Skylight shades cover your skylights in stylish and functional ways. Here's everything you need to know.
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How to Choose the Right Skylight Shades for Your Home
Updated on Jan. 21, 2025
Skylights are a fantastic way to bring natural light into a room. But they’re not very energy efficient and make it difficult to darken a room during the day. That’s where skylight shades come in.
Types of Skylight Shades
Skylight shades are typically custom-made to fit a skylight’s precise dimensions. They come in all kinds of materials with varying degrees of effectiveness.
Densely made room darkening or “blackout” shades will completely block sunlight from entering a room, even during the brightest times of the day. Light-filtering shades will let in more light but also insulate skylights, reducing the energy drain they can have on a room.
Skylight shades open and close manually or via a motor. Much like traditional shades, manual skylight shades can be opened and closed with cords and poles. Motorized skylight shades work by remote control or smartphone app. This feature is especially convenient if you open and close your shades multiple times a day.
How to Choose Skylight Shades
Choosing the right skylight shades for your home mostly depends on how you use the room(s) where you’re installing them.
If it’s a place for daytime naps or a home movie theater, choose a blackout shade to make it as dark as possible. If you’re less concerned with blocking light and want to increase the energy efficiency, go with light filtering shades. They’ll still block most light while providing key insulation in an area likely to be a significant thermal leak
Best Skylight Shades
Here are three of the best skylight shades on the market, including manual and motorized options.
Levelor Light Filtering Skylight Cellular Shades
- The honeycomb design insulates the window and the room.
- Operated using standard manual cord controls.
- The fabric’s light filtering capability blocks harmful UV rays.
Levelor Room Darkening Skylight Cellular Shades
- “Blackout” shades block all light; perfect for bedrooms or home theaters.
- Comes in multiple colors.
- Can be made with double cell honeycomb fabric that dampens sound and reduces noise.
Blindsgalore Motorized Skylight Shade
- The shades can be opened and closed with the touch of a button.
- The battery can be charged via solar power.
- Compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.
Why You Should Trust Us
Harrison Kral is an author at Family Handyman with experience in the home-building industry and construction, specializing in any and all DIY trends and projects. Given his years of hands-on DIY experience, he has built a wealth of information when advising on projects like skylight shade installation.
Alexandra Mantella, Content Updates Editor at Family Handyman, updated and contributed research to this piece. She has over five years of experience in product testing, research and commerce writing. Previously, she served as a commerce content update editor at Bob Vila.
FAQ
Are skylight shades worth it?
Skylight shades are definitely worth it. These shades give you full cover against any streaming sunlight. These also minimize the heat in the space, which is convenient in areas with hot, dry climates.
Can you put a shade on a skylight?
Skylight shades can be added to any current skylight. Simply measure the skylight’s surface area and find a shade that matches its size.
One option that we love that comes in a wide array of sizes is the Levelor Light Filtering Skylight Cellular Shades, which block UV rays and are built to accommodate skylights.
Can skylights be tinted?
Those who prefer to keep their space UV-protected and shades can try tinting their skylight. This is a film that can be directly applied to the surface of the skylight to block out the majority of UV rays and the sun’s heat. If you choose this method, we recommend the Kespen Window Film.
