide. For most homeowners, blackout shades are the more practical and space-efficient choice. If you want the strongest possible light blocking, you can layer drapery panels over a blackout shade to cover the side gaps while letting the shade handle the light blocking at the glass. This combination gives you the insulation and precision of a custom shade with the gap coverage of drapery.