The best roller blinds for living rooms

Living rooms by type

Victorian or Edwardian front room with a bay

The classic terrace situation across Rainham, Hornchurch and Upminster: a bay a few metres from the pavement. Three blinds, one per pane, and a day & night fabric so the whole run opens for the view and closes for the evening together. See roller blinds for bay windows: a bay is measured pane by pane and the corners are where quality shows.

A bay also loses more heat than any other window in the room, so a thermal-backed fabric is worth asking about if the seating area near it feels cold.

Rear living room onto the garden

Usually not overlooked, which frees you up. Sunscreen keeps the garden visible while cutting afternoon glare. If the room opens through French or patio doorstreat the doors as their own decision: blinds on the leaves so the doors still work with them down.

Open-plan living and dining

Several windows on different walls catching sun at different times. Use one fabric throughout so the room reads as one space, and consider motorising: a bank of blinds that all move together on one press is the single most appreciated thing we fit in an open-plan room.

Flat or apartment living room

Often large windows, sometimes a balcony door, and frequently overlooked by other flats. Day & night for privacy control, and check whether your lease specifies a blind colour visible from outside: many do.

Media room or snug

The one living room where blackout makes sense. You are controlling reflected light on a screen, so choose a dark fabric: a pale blackout blind still bounces light back into the room even though none passes through it. See blackout roller blinds.

Things that matter more than people expect

Fabric weight and how it hangs

A living room blind is looked at more than any other in the house, often from across the room in good light. Heavier fabrics hang flatter and crease less. It is worth handling samples rather than choosing from a screen: drape is the thing photographs never convey.

Cassettes

More worthwhile here than anywhere. An exposed roller reads as unfinished in a room you furnish deliberately, and on a wide living room window the roll is bulky. A cassette gives a clean horizontal line across the top.

Colour against the wall, not against the window

People choose blind fabric by holding it against the glass. In a living room you see the blind mostly when it is raised, sitting as a band at the top of the window against your wall colour. Check it both ways.

Radiators and window seats

Both common under living room windows, and both set the drop. A blind hanging in front of a radiator blocks the heat and the fabric discolours over time.

Child safety

Living rooms have sofas under windows, which is exactly the climbable furniture that defeats the height rule. Every blind we fit meets the standard; in a family living room cordless or motorised is worth the conversation.

Blinds with curtains

Very common in living rooms, and a good combination when it is planned rather than accidental. The blind does the daytime work, glare, heat, view, and the curtains close for the evening and add warmth and softness.

Two practical points. Fit the blind inside the recess so the curtains hang clear of it, and choose the blind fabric first: it is the one working all day, and curtains are easier to match to a blind than the reverse.