Roller & Blackout Shades
Roller and blackout shades for South Florida homes
Roller shades are the cleanest treatment you can hang on a window. We build them in screen, light-filtering, room darkening and blackout fabrics, pair them on dual brackets and motorize them for the way you live.
“Day and night, we control the light”
Clean lines for modern windows
Roller shades in South Florida have a harder job than in most places. They face low western sun, glare bouncing off pools and water, and walls of impact glass that run floor to ceiling.
A good roller shade answers all of that with one flat panel of fabric that disappears into a slim headrail when you raise it. The choice that matters most is the fabric, because opacity decides what each room feels like at noon and at midnight. The second is the hardware: how the roll is hidden, how the edges are sealed and how the shade is lifted. We specify both for each window, then measure and install with our own team.
- Screen, light-filtering, room darkening, blackout
- Dual shades on one bracket
- Side channels to stop light gaps
- Fascia, cassette or ceiling pocket
- Battery, rechargeable or hardwired motors
- Hunter Douglas, Lutron, Alta and Bandalux
Fabric opacity
Choose how much light gets in
The same room can need three different fabrics depending on which way it faces and who sleeps in it. These are the categories we work through with you.
Light Filtering
Translucent fabric that turns direct sun into an even glow. Furniture is protected and the room stays bright, and people outside see a soft silhouette at most. Good for kitchens, family rooms and home offices that face the street.
Room Darkening
An opaque fabric that stops light from passing through the shade itself. Expect a thin line of light at the sides and bottom. Right for media rooms, guest rooms and any bedroom where some morning light is welcome.
Full Blackout
Opaque fabric plus the hardware that seals it: side channels, a sill angle and a fascia or pocket at the top. This is what shift workers, light sleepers and nurseries need on an east window in summer.
To keep the view while cutting glare, choose a screen fabric instead. They are covered on our solar screen shades page, with openness factors from 1 to 10 percent.
Dual rollers: day and night on one bracket
The dual roller is the shade we recommend most for South Florida bedrooms with a view.
Two rollers share one bracket. The front shade is a solar screen that cuts glare and heat while you still see the water or the golf course. The back shade is a room darkening or blackout fabric for privacy after dark and for sleeping in. Screen fabric alone gives privacy only during the day; once the lights come on inside, people can see in. The dual roller solves that without adding a second treatment to the wall.
Motorized, the pair becomes a routine. The screen lowers when the afternoon sun reaches the glass, rises at sunset so you can enjoy the sky, and the blackout comes down at bedtime. Lutron and Hunter Douglas PowerView both handle dual shades, and our comparison of PowerView, Lutron and Somfy shade motors explains which fits your house.
The details that matter
Hardware that makes a roller look finished
Side channels for light gaps
An inside-mounted roller needs a small clearance at each side so the fabric can travel. On a blackout shade that clearance shows up as two bright lines at dawn. Side channels are slim tracks fixed to the window jamb that the fabric edges run inside, closing the gap. We finish them to match the frame so they read as part of the window.
Fascia, cassette or pocket
A fascia is a fabric-wrapped or aluminum face that hides the roll from the front. A cassette encloses the roll on all sides for a cleaner modern look. A ceiling pocket recesses the shade completely so you see only a narrow slot when it is raised. Pockets belong in the plans before drywall, and our guide to planning shades in a renovation or new build covers the timing.
Standard or reverse roll
Standard roll keeps the fabric tight to the glass for the smallest light gap. Reverse roll drops the fabric off the front of the tube so it clears lever handles on French doors, deep sills and casement cranks.
Bottom bars and sill angles
A weighted hem bar keeps wide shades flat and hanging straight. On blackout shades we add a sill angle so the bottom edge seals against the sill, the last gap where morning sun gets in.
Recent installs
Roller shades in our clients' homes
Motorized roller shades, planned properly
Roller shades are the easiest treatment to motorize, and on large glass we rarely recommend anything else.
A ten-foot shade in heavy blackout fabric is a lot to lift by hand. A motor in the tube raises it smoothly, stops at the same height every time and keeps cords away from children and pets. Battery and rechargeable motors install in finished homes and concrete-ceiling condos without opening walls. Hardwired motors need power at each window head and pay off in new construction, where there is nothing to recharge for the life of the shade.
Group shades by room or by exposure, then put them on a schedule tied to sunrise and sunset. Every motorized system we install is programmed and tested by our own team before we leave.
Related treatments
When a roller is not the answer
Rollers are flat and crisp by nature. For softer light, extra insulation or a decorator's layer, these pair well or work better.
Honeycomb Shades
Insulating cells for hot west windows, with top-down bottom-up options.
Explore honeycomb shades
Sheer Shadings
Silhouette and Pirouette soften the light with fabric vanes you tilt.
Explore sheer shadings
Motorized Drapery
Ripple fold panels over a roller shade for warmth and full privacy.
Explore motorized draperyQuestions
Roller and blackout shade FAQs
What is the difference between room darkening and blackout roller shades?
The fabric can be identical. Room darkening describes an opaque fabric that stops light passing through the shade, but light still leaks around the edges. Blackout describes the whole installation: an opaque fabric plus side channels, a sill angle and a fascia or pocket that close the gaps. If you need a bedroom dark at 7 AM in July, ask for blackout and expect the hardware that goes with it.
Can I have a screen shade and a blackout shade on the same window?
Yes. A dual roller mounts two shades on one bracket, a solar screen in front for daytime glare and an opaque fabric behind it for privacy and sleep. Each shade runs on its own, and with motorization they can follow separate schedules. Read more about screen fabrics on our solar screen shades page.
Do roller shades work on wide sliding doors and impact glass?
They are one of the best options for sliders because they roll up completely and leave the track clear. Very wide openings are split into two or three shades that are aligned to read as one, and motorization keeps large, heavy shades easy to operate.
Should the shade roll off the front or the back of the tube?
A standard roll keeps the fabric close to the glass, which reduces light gaps. A reverse roll sends the fabric off the front of the tube so it clears door handles, cranks and deep sills. We decide this window by window when we measure.
How do I keep the roller tube from showing?
Three ways: a fascia that covers the roll with a fabric-wrapped or metal face, a cassette that encloses it, or a recessed pocket in the ceiling so the shade disappears completely. Pockets are easiest to plan during new construction or a renovation.
We're proud of our work. Read our reviews.
We ordered our Hunter Douglas blinds from Solun for our previous home and the experience was so professional and fair that we only went to Joseph at Solun for our blinds at our new home we recently moved into. We needed to change the order for one of our rooms and Joseph graciously made the change for us. His installation crew is very professional, neat and accurately installed our blinds. They are very knowledgeable and explained the motorized operation in easy to understand terms. I highly recommend Solun
Great service from start to finish. Carlos the sales person was 100% professional. He LISTENED to myself and my wife. And help guide thru the whole process. The installers were on time. Quick and cleaned up after themselves. Courteous and professional. Overall. 5 stars plus.
Been wanting new blinds for a long time and finally did it. Came out even better than I expected. The whole thing was easy from measuring to install and they look awesome. Definitely worth it.
In writing, on every job
Our 4-Way Guarantee to you
Four promises that come with every Solun order, backed by Exciting Windows!, the national network of independent window covering specialists.
Why homeowners choose Solun-
100%
01 · Pricing
Competitive pricing you can trust
Find the same product and service for less within 30 days and we refund the full difference.
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10yr
02 · Performance
Ten years of performance assurance
Fabrics are covered against fading and deterioration for a decade, repaired or replaced with prorated credit. Motors carry their own coverage at wholesale pricing.
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30day
03 · Workmanship
Quality and workmanship
Every treatment meets our installation standard. Tell us about an issue within 30 days and we repair or replace it at no cost.
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$50
04 · Punctuality
On-time appointments
If we arrive after your scheduled window, you get a $50 gift certificate along with our apology.
