A new townhome with close neighbors and a lot of glass. Zebra shades went on every window, gray in the living spaces and white in the bedrooms.
How do zebra shades work on a wide sliding door in a La Jolla living room?
Two shades, side by side, each over its own half of the slider. In this La Jolla townhome, a pair of gray zebra shades covers the wide glass door to the balcony, so you can open one side to step out and leave the other closed.
Zebra shades have alternating bands of sheer and solid fabric on a single loop. Shift the bands so the sheers line up and you get filtered light and a view. Shift them so the solid bands overlap and the window closes up. In the living room photo the bands are half open, and the sun throws stripes across the floor, the chair and the TV wall.
That is the appeal on a big slider. You get most of what a sheer gives you during the day and most of what a solid shade gives you at night, without two layers. Raised all the way, the zebra shades stack into a neat roll at the top and the door opens onto the balcony with nothing in the way. A deeper gray fabric was picked here to tone down the afternoon brightness in a room with white walls and pale floors.
Do zebra shades give enough privacy when the neighbors are close?
Yes, when the bands are closed. The solid stripes overlap the sheer ones and the window turns into a solid panel.
This townhome sits close to its neighbors. Out one window you see a white stucco wall a few yards away with another window looking back. Out another you see the front doors and steps of the next row of homes. Privacy here is not about a view to protect. It is about not living on display.
Zebra shades are good at that because you can fine tune them. Open the bands a little and you get light through the sheer stripes, while the solid stripes break up the view in. Close them and nobody sees in. Lower the shade halfway, as in the photo, and you keep the bottom of the window clear for daylight while the top stays covered.
One honest note. With the bands open, people can see shapes through the sheer stripes, especially at night with lights on inside. Close the bands after dark. For more on how we handle homes in the area, see our page on window treatments in La Jolla.
Should every room get the same zebra shade color?
Not always. This home uses gray in the living room and stairwell and white in the bedrooms and nursery, and each choice fits how the room is used.
Gray works downstairs because the living room gets bright sun through a big slider and needs the glare cut down. It also hides dust and fingerprints on a shade that gets used every day. White works in the bedrooms because those rooms have smaller windows and plain white walls. A white shade blends into the wall and makes the room feel bigger and lighter.
The nursery has two windows over the crib, both with white zebra shades. With the bands closed, the room dims down for naps. It is not full blackout, since the sheer bands still let some light through, but it is much softer than bare glass. If a nursery needs true dark, we suggest a blackout fabric or a second layer.
Cords matter in a nursery too. Our page on child safe window treatments covers the lift options we recommend near cribs and beds.
How do you fit zebra shades on a tall, narrow stairwell window?
Inside mount, with a cassette sized to the opening. The narrow window on this stairwell wall got its own gray zebra shade that matches the living room slider you see from the landing.
Stairwell windows are tricky. They are often tall, narrow and hard to reach from the stairs. A zebra shade keeps the operation simple and lets you set the bands to pass light onto the stairs without exposing the landing to the house next door.
Every shade in this home sits under a rounded cassette wrapped in matching fabric. The cassette covers the roll and brackets, so from below you see a soft curved line instead of hardware. In gray rooms the cassette is gray. In white rooms it is white. Matching the cassette to the fabric keeps every window in the house looking like it came from one order.
Thinking about zebra shades for your home? Our guide to window treatments in La Jolla and Del Mar has more ideas. Or book a free in-home consultation and we will bring samples in both colors and test them in your own light.