Zebra Shades

The biggest lever, and the one most specific to this product. Our Korean-made Swan line and the equivalent Hunter Douglas banded shade are both good; they are not the same price. We quote the same window both ways when it is a close call, which is unusual and is the point of carrying two sources.

Wider and taller means more fabric and a heavier tube. There is a second effect here that plain rollers do not have: the fabric is a loop, so a tall window uses roughly twice the fabric length of the drop, and cost climbs faster with height than you might expect.

A heavier band blocks more light when closed and hangs better on a wide window. Darker colours like our Shark and Coffee generally cost a little more than the whites, and they change the room considerably more.

A chain drive costs nothing extra. Motorization adds a motor and power per shade, and on this product we think it is worth it more often than on most, because you adjust a zebra shade during the day rather than twice a day. A cassette headrail hides the roll and the fabric join.

Yes. Zebra blinds, zebra shades, banded shades, dual sheer shades and day-night shades are all the same product — the name just varies by shop and by country. Technically it is a shade, since there are no slats to tilt, but almost everyone says blinds and we answer to both.

One fabric woven in alternating sheer and opaque stripes, joined into a loop so there is a front layer and a back layer. Rolling it slides the layers past each other — opaque over sheer closes the window, sheer over sheer opens it. A couple of inches of travel switches between the two.

Not on their own, and we will not tell you otherwise — the opaque bands are fabric, not a coating, so a lit window still glows through them. Private and dim, not dark. For a genuinely dark room we pair it with a blackout layer or use a different shade there; see blackout shades.

Closed, yes — with the bands aligned nobody sees into a lit room. Offset, the shade is effectively a sheer, and after dark a sheer gives no privacy because the bright side is inside. So it is private when you close it, and closing it is one short pull.

It depends how you sleep. They look excellent and the colours beat most blackout ranges, but closed they still glow, so early summer light comes through. If that does not wake you, they are lovely; if it does, we layer them over a blackout roller or behind a lined curtain.

The same product, named after where the category was developed. Banded shades were commercialised in Korea and Korean mills still make the widest range of the fabric, so the term means a Korean-made banded shade rather than a different design. Our own Korean line is called Swan, and we carry it alongside Hunter Douglas.

Zebra if you want to change the window through the day without a second treatment, and the banding suits the room. A plain roller if you want maximum light control from one fabric, a real blackout, or a shade that disappears rather than being a feature. Same brackets either way, so it is a fabric decision.

Yes, and it is one of the products where we most often recommend it. You adjust a zebra shade through the day rather than twice a day, so a remote or an app puts the two useful positions a button apart — and a schedule can find them without you.

Priced per window, at the more affordable end of what we make. The line, the size, the fabric weight and the control all move it — and because the fabric is a loop, height costs more here than on a plain roller. We quote every window exactly during the free consultation, and that quote is what you pay.