Banded Shades
Alternating sheer and solid fabric bands on a single shade. Rotate them one way and you see straight out, rotate them the other and the room is private. One window covering doing two jobs, installed across Boise and the Treasure Valley.
One Shade, Two Settings
A banded shade is built from two layers of fabric running as horizontal stripes: a solid band, then a sheer band, then a solid band, all the way down. Both layers hang on the same roller. As you move the shade slightly, the solid bands slide across the sheer ones.
Line the solid bands up with each other and the sheers open into clear horizontal stripes you can see through. Shift them so the solids cover the sheers and the window closes up for privacy. It is one continuous movement, not a switch, so you can stop anywhere in between and dial in exactly how much you want to see and be seen.
That is the whole appeal. A roller shade is either up or down. A banded shade lets you keep the window covered and still have a view, which is why people put them on the windows they actually sit next to.
One practical note that surprises people: the shade arrives set to the closed position when it is fully lowered. You open the bands from there. Because opening them shifts the fabric, the bottom bar rises a small amount, roughly half the height of a solid band, so on an inside mount it sits just above the sill rather than flush on it.
Bands open. The sheers line up and the view comes back, while the solid bands still cut the glare.
Bands closing. The same window, same shade height. Keep rotating past this and the solids fully overlap the sheers.
Soft View or ClearView, and Why It Matters
The sheer band comes in two versions and this is the single choice that most changes how happy you are with the shade.
Soft View is the standard sheer. It diffuses harsh light and gives you a softer, hazier view out. Good when the priority is knocking down glare and the view is nothing special.
ClearView is the upgrade, and it gives a crisp, clean view to the outside instead of a diffused one. If you are buying banded shades because of what is out the window, foothills, a mature tree, a backyard you look at every day, choose ClearView. The photo below is a ClearView sheer.
The other spec worth asking about is band height. Fabrics come in medium bands, with solids around three inches, or large bands, with solids closer to four. Larger bands mean taller sheer openings and more view when they are open. It is listed per fabric in the sample book, and we bring the book.
How Much Light They Actually Block
Here is the honest limitation, and it is the one that matters most, because it is the thing people assume wrongly.
Banded shades do not black out a room. The fabrics come in light filtering, which diffuses light and gives you some privacy, and light dimming, which blocks considerably more. Light dimming is as dark as this product gets, and it is not blackout. Light still seeps through where the solid bands overlap each other, so a fully closed banded shade in a bright room reads as dim, not dark.
For a bedroom where you want it genuinely dark, we would put you on a roller shade with a room-darkening fabric, or a cellular shade, and save the banded shades for the rooms where the view is the point. That is a smaller sale for us and the right answer for you.
Two smaller things to expect, both normal for the product. The sheer layers can create a faint moire effect, a soft shimmer where the two layers cross, which is part of how the view diffuses. And slight waviness in the fabric is inherent to a textile of this kind and shows up more on very wide shades.
How They Open and Close
Custom Clutch is the standard system and it uses a metal bead chain. It is the one that handles the biggest shades, up to 107 inches wide and 120 inches tall, and it holds lift uniformity across a row of windows with an even light gap on both sides.
LiteRise is fully cordless. You raise and lower by hand on a handle at the bottom rail, and a spring and tension system holds it at any height with the bands either open or closed. Up to 84 by 84 inches.
UltraGlide uses a single retractable wand that stays the same length no matter where the shade sits. It comes in four wand colors and handles up to 107 by 96 inches.
SoftTouch is motorized but operated by hand at the wand: pull down to close, push up slightly to open. Battery powered, no exposed cords, and it remembers a favorite position.
PowerView Gen 3 is full automation. The rechargeable battery hides inside the roller tube so there is nothing hanging off the shade, it runs about a year between charges, and it works from a remote, the app, or a schedule. For a tall stairway window you are never going to reach, this is the answer, and there is an extension pole that screws onto a painter’s pole for charging.
For a child’s room or anywhere with pets, pick one of the cordless lifts rather than the bead chain.
Finishing the Top
Two ways to handle the roll at the top, and they look quite different.
The Banded Cassette is a square cover that hides the fabric roll behind a clean modern box, with a band of the shade fabric set into the front so it matches rather than contrasts. An optional back cover closes it off underneath, which is what you want on an inside mount or when a battery wand would otherwise be visible.
The open bracket profile skips the cassette. The fabric rolls from the back, which keeps the whole assembly tight to the window for a minimal look, and it mounts to the ceiling or the wall, inside or outside the opening. It comes in black or white.
Hardware and brackets come in nine coordinating colors, which matters more than it sounds: it is what makes the shades look deliberate from the street instead of like a row of mismatched parts.
Where They Work in a Boise Home
Banded shades earn their keep on the windows you live next to. A living room with a foothills view, where you want the glare gone at five in the afternoon but not the mountains. A kitchen sink window facing a neighbor, closed while you are working and open the rest of the day. A street-facing front room in the North End where you want to be able to switch.
They read as modern, so they sit best in newer builds around Eagle and Meridian and in updated interiors, and the darker fabrics hold up well against dark cabinetry and black window frames.
Questions People Ask About Banded Shades
Do Banded Shades Give You Full Privacy at Night?
With the bands rotated closed, yes for everyday purposes. The solid bands overlap the sheers and you are covered. What they will not do is block light completely. Even the light dimming fabrics let a little light seep through where the bands overlap, so treat them as a privacy product rather than a blackout one.
Can Banded Shades Block Out All Light for a Bedroom?
No, and it is worth knowing before you buy. The darkest option is called light dimming, which blocks a lot of light but is not blackout, because light seeps at the band overlaps. If a genuinely dark bedroom is the goal, a roller shade with a room-darkening fabric or a cellular shade will get you there and banded shades will not.
What Is the Difference Between Soft View and ClearView?
Those are the two sheer fabrics. Soft View is the standard, and it diffuses harsh light for a softer, hazier view out. ClearView is the upgrade, and it gives a crisp, clean view to the outside. If the reason you want banded shades is the view, choose ClearView.
Are Banded Shades Safe Around Kids and Pets?
The cordless options are. LiteRise has no cord at all, UltraGlide uses a single retractable wand, and SoftTouch and PowerView are motorized with nothing hanging. The standard Custom Clutch system does use a metal bead chain, so in a child’s room we steer you to one of the cordless lifts instead.
Why Do the Bands Not Line Up Perfectly When They Are Open?
The bands are set to align in the closed position, which is how they are built and measured. Once you rotate them open, slight variances within industry tolerance mean the front and back panels can look a little off from certain angles. It is normal for the product. Side by side shades line up within a quarter inch as long as they are ordered together in the same style, color, height and lift system.
Try the Bands in Your Own Window
This is a product you have to operate to understand. Justin brings the sample book to your house so you can rotate the bands yourself, compare Soft View against ClearView on your own window, and see what the view really looks like before you order. Our showroom at 2615 W Main St in Boise is open too if you would rather come to us. Call ahead so we can be sure to be there.
Or call (208) 808-8676
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