Living Room Blinds: Choosing a Blind for Glare, View and Big Windows
A lounge window needs cover that does two jobs: cutting daytime glare without losing the view, and giving privacy once the lamps come on. A day-night design does both with alternating sheer and solid bands. A sunscreen blind with a separate blockout layer is the other way to cover a street-facing window.
One blind for daytime glare and evening privacy
A bright window behind or beside a TV puts glare on the screen. A sunscreen roller with around 3 to 5 percent openness takes the edge off the window light and keeps a view out. Hold a sample at the window before choosing the openness.
A day-night blind has alternating sheer and solid bands. Line the sheer bands up for daylight and a view, or bring the solid bands together for privacy.
Street-facing windows change at sunset
Sunscreen lets you see out because the outside is brighter than the inside. After dark, with the lamps on, that reverses and people on the street may be able to see in. A street-facing lounge needs a solid layer for the evening: the solid setting on a day-night design, or a separate blockout blind behind the sunscreen.
Aluminium Venetian blinds are the other answer. Tilt the aluminium slats for daylight and close them flat at night. A plain aluminium Venetian is stylish and understated next to timber or concrete finishes.
office blinds deal with the same glare across a whole working day, and blinds for sliding doors covers the patio door that many lounges open onto. For the other rooms in the house, start with how to choose blinds by room.
The double-volume living room
High windows put a chain or cord out of reach. Motorisation replaces it with a remote, and with home automation several of them can run together from one remote. Remotes and other accessories are chosen with the motor.
On a long span, two linked rollers on a shared bracket split the opening, so neither tube has to cover the full width.
Where the same wall holds a sliding door, vertical vanes draw fully aside to clear it, and the page on vertical blinds in Cape Town covers the track and the stack.
Custom blinds or ready-made PVC Venetian blinds
Ready-made products come in standard widths and drops, so the nearest size may not match the window. Each design is made to order to the window's exact size, and Capetown Blinds will measure the window for the quote.
The range for a lounge covers aluminium and wooden Venetians, bamboo, Roman and roller designs, so the window blind can follow the furniture. Roman folds give a soft, timeless style, while timber slats create a warmer look than aluminium.
Price depends on the window size, the material and any motor. Samples are brought to your home so you can see each one against the furniture before you decide.
| How the room is used | Recommended | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Daytime work and screens | Sunscreen roller, 3–5% openness | Kills glare, keeps the room bright |
| Street-facing, evening use | Day-night blind | Sheer by day, solid once lights are on |
| Formal or evening-only room | Blockout-lined Roman | Softer look, full privacy |
| Very wide window | Two linked blinds | A single long tube deflects and tracks unevenly |
| High or double-volume | Motorised | A blind you cannot reach never gets used |
Products mentioned in this guide
Day-Night Blinds
Day-night blinds are dual-layer roller blinds with alternating sheer and solid fabric bands that align to either filter or…
Roller Blinds
Roller blinds are a single panel of fabric that winds onto a tube above the window.
Roman Blinds
Roman blinds are fabric blinds that draw up into horizontal folds and stack at the top of the window.
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Questions about glare, privacy and big openings
What blinds are best for a living room?
A day-night design covers both jobs: the view by day and privacy at night. Where the lounge is used mostly in the evening, a Roman with a blockout lining gives a softer look with the same privacy. Aluminium Venetians do both with a tilt of the slats.
How do you stop glare on a TV without darkening the room?
Fit a sunscreen roller with a low openness figure, around 3 to 5 percent. The lounge stays bright and the view stays visible, which an opaque blockout layer does not allow.
Can people see in through blinds at night?
Yes, through sunscreen when it is brighter indoors than outside. Sunscreen works by being darker than the bright side, so once the lamps are on inside and it is dark outside, the effect reverses. A street-facing lounge needs a solid layer as well, which the solid bands of a day-night design provide.
What blinds work on very large living room windows?
Two linked rollers on a shared bracket split a long span, so neither tube covers the full width. On a high window, ask about motorised control, the price of a motor and its accessories at the same time.