A living room window a few steps from the fence next door, plus a skylight overhead. Light filtering roller shades that keep the room bright and the view in closed off.
What kind of roller shades work best for a San Diego living room?
Light filtering roller shades, mounted so they cover the whole frame. In this San Diego living room, a cream roller shade hangs over the main window behind the sofa, so the room stays bright while the fence and the yard next door drop out of view.
The window is wide, split into two panes, and set low behind a gray sectional. Outside, only a few feet away, is a horizontal slat fence. That is a common setup in newer neighborhoods where houses sit close together.
Without a shade, anyone near that fence looks right over the couch.
Roller shades suit this wall for practical reasons. The sofa backs up to the sill, so drapery would hang behind the cushions and get crushed every day, and blinds would need constant tilting. A roller shade rolls into a slim fascia at the top and stays off the furniture. Our roller shades come in dozens of fabrics, and for window treatments in San Diego living rooms we usually lean toward light filtering ones that keep the daytime glow.
Should a roller shade mount inside or outside the window frame?
On these windows, outside. The shade and its fascia sit on the wall just above the window trim, which covers the edges of the glass and hides the roller completely.
An inside mount tucks the shade into the opening. It looks neat. It also leaves a thin line of light down each side, since the fabric has to be a bit narrower than the frame to roll freely. Mounting on the wall over the trim lets the shade overlap the opening on both sides, so most of that leak goes away, and the fascia gives the top a squared off, finished look.
The tall window in another room shows how that plays out. The shade is fully down, and the bright daylight behind it turns the fabric into a soft panel of light instead of a hard white rectangle of glare. A dark fascia across the top ties into the gray wall.
There are times we go inside mount, such as a deep frame with trim you want to show off. We decide window by window when we measure.
Can you put a shade on a skylight?
Yes, and this project included one. A skylight shade runs in side tracks or on tensioned guides, so the fabric stays flat against the opening instead of sagging toward the floor.
Skylights cause problems a regular window doesn't. Midday sun comes straight down through them, the brightest and hottest light of the day, and lands on floors, furniture and TV screens. A normal shade would just hang from the frame. So skylight shades hold the fabric taut at whatever angle the glass sits.
Reaching it is the other question. Most skylights are out of arm's reach, so the shade runs from a long pole, a remote or a motor, and the right choice depends on how high the ceiling is and how often you will move it.
Fabric follows the same logic as the walls: light filtering if you want the glow, room darkening if the skylight sits over a bedroom or a TV. Many homeowners pick cellular shades for skylights, because the honeycomb cells trap air and help hold back summer heat.
How much light does a light filtering roller shade let into a living room?
Enough to read by, minus the glare. A light filtering fabric blocks the direct sun and the view in, and the room still fills with soft daylight.
You can see it in the window tucked into the corner here. The shade is pulled about halfway down. The fabric across the top glows evenly, while the open glass below shows the slat fence clearly, and that split is how most people use a roller shade during the day: lower it to the line where the neighbor's view starts and leave the rest open.
Light filtering sits between a screen fabric and blackout. A screen keeps more view but gives little privacy at night. Blackout makes sense in bedrooms, but in a living room it turns the space dim every time you want privacy.
Not sure which one fits your windows? Book a free in-home consultation. We bring fabric samples to hold up against your glass, so you can see how each one looks in your own light before you order.