MEASURING FOR SHADES

When purchasing a shade there are two types to choose from.  The first selection is a translucent shade.  This will allow the sun to shine through.  The second type is a room darkening shade.  This will lessen the amount of sun in a room and provide for more privacy.

Shades are mounted by the use of shade brackets.  There are three (3) different types of brackets.  There are outside brackets, inside brackets and adjustable inside brackets.  Adjustable inside brackets will bend in.  This allows for a better fit.  Brackets are sold separately.

There are three (3) ways to measure for a shade.  They are:

1) Tip to tip, most common, for mounting inside the window frame.

2) Barrel (bracket), for existing shades or measuring inside the brackets.

3) Cloth, the actual measurement of the shade cloth, for outside mount.

When purchasing a shade you must decide if you will be hanging the inside of the window frame or the outside of the window frame.  Remember if room darkening is of the most importance, an inside mounted shade will have at least a 5/8” gap on each side to let light in, so you may want an outside mount.

INSIDE MOUNT:   Mounted within the window frame.

You will measure at the top of your window from flush wood to flush wood.  We recommend when measuring, use a metal tape measure.  Measure each window at the top, center and bottom use smallest measurement.  This is to be done for each window shade you are ordering.  Do not assume all windows are the same.  This will be a tip to tip measurement.  You will use inside brackets.

OUTSIDE MOUNT:   Mounted to the surface surrounding the window.

You will measure from where you will be placing your brackets.  You will see outside brackets for this mounting.  This is considered a bracket or barrel measurement.

You can also measure on how wide you would like the cloth to be.  This would be a cloth measurement.  We recommend adding to the measurement 1 inch to each side to ensure complete window coverage and minimal light seepage.  We usually suggest this to be on the outside of the frame with outside brackets.  This will provide the best coverage for no light peeking through the sides.

REPLACING EXISTING SHADE:

If you already have a shade that you are replacing, please measure from end to end.  This will be a tip to tip measurement.  You can also measure the fabric from end to end, which will be cloth to cloth.  Never measure the stick that is in the bottom of the shade.  This is not an accurate measurement.