The 8 Best Blackout Shades of 2021

Best Overall: Bali Blackout Cellular Shade

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The Bali Blackout Cellular Shades are versatile and affordable, making them an unbeatable choice for your bedroom, media room, and more. No matter your needs, these shades can be customized to match your windows, with options ranging from 10 to 144 inches wide. You can also choose between single- and double-cell blackout fabrics in a rainbow of colors to suit any decor. 

These blackout shades come with an aluminum head rail and bottom rail, and they have a cord lock and stop tassel. You can also select from a number of additional features, including top-down/bottom-up design (which allows you to lower the top of the shades and/or raise the bottoms) and AutoView motorization. 

Best Budget: Redi Shade Blackout Paper Window Shade

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For blackout shades on a budget, you’ll want to consider the Redi Shade Blackout Paper Window Shades. These blackout shades are 48 x 72 inches, and they come in a pack of six, allowing you to outfit several windows for a low price. 

These paper window shades block 99 percent of light, and if they’re too wide, you can cut them down to fit your windows. They have a cordless design, which makes them safer to use around children, but you’ll need to use the included clips to raise and lower them. There are no tools required to install these blackout shades—you simply peel off the liner and use the pre-applied adhesive to stick them into your window bay. 

Despite their low price, these shades work amazingly to block out light. They’re a great solution for renters or anyone who wants an affordable window covering that installs without any hardware.

Best Splurge: Bali Custom Cordless Blackout Roller Shade

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If you want high-end window coverings that you can use for years to come, the Bali Custom Cordless Blackout Roller Shades are worth the splurge. These shades come in dozens of sizes, ranging from 20 to 50 inches wide, and you can also choose from three lengths and three simple colors. 

These roller shades are made from light-blocking polyester fabric for maximum light control and complete privacy, and they raise and lower evenly via a cordless lift system. The blackout fabric has a neutral street-side appearance to keep your house looking chic, and the shades are covered by a limited lifetime warranty—always a plus when you’re splurging on something.

Best for Nursery: Home Decorators Collection Cordless Blackout Cellular Shade

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For your baby’s nursery or a child’s bedroom, the Home Decorators Collection Cordless Blackout Cellular Shades are a safe and effective option. These shades come in a huge range of sizes to fit any window, and they’re available in more than 20 colors, allowing you to perfectly match the room's decor.

These blackout shades are made from spun-lace polyester that’s lined with metallic backing for improved insulation, and they have a neutral white street-side fabric to give your home a uniform appearance from the outside. These shades are great for children's rooms because they don’t have any potentially dangerous cords, and you can also choose to get a top-down/bottom-up design for an added fee.

Best Roman-Style: Symple Stuff Room Darkening Cordless Lift Blackout Roman Shades

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Unlike most blackout shades, this Roman-style option is made from soft fabric that loops up under itself when the window covering is raised. If you like this particular style of shades, the Symple Stuff Room Darkening Blackout Roman Shades will help to keep your home dark so you can get a better night’s sleep. These shades come in three different colors, and there are 25 different sizes, ranging from 22 to 46.5 inches wide. 

These blackout shades are made from a polyester fabric, and the cordless design is easy to operate—just pull the bottom rail to lift or lower the blinds, similar to how you’d operate a roller shade. These Roman shades come with all the hardware needed for easy DIY installation.

Best Roller Shades: Chicology Snap-N’-Glide Cordless Roller Shades

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Roller shades are one of the most common styles of shades, and the Chicology Snap-N’-Glide Cordless Roller Shades are a reasonably priced blackout option for any room in your home. These roller shades are 72 inches long, and they come in a variety of widths, from as narrow as 21 inches all the way up to 72 inches. 

They’re made from a white polyester fabric that will significantly darken your room, and they’re also designed to leave the thinnest possible gap around the edges of your window to prevent pesky slivers of light.

Best Motorized: IKEA FYRTUR Blackout Roller Blind

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With the FYRTUR Blackout Roller Blinds in your bedroom, you’ll never have to worry about getting out of bed because you forgot to draw the blinds. These window coverings come with a convenient remote control that lets you adjust them from across the room, and their polyester fabric will block out light to keep your space as dark as possible. 

These blinds are 30 inches wide and 76.75 inches long, and the fabric is a neutral gray color. For the remote functions to work, the included signal repeater has to be plugged into an outlet within 32 feet of the window. While most say the wireless functions work just fine, it can be a bit tricky to pair the window coverings with other smart home systems.