Curtains, blinds and shades — chosen by the problem they fix

Best blackout curtains

Thermal Insulated Blackout Curtains

NICETOWN · Best overall

Anyone starting from scratch on a bedroom window, especially if you want something you can wash rather than replace.

Best for a nursery

Thermal Insulated Blackout Curtains

NICETOWN · Best overall

The outer layer of a two-layer nursery setup, mounted wide and high so it clears the crib.

Best blackout shades

Cordless Blackout Cellular Shades

CHICOLOGY · Best overall

The default for a bedroom window where you want darkness and a warmer window at the same time.

Best blackout liners

Blackout Curtain Liners with detachable rings

NICETOWN · Best overall

Anyone with grommet or rod-pocket curtains who wants darkness this weekend without taking the window apart.

Best for noise

3-in-1 Soundproof Curtains with detachable felt liner

RYB HOME · Best overall

A bedroom or living room on a busy street where you want the strongest realistic result from a curtain and can hang something heavy.

Best nursery blackout shades

Blackout Cellular Shades, cordless

CHICOLOGY · Best overall

The default nursery shade in a window with a recess deep enough for the headrail, where you want darkness and a quieter, warmer room from one product.

Best cordless blackout shades

Cordless Blackout Honeycomb Cellular Shades

SBARTAR · Best overall

Most windows that need to be dark — bedrooms, nurseries, media rooms — and any of those where the glass is also cold.

Best velvet curtains

Velvet Blackout Curtains

NICETOWN · Best overall

Bedrooms, and anyone replacing a coated blackout panel that has started to crack along the fold lines.

Best roller shades

Deluxe Free-Stop Cordless Roller Shades

CHICOLOGY · Best overall

The default for a living room or bedroom window with an afternoon glare problem, where you want to set the height by eye and leave it.

Best sheer curtains

Faux linen solid voile grommet sheer curtains

Deconovo · Best overall

Living rooms and bedrooms where you want the window softened and the room to still read as bright.

Best for TV glare

Top Down Bottom Up Cellular Shades

CHICOLOGY · Best overall

Any living room where the TV faces a window and you do not want to lose the daylight to fix it.

Best zebra shades

Free-Stop Cordless Zebra Roller Shades

CHICOLOGY · Best overall

The default for a living room, kitchen or home office window where you want daylight most of the day and cover when someone walks past.

Best sunroom curtains

Thermal Insulated Blackout Curtains, silver backed

Deconovo · Best for the heat

A sunroom that is unusable by mid-afternoon, where reflecting solar energy back out matters more than the view.

Best bamboo shades

Bamboo and woven wood Roman shades

Arlo Blinds · Best overall

An unoverlooked window in a room where the texture is the point and the shade never has to make it dark.

Best blinds for privacy

Basics Cordless Faux Wood Blinds, 2" routeless slats

LEVOLOR · Best overall

Street-facing living rooms and bedrooms — the default choice when privacy is the actual reason you are buying.

Best privacy curtains

100% Blackout Curtains with black liner

Deconovo · Best overall

Street-facing living rooms and bedrooms where the curtain will be closed most evenings and you would rather not look at a slab of charcoal.

Best privacy film

Frosted Glass Window Privacy Film, static cling

rabbitgoo · Best overall

Bathrooms, ground-floor windows, front-door sidelights, and any rental where adhesive is not an option.

Best bathroom blinds

Basics Cordless Faux Wood Blinds, 2" routeless slats

LEVOLOR · Best overall

Most bathroom windows — the best combination of looking like timber, surviving steam, and splitting privacy from light.

Best for bathrooms

Frosted Glass Window Privacy Film, static cling

rabbitgoo · Best overall

The standard bathroom window: smooth glass, a sightline you want gone permanently, and a room where nothing textile should be near the pane.

Best for garages

Cordless room darkening vinyl blinds

Achim · Best overall

A garage you work in: you want the daylight when you are there and the window covered when you are not.

Best cafe curtains

Mariela Floral Trim Semi-Sheer Kitchen Curtain Valance and Tiers Set

No. 918 · Best overall

A standard kitchen or bathroom window where you want the whole arrangement to arrive in one box and look intentional.

Best insulating shades

Cordless Cellular Shades, room darkening, insulated

CHICOLOGY · Best overall

The default for a cold bedroom or living-room window where you want the room warmer without losing the window entirely.

Best thermal curtains

Thermal Insulated Blackout Curtains

Deconovo · Best overall

Rooms that are both cold in winter and hot in summer — which describes most rooms with a large window on a sun-facing wall.

Best for keeping heat out

Outdoor Roller Shade with wand

Coolaroo · Best overall

Patio doors, covered porches and any window with something overhead to mount from. The single most effective option on this page.

Best blinds for heat

Snap-N-Glide Cordless Roller Shades, solar screen

CHICOLOGY · Best overall

A south or west-facing window where the room overheats in the afternoon and you do not want to shut the window off to fix it.

Best heat-blocking film

Frosted Glass Window Privacy Film, static cling

rabbitgoo · Best overall

Bathrooms, stairwells and west-facing windows where you want the pane treated once and left alone, and privacy is a welcome second job.

Best window insulation film

Indoor Window Insulator Kit, Five Pack

3M · Best overall

A house with several cold standard windows, where the tape holding for four months matters more than saving two dollars.

Best no-drill rods

Single Curtain Rod Brackets, tap-in

Kwik-Hang · Best overall

Any rental with real wooden window trim at least half an inch wide. By far the strongest no-drill option available for a normal window.

Best tension rods

Rogers Twist & Fit No Tools Camlock Tension Rod

Kenney · Best overall

Anyone who has already had a spring rod come down, and any span at the upper end of what a tension rod should be doing.

Best no-drill shades

No Tools Original Blackout Pleated Paper Shade

Redi Shade · Best overall

New rentals, rooms being set up, anywhere you need the window covered this week rather than next month.

Best curtain rods

Heavy-duty lock-seam drapery rod sets

Rod Desyne · Best overall

Lined, thermal or blackout panels, and any span over about 60 inches where a lighter rod would sag.

Best for heavy curtains

Heavy-duty lock-seam drapery rod set

Rod Desyne · Best overall

Lined, thermal and blackout panels, and any span where a standard rod has already disappointed you.

Best for bay windows

Window corner curtain rod connectors, adjustable

Corner connector sets · Best overall

Any bay whose angles are not standard, and anyone who wants to choose the rod rather than accept whatever a bay set includes.

Best roman shades

Cordless Fabric Roman Shades, light filtering

Arlo Blinds · Best overall

Living rooms, dining rooms and bedrooms where softness matters and full darkness does not.

Best window blinds

Basics Cordless Faux Wood Blinds, 2" routeless slats

LEVOLOR · Best overall

The default for most windows in most rooms — the material and the slat construction both being the sensible choice rather than a compromise.

Best cellular shades

Cordless Cellular Shades, light filtering

CHICOLOGY · Best overall

The default for a living room, bedroom or home office where you want soft light and a warmer window.

Best smart blinds

Motorized Zebra Blinds

Yoolax · Best overall

A first motorized shade on one awkward window, with no rewiring, in a format that handles glare and privacy from the same shade.

Best faux wood blinds

Basics Cordless Faux Wood Blinds, 2" routeless slats

LEVOLOR · Best overall

Bedrooms and street-facing rooms — anywhere the blind spends time fully closed and the light dots would be visible.

Best mini blinds

Cordless room darkening vinyl blinds

Achim · Best overall

Rentals, garages, utility rooms, spare rooms — any window where the blind is a function rather than a feature.

Best curtains on Amazon

Thermal Insulated Blackout Curtains

NICETOWN · Best overall

The default bedroom panel, and the one to buy if you are mounting the rod properly high and need the extra length to still reach the floor.

Best window treatment overall

Thermal Insulated Blackout Curtains

NICETOWN · Best if the problem is light

Bedrooms and east-facing rooms. A curtain is the only covering you can mount wider and higher than the window, which is what stops edge light.

Best vertical blind replacement

Thermal Insulated Blackout Curtains

NICETOWN · Best overall replacement

The standard swap: panels on a wide rod park clear of a slider, cover the whole wall, and cost less than a custom vertical.

Best vertical blinds

Vertical Blinds, 3.5 inch PVC, cordless wand tilt and traverse

CHICOLOGY · Best overall

A sliding glass door, a patio door or a French door in a household that uses it daily - the case vertical blinds were invented for.

Best bedroom curtains

Thermal Insulated Blackout Curtains

NICETOWN · Best overall

Anyone starting from scratch on a bedroom window, especially if washability matters more than the last two per cent of darkness.

Best living room curtains

Solid color sheer voile panels

MIULEE · Best overall

The daytime layer in almost any living room — diffusing afternoon sun and blurring the sightline from the street while keeping the view and the light.

Best bedroom blinds

Cordless Blackout Honeycomb Cellular Shades

SBARTAR · Best overall

The default bedroom blind — someone who wants darkness and warmth from one product, in a window with a recess deep enough to take the headrail.

Best kitchen blinds

Basics Cordless Faux Wood Blinds, 2" routeless slats

LEVOLOR · Best overall

The window over or beside a sink in most kitchens — the best balance of looking like timber and behaving like plastic.

Best sliding door curtains

Thermal Insulated Blackout Curtains, long drops

NICETOWN · Best overall

Almost any sliding door: it has the drop, the width options and enough body to do thermal work on a big pane.

Best for large windows

Thermal Insulated Blackout Curtains, long drops

NICETOWN · Best overall approach

Any large window where you want full coverage, warmth and the option of darkness — the default answer above about 72 inches wide.

Best for sliding doors

Snap-N-Glide Cordless Roller Shades

CHICOLOGY · Best overall

A standard six to eight foot patio door in a living or dining room where you want glare and daytime privacy handled without losing the view completely.

Best for bathrooms

Kitchen tier curtains, light filtering voile

MRTREES · Best overall

The standard bathroom window: a sightline at eye level, daylight you want to keep, and a tension rod inside the recess.

Best for patio doors

Panel Track Blinds for sliding doors

CHICOLOGY · Best overall

A standard six to eight foot slider in a living or dining room where the door is used daily and the room should stay bright.

Blackout

Best blackout curtains for a room that's too bright

Panels that block light, plus the mounting rule that decides whether any of them works.

Rods & Mounting

How to measure for curtains

Four steps in order: rod width, fullness, drop from the rod, header.

Renter-Friendly

How to hang curtains without drilling

Four methods ranked by what they hold — match the mount to weight and surface.

Compare

Best cellular shades

The best-insulating covering there is — and why the fit decides the result.