Different Types of Window Shades for Every Room
Your window coverings are one of the most subtle and impactful design decisions you can make in a room. They control light and privacy, and they pull entire rooms together. But homeowners often put off buying them because of uncertainty: They’re unsure about how to use and style all the different types of shades, so they wait or keep using ill-fitting and hard to manage blinds that they inherited with their home.
You don’t have to procrastinate or make this decision without professional guidance. Our talented design experts at Alexander Blank Fabrics & Design help homeowners and designers create the big picture and offer design solutions so that you can find options that suit your design and lifestyle.
We feature custom shades from Hunter Douglas, the industry’s leading brand for quality, innovative design, and luxury fabrics and materials. Let’s narrow down window shades types for your space.
How Window Shades Types Differ From Window Blinds
Window shades are made from one continuous piece of fabric or woven material that rolls or folds up and down on a header or via a tensioning system. Blinds, on the other hand, have individual slats you tilt to adjust light direction before raising or lowering them. Shades give you a softer, more fabric-forward look and better insulation, while blinds have great view-through and adjustable slat angles.
Window Shade Types From Hunter Douglas
Hunter Douglas has perfected a variety of innovative shading designs through decades of engineering, combining beautiful materials and practicality. The trick isn't finding the "best" shade — it's selecting styles that suit each room's purpose and personality.
Types of Shades for Home Offices and Modern Living Rooms
Home offices need quick light control without wrestling with cords—whether you’re watching the game, enjoying your view, or need privacy at night or during video calls, and the minimalist appearance of roller shades keeps your backdrop professional and distraction-free. In modern living rooms, these shades practically vanish when raised, so your furniture and art get most of the attention.
Designer Roller Shades have a single fabric panel that rolls into a top headrail, for the cleanest possible line at your window. Hunter Douglas offers this style in hundreds of fabrics, including light-filtering materials for family rooms and light, room-darkening ones for bedrooms. When raised, these shades practically disappear, giving you unobstructed views.
Types of Shades for Dining Rooms and Master Bedrooms
The more luxurious and formal a space, the more intricate your textiles can go toward creating a layered and appealing design. Dining rooms deserve a dressier look when you're hosting dinner. The soft or tailored folds add sophistication without competing with your table setting. Master bedrooms feel more luxurious with lots of fabric — whether you've made the bed or not.
Vignette® Roman Shades have a classic, elegant aesthetic without maintenance headaches. Unlike conventional versions with tangle-prone cords, Hunter Douglas Roman shade styles are cord free control with hidden tensioners. The fabric cascades in soft, sculptural pleats that add dimension to flat walls. We offer Hunter Douglas
Roman shades in material options from linen neutrals to dramatic patterns for outstanding customization options. The profile leans toward formal, but we can show you how to style Roman shades for any space.
Types of Shades for Bedrooms, Kitchens, and Sunrooms
Keep your home more comfortable year-round with enhanced insulation—no more waking up freezing or overheated. Blackout options let you sleep past sunrise, while top-down lowering gives ground-floor privacy without losing daylight.
Duette® Cellular Shades are known for their control and energy-efficient nature, but still have a luxurious aesthetic. Their
honeycomb
structure creates air pockets that insulate your windows, blocking heat transfer in both directions. This means lower energy bills and more comfortable rooms year-round. This type of shade brings warmth and light filtering to kitchens and
sunrooms, making the draftiest of spaces more usable in the winter instead of sitting empty.
Available in single or double cells, Hunter Douglas cellular shades offer the industry’s widest selection of pleat sizes, opacities, colors, and textures.
Types of Shades for Kitchens and Casual Living
Your home design can bring the outdoors in with texture and warmth to balance all of the countertops and appliances of a kitchen or to mix materials in living areas. The natural fibers of woven shades soften any space, providing interesting texture and design counterpoints. Family rooms feel instantly more welcoming with that natural variance — the kind that makes everyone want to stay and chat for a while.
Provenance® Woven Wood Shades bring the outdoors in, with natural materials like bamboo, jute, and reed. Each artisanal
woven shade has unique color variations and textural details, since the materials come from nature. Light filters through the woven fibers beautifully, creating a warm, dappled effect. The casual sophistication of these shades works surprisingly well in traditional and contemporary settings.
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Find Your Perfect Window Shades Style
Shopping for different types of window shades becomes simpler when you have expert guidance from our design consultants at Alexander Blank Fabrics & Design. We measure precisely and help homeowners select the best styles and handle professional installation so your shades function flawlessly from day one.
Visit our showroom or contact us for a consultation in Lutherville-Timonium and the greater Baltimore Metro area. We offer shop-from-home service where a member of our team brings a curated selection and visit your home to assess lighting, lifestyle, and aesthetic goals before recommending solutions.
