Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

We bought these shades for our bedroom, mainly for their room darkening value. We installed them last week and have been very happy with the results. The shades aren't as heavy as the ones we replaced, so we weren't sure how well they'd keep the light out. One of our bedroom windows gets the Eastern rising sun each morning, but you'd never know that - almost no light gets past these shades. A minimal amount of light gets around the side edges of the shade, but there's not a hint of light coming through the shade itself. They also do a good job ensuring privacy from the outside (no silhouettes at night). Our DIY abilities are practically non-existent, so we were happy to see that the only tool required was a tape measure. (NOTE: the brackets that the shades fit into are not included, but they fit into our existing brackets perfectly.) The pictorial installation directions could be more complete, but we figured them out. The shades have a metal bar at their core, a portion of which slides inside itself to fit your window. Similarly, part of the vinyl shade isn't attached to the metal bar and has slits cut into it at half-inch intervals. Once you've measured, unroll the shade and transfer your measurement to the vinyl end of the shade with the slits to get the right width. Simply tear the slit down from top to bottom right through the hem at the bottom (remove the plastic grab bar first). Slide the bar into the other side until you reach the right width. Remove the protective tape, tear it off and firmly press the loose end of the vinyl shade along the exposed adhesive. Re-roll the shade. Insert the shade into the brackets, raise & lower it a few times to set the tension, then pull it down to your desired length. Re-insert the plastic grab bar into the bottom hem and trim it with sharp pair of scissors to size. Each shade took about 10-15 minutes to install. If we need to replace any other shades in our home, we'll do it with these shades.