Should blinds rest on the windowsill?

Should blinds rest on the windowsill? Yes, for your blinds to work to greatest effect and to achieve the right visual finish, window blinds should rest on the windowsill. The only exception to this is vertical blinds which require a small amount of clearance to prevent the louvres from dragging on the windowsill when operated.

This information holds true for blinds hung within the window recess; if they’re higher than the windowsill by anything more than a hair, they’ll let in light when you don’t necessarily want them to, compromise the blind’s insulating properties, and frankly, just look a bit weird.

In contrast, if your blind is inside of the window recess and it is long enough/unrolled far enough to sit in a concertina of excess length on said windowsill, this too is apt to look like you had a few drinks before measuring up, albeit you can mitigate your mistake by like, stopping unrolling the blind when it hits windowsill level!

How far should blinds be from the windowsill if they’re hung outside of the recess though? Should they fall level with the sill, or be a shade longer? This question does have a definitive, if somewhat less obvious answer.

In this blog post, I’ll cover what you need to know to decide whether to get blinds to hang inside of the window recess or over it, and from there, how far should blinds be from the windowsill to match this.

How far should blinds be from the windowsill? This wholly depends on whether they’re inside or outside of the recess

One of the fun (annoying) things about buying window blinds is that all sorts of weird and wonderful choices are apt to crop up along the way, which present you with options or questions that you didn’t know were even a factor until you needed to know them and don’t.

Knowing what is the “proper” length for blinds is one of them, and this totally relies on whether or not your blinds will hang inside or outside of the window recess, and this in turn relies on you having all of the information you need to choose between inside or outside of the recess as an option in the first instance.

Fortunately, when you’ve made your choice on inside versus outside recess hanging, the question of should blinds rest on the windowsill or not answers itself:

Yes for blinds hung inside of the recess, and no, it should extend around 10cm lower for blinds hung over or outside of the recess.

Generally, we recommend sizing up your blind to have a margin of 10cm around all four sides when hanging it over or outside of the recess, in order to reduce the issue of light (and heat) leakage around the borders of the blind.

Choosing between inside or outside of the recess determines what is the proper length for blinds to fit them

Whether you fit your blinds inside or outside of the recess comes down in large part to the appearance you want to achieve, but there is more to it too; functional factors or preferences in what you want your blind to do all contribute to the decision as well.

If you choose blackout blinds, whether you hang them inside or outside of the recess helps to determine how much light leakage they’re apt to have around the sides; and if you have inward-opening windows, blinds inside of the recess will generally not be an option at all.

These are the main functional factors that might rule one option out for you entirely, but there are other points to note as well, if you care to go down this rabbit hole in more detail… This prior blog post of mine covers literally every potential scenario and consideration to bear in mind when you’re deciding if your blinds should be hung inside of the window recess, or over it.

Should blinds rest on the windowsill if they’re hung inside of the recess?

Yes, otherwise they’re going to look a bit odd. If you outgrew your school trousers faster than your mum could afford to replace them as a kid and still have the occasional screaming flashback of being mocked by your peers for your ankle bashers, well, this is the lifetime of mockery you’re setting your windows up for if your blinds don’t reach the windowsill.

Are blinds supposed to touch the windowsill if they’re hung over the recess?

No, in this case they ideally need to be longer; we recommend 10cm longer, or a little more. This is to greatly reduce or entirely prevent light leakage under the bottom of the blind when it is closed, and also because again, if it is any shorter, the finished effect is apt to look a bit “we got this one cheap as it was the end of the roll of fabric, can you tell?” As well.

What is the proper length for blinds?

In case anyone missed it the first five times then, what is the proper length for blinds?

• The exact distance from headrail to windowsill if your blinds hang inside of the window recess. The only exception is vertical blinds, they require a small clearance for the louvres to open, close and rotate freely without dragging on the windowsill.
• If there are no obstructions, 10cm or so longer than the distance between headrail and windowsill if your blinds hang over the window recess.

That is about as definitive an answer to anything as you’re ever likely to get!