Best window coverings for privacy: Blindsgalore’s picks for every room

Blindsgalore recommends blackout cellular shades for full privacy day and night, and top-down/bottom-up cellular shades for privacy without losing natural light. For rooms where privacy needs change through the day, dual shades let you switch between an open view and full coverage in one shade.

Privacy isn’t one setting. A bathroom needs it at all hours, a living room mostly after dark, and a nursery needs it alongside darkness and child safety. Here’s how to match the right window covering to each room, and how to avoid the most common privacy surprise: shades that work by day but turn see-through at night.

What type of window coverings are best for privacy?

The best window coverings for privacy depend on when you need it and how much light you want to keep. Here are our top picks, by the kind of privacy you need.

1. Blackout cellular shades. Full privacy around the clock. The top pick for bedrooms and nurseries.
2. Top-down/bottom-up cellular shades. Cover the lower window while light comes in from the top. The smartest choice for bathrooms and street-facing living rooms.
3. Dual (zebra) shades. Alternating sheer and solid bands slide between view-through and full privacy.
4. Blackout roller shades. Full privacy in a clean, minimal shade.
5. Privacy faux wood blinds. Routeless slats with no cord holes for fewer light leaks, in moisture-resistant PVC.

Each option handles daytime and nighttime privacy differently.

Our privacy window shades collection brings these options together in cellular, roller, roman, woven wood, and solar styles.

Which window covering gives full privacy day and night?

Blackout shades give full privacy at every hour, because blackout fabric blocks nearly all light and any view in. Blackout cellular shades are our top pick, since they also add honeycomb insulation. Blackout roller and blackout roman shades work the same way in different styles.

The edges matter as much as the fabric. An inside-mount shade leaves small gaps at each side, which can allow side-angle views. For the strongest privacy:

• Choose an outside mount that extends 3 to 4 inches beyond each side of the window.
• Add side channels on styles that offer them, for edge-to-edge coverage.
• Layer drapery over the shade for full coverage at night.

How do you get privacy without blocking all your light?

You cover the part of the window people can see into, and leave the rest open to light. Three approaches work well.

Top-down/bottom-up shades

Top-down/bottom-up shades lower from the top, rise from the bottom, or both. Float the shade in the middle of the window and you keep the lower half covered while sky and treetops stay visible above. The lift comes in cellular, roman, pleated, and woven wood styles, and cordless operation is standard.

Dual shades

Dual and zebra shades combine sheer and solid fabric bands in one shade. Align the solid bands for privacy, or shift them to line up with the sheers when you want light and a view. Our guide to dual sheer shades shows them in real rooms.

Daytime fabric plus a nighttime layer

Light-filtering shades and solar shades give good daytime privacy, but both become see-through at night with the lights on. Pair them with custom drapery or a blackout layer you close at dusk.

Street-facing windows have their own challenges, from passing foot traffic to neighbors across the street. Our guide to the best blinds for street-facing windows covers them in detail.

What are the best privacy options for bathrooms and bedrooms?

Bathrooms and bedrooms need the most dependable privacy in the house, but they use light differently.

Bathrooms:

• Top-down/bottom-up cellular shades block the view at eye level while the top of the window lets daylight in.
• Privacy faux wood blinds have routeless slats with no cord holes, and PVC slats that won’t warp, peel, or crack in humid rooms.

Bedrooms:

• Blackout cellular shades give full privacy and darkness for sleep.
• Blackout top-down/bottom-up shades keep the room dark at night and let morning light in from the top while you dress.
• Roman shades can take a privacy liner or a blackout liner. Our guide to privacy liners vs. blackout liners explains which fits each room.

What should you use for privacy in nurseries and kids’ rooms?

In any room a child uses, start with a cordless or motorized lift, then choose the privacy and light level. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recommends cordless window coverings wherever young children are present.

• Our Classic cordless blackout cellular shades include a child-safe cordless lift on every shade, with blackout lining for naps and full privacy day and night.
• Motorized shades let you lower the shade without walking into a sleeping baby’s room.
• Keep cribs, beds, and climbable furniture away from windows.

For more kid-friendly picks, see our guide to roller shades for kids’ rooms.

Why can people see through my shades at night?

Light-filtering and solar shades rely on the outside being brighter than the inside. During the day, they hide the room. After dark, with lights on inside, people outside can see silhouettes or more. To keep nighttime privacy:

• Switch to room-darkening or blackout fabric in rooms you use at night.
• Add a liner to fabric shades.
• Layer drapery or a second shade you close at dusk.

Frequently asked questions