Banded Shades
Banded Shades by Solar Shield Blinds
Precise light control is a priority in many homes, but not every window treatment delivers it in a way that feels natural day to day. Our Solar Shield Blinds Banded Shades are designed to solve that problem.
Precise Light Control
Filtered light, privacy, or a clear view out, all from one shade
Also known as dual shades or zebra shades, these modern window coverings alternate solid and sheer horizontal bands within a single shade.
As the bands shift past each other, you can move from filtered light to privacy to a more open view, all without fully raising or lowering the shade. That’s what makes them the right fit for modern homes and for rooms where the light requirement changes hour to hour. Morning in the kitchen wants the sheers lined up, the afternoon sun on the TV wants the solid bands closed, and evening wants the view back.
The privacy band comes in sizes from 3 inches to 5 inches, with a sheer band above and below it in a slightly smaller size. Set the shade to a privacy position and you get a soft sheer view outside while your room stays private during the day. At night, lower it to the bottom of the window and you have full coverage. And when you want the whole window back, roll it all the way up into the cassette headrail and the fabric hides away in a small 3 inch space.
Why Our Clients Choose Them
What banded shades do for your home
- Four Settings In One ShadeFully open, sheers aligned for a soft view out, the privacy position for the daytime, and fully closed at night. You choose the setting by the hour without ever raising the shade.
- They Disappear When You Want Them ToRoll them right up and the whole shade hides inside a 3 inch cassette at the top of the window, so the glass and the view are yours again.
- Daytime Privacy Without The DarkThe privacy band does the work while the sheers keep the room bright. You see out, the neighbors don’t see in, and the room never feels shut up.
Whether you need privacy, light control, or you just want to add an element of design to a room, our Solar Shield Blinds Banded Shades will do it. They’re the most adjustable shade we carry, and the one our clients tell us they play with the most, in a good way. The mechanism is simple once you’ve seen it: two layers of fabric on one roll, alternating sheer and solid. Line the solid bands up and you have privacy. Offset them and the light comes through in soft horizontal bands with a view out through the sheers.
Two things worth knowing before you order. The fabric comes in two families, light filtering and light dimming, and closed, the solid bands meet at a seam rather than a seal, so a little light still comes through. In a bedroom where you want it properly dark, we’ll pair them with a blackout shade, and we’ll say so on the visit rather than after the install. Two layers of fabric also roll deeper than one, which shows on a short window. The cassette covers that and gives the top of the window a clean line, and your Design Specialist will measure the stack on the visit so you know exactly how much of the glass it sits over.
We carry over 100 fabrics, and your Design Specialist brings the samples to you so you can see them against your own walls and trim, in your own light. That’s part of your free in-home consultation, and there’s no high pressure. You’ll have an exact, itemized quote before we leave, and it holds for 180 days.
Banded Shades
Banded Shades by Solar Shield Blinds
This dining room and living room transform as our Install Tech installs and operates each shade to create soft, filtered light in the room to create elevated comfort.
Our Process
Planned, measured, and installed by our team
- Free ConsultationWe bring our shop to your home or office. We'll listen to what you're wanting to accomplish with your windows, take a good look at every opening, and explain the options that will actually work for them.
- On the spot quoteWe take the time to make sure you know exactly what you're getting, and you'll have a complete and exact quote before we leave, so there are no surprises on install day.
- Installed by our teamYour shades are custom built to the exact measurements of your windows, and when ready, professionally installed by our full time installers. Most projects are installed in less than a day.
The longer version
Our process is very thorough and designed to give you the best experience possible. When we meet with you during your initial consultation we'll discuss your specific needs. We'll listen to your concerns and make sure we understand exactly what you're wanting to accomplish with your window coverings. Then we'll help educate you on the product options available to you and offer our best recommendation based on our assessment of your windows.
We take time making sure you understand exactly what you're going to get, and we make sure there won't be any surprises at the time of install. You get a complete and exact quote on the spot, so you can be sure we're working within your budget before you commit to anything.
This simple, yet very effective in-home service has proven to save our clients time, money, and the energy not spent running from store to store. Once the order is placed, sit back and let us handle all of the details while you get to enjoy your new window coverings!
Design Options
Banded Shade Design Options
We will help you make the correct selections for your space, but here are the options available for our Banded Shades
Operating Systems
Four different ways to operate your Banded Shades
Choosing the correct operating system for your new shades makes all the difference. From standard chain loop control all the way to full home automation, we’ve got the perfect function for your space.
Standard Chain Loop
Our standard clutch control, tensioned and anchored to the window casing or wall. Child safe chain hold down devices create safe spaces where a chain is required. Chain control is good for high windows when motors aren’t preferred.
Cordless Lift Child Safe
Lift and lower the shade with a simple push up or a light pull down on the bottom rail. Clean lines and no hanging chain visible. Safe for pets and kids.
PowerWand Child Safe
Wand operation lifts and lowers the shade with the simple touch of a button. Affordable, rechargeable, with easy access to the charge port on the side of the wand.
Motorized / Automated Child Safe
Solar Shield Blinds Smart Shades are fully automated and work with a Solar Shield Blinds remote control, app on your phone or tablet, wall switches, and even voice controlled. Enjoy fully automated operation with scheduling and scenes.
Installed Projects
Banded Shades installed in Central Illinois homes
Straight Answers
Frequently Asked Questions
With over 100 fabrics to choose from, there is a lot to look at. They fall into 2 groups: Light Filtering, Light Dimming. Our Design Specialists help you with color and texture selection. We bring the swatches and samples to your home so you can see the colors in your own lighting and in your own space, as part of your free in-home consultation.
Four: Standard Chain Loop, Cordless Lift (Child Safe), PowerWand (Child Safe), Motorized / Automated (Child Safe). Three of the four have no accessible cord at all, so they’re safe around kids and pets. Your Design Specialist helps you work out the right one for each window, and on a tall or hard to reach window that answer is a chain loop or a motor.
Our typical lead time is 4 to 6 weeks from order to final installation, and most projects are completed within one installation day. While you wait, we install free temporary shades on every window you’ve ordered for, and we take them down on install day. Our Install Techs clean up, take the packaging away, and walk every room with you before they leave.
We only carry products that hold up, and we back them with our Carefree Guarantee to protect your investment. Five years of service on defects, a Lifetime Product guarantee against defects in materials and workmanship for as long as you own them, and one unintentional damage event covered within five years. If something is wrong, call us and we will put it right.
Yes. Our custom window treatments come with transferable warranties. If you move, the warranty continues, which means the next owner is covered the same way you were. That’s the Transferable piece of our Carefree Guarantee: the coverage follows the address, not the person who placed the order, and it costs nothing extra.
Yes. Manufacturers use banded, zebra, dual and layered for the same construction, and we call them Banded Shades. Whatever the name, it’s one shade with solid and sheer horizontal bands that alternate, and the bands shift past each other as you move the shade. If you’ve seen zebra shades online, this is that product, custom made to your window and installed by our own Install Techs.
Line the solid bands up and yes, for practical purposes. At night with a light on inside, though, a silhouette can still register through the seams. In a bedroom or a bathroom where that matters, we’ll pair them with a blackout shade or a lined drapery panel, and we’ll tell you that at the consultation, not after the install.
Yes, and it’s a good pairing. Our motorized version is sold as Solar Shield Blinds Smart Banded Shades, with a remote, the app on your phone or tablet, wall switches, and voice control, plus schedules and scenes. A scene saves a specific band position, which is hard to hit the same way twice by hand. Rechargeable motors need no wiring, so they go into an existing house with no electrical work at all.
The privacy band comes in sizes from 3 inches to 5 inches, with the sheer band slightly smaller. A smaller band suits most standard windows and keeps the proportions right. When there’s more window to cover, a larger band fills the space without looking busy. Your Design Specialist brings both to the consultation so you can hold them up against your own window before you decide.
You can, with one honest note. Closed, the solid bands meet at a seam rather than a seal, so a little light comes through, and a banded shade on its own won’t make a bedroom properly dark. For a primary bedroom or a kid’s room, we pair them with a blackout shade so you get the daytime look you want and a dark room at night.
Yes. A patio door or a wide opening works well with two independently operating shades on one headrail, so each side runs on its own and the look stays unified from across the room. Cordless Lift, PowerWand and motorized versions all leave no chain hanging near the door. We measure the door and check the clearance on the visit before we recommend anything, so there are no surprises on install day.
Yes, that’s one of the reasons people choose them. Roll them all the way up and the fabric hides inside a 3 inch cassette at the top of the window, so the glass and the view are completely yours. Two layers of fabric roll deeper than one, which shows on a short window, so your Design Specialist measures the stack on the visit and tells you exactly how much of the glass it sits over.
That’s the room they were made for. A kitchen that’s bright at breakfast and glaring by mid afternoon, or a family room where the TV is unwatchable from three until six, wants a shade that changes with the hour without being raised and lowered all day. Line the sheers up for filtered light, close the solid bands when the sun swings around, and roll it up for the view once the sun is gone.
Yes, and it’s worth knowing before you order. Large light gaps are inherent to a banded shade, and they create a halo effect around the entire shade. In the sheer position there’s a gap at the window sill, a shallow casing leaves privacy gaps, and a window that’s out of square makes the light gaps more noticeable. Your Design Specialist looks at each window on the visit and shows you where you’ll see light.
Yes. Multiple units must be ordered side by side for proper band alignment, so the solid and sheer bands line up from one shade to the next. We measure and order a run of windows together as one job, and your Design Specialist plans it that way from the start.
Not fully. Banded Shades come in light filtering and light dimming fabrics, and light dimming fabrics do not create a full blackout effect. Where you need a properly dark room, we pair them with a blackout shade or a lined drapery panel.
Yes. Banded Shades work well on their own or with drapery. A top treatment over them needs a minimum of 3 inches of projection, and your Design Specialist checks that on the visit so everything fits on install day.
Yes. Exterior colors or shadows outside the window can affect the color of the shade, which is one reason we bring samples to your home. You see each fabric against your own glass and your own view before you choose.
Yes. Their clean, modern look is excellent for modern and transitional interiors, and they come in a wide range of colors and textures. The dual layered fabric gives you shading, a view out and privacy from one shade, with continuous loop, cordless or motorized operation.
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