Today we’re going to be talking about roller shades, one of the oldest types of window coverings.
Because roller shades are the oldest type of window covering, they’ve been developed to a point where they have the most options out of all window coverings. When it comes to the headrail, there are tons of different options. There’s plenty of fabric options as well as all different kinds of lift styles.
When it comes to roller shade fabrics, there’s plenty of solid color options, but as you’ll see in the one behind me, they are a great way to display various types of patterns, to add a little bit of flair to any room.
With their lift systems, Cordless tends to be the most popular because of its extreme ease of use. This guy right here, two fingers is all I need to just move it wherever I’d like it to be in the window. Very, very easy. Very simple. No questions of “how do I open these?”
One of the main points of customization on roller shades is going to be the headrail. The one that I’ve got behind me here uses a cassette which has a fabric insert that matches the shade to kind of tie the two together.
The other most popular option is going to be an exposed roll where you have just the fabric and the shade itself. There’s nothing that covers the roll. You just have some brackets on the end and that’s all there is to it.
A slightly less popular option, it’s not offered on all roller shades is a fascia, which is a color-coordinating metal piece that gets mounted right in front of the shade to just clean it up a little bit. It tends to be a little less expensive than the cassette option is.
Another popular option for a headrail is using a deco bar. A deco bar is kind of an in-between when it comes to exposed roll and cassette. You get a little bit at the top, and it’s very easy to install … that looks like this here, it’s this metal bar up at the top. The brackets are already on the side of the shades, so you just have to worry about two brackets at the top here. This is on a cordless example to be specific, but you can use the deco bar with all lift systems.
There are three different types of light control when it comes to roller shades. We’ll have light filtering which will just kind of soften the light, but still allow plenty of light through. And then you have room darkening, which takes it a step further than light filtering. It’s not a perfect blackout, but it does block more light.
Then you’ll have blackout roller shades, which stop all light from coming through the fabric. You will still have some gaps on the sides, allowing some light in, so it isn’t going to be a perfect blackout, but it will significantly darken the room.
With how versatile roller shades can be, there can be a lot of options to take a look at. If you ever get overwhelmed or have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our Design Consultant Team, and they’d be more than happy to answer any questions you may have.
That’s it for this week’s episode of Behind the Blinds. I’m Brandon. See you next time!
Behind the Blinds is our series where we dive into the finer details of everything shades and blinds. For more information about roller shades, call or chat with one of our Design Consultants at (888) 257-1840. They’re easy to talk to!
