Made-to-measure Day and Night Blinds or Zebra Blinds
Day and night blinds are also known as zebra blinds (pairs well with tiger bread…) and in some circles, vision blinds, mirage blinds, duo roller blinds, or “night and day” blinds.
Day and night window blinds are made of a single loop of sliding fabric in alternating sheer and solid horizontal stripes, hence the colloquial name of “zebra blinds.” Their appearance isn’t just a patterning choice or design gimmick, however; it allows you to adjust the alignment of the stripes to get just the effect you want.
This can take the form of a solid block of fabric for total privacy, fully open to allow you to enjoy the view and maximise the light, or partially aligned to control light and privacy in just the way you want.
Zebra blinds open the window to a whole new world of possibilities for any room, in terms of how you manage privacy, and provide both light and shade.
We like to think that our own UK-made-to-measure day and night blinds have that little something extra, that je ne sais quoi if you will, which can only be achieved by combining expert craftsmanship with the highest quality materials.
What are the benefits of day and night blinds?
We’ve collated some day and night blinds reviews from our very first buyers to see what they think, and the main benefits they’ve shared with us include:
- They allow you to protect your privacy while still letting you enjoy the view out through the window, and without blocking the natural light.
- They reduce glare and take the edge off sunlight that would otherwise be bright enough to make you squint or be unable to see your TV/PC screen.
- The two layers of fabric involved make them thermally efficient, helping to insulate your windows, block draughts, and keep your room warmer in winter and cooler in summer.
- They are available in a huge range of colour options and finishes, including a range of materials and shades for the header cassette and side chain controls too.
- They are contemporary, stylish, and elegant, and can be quite the icebreaker or conversation starter as day and night blinds in the UK are reasonably uncommon so far.
- They have a precision sidewinder control to allow you to adjust the alignment of the zebra stripes just how you want them, and this is low-to-no maintenance (just needing the occasional dusting as a rule) and made to last.
- They are easy to install yourself without any specialist tools or know-how; ultimately, they’re no more challenging than roller blinds in this respect.
- As is the case with all of our blinds, UK child safety standards are met and exceeded in our bespoke-made zebra blinds, for your complete peace of mind.
Frequently Asked Questions
Let’s start with the basics: what are day and night blinds? This is most people’s first question, as day/night blinds are relatively new to the UK. They work like a roller blind in that they raise and lower with a side chain control and roll up and down around an aluminium tube.
However, unlike a roller blind, they are made of a single fabric loop that passes around both the front and back of the tube; and the fabric of a day and night blind is always horizontally striped.
A day and night blind’s stripes aren’t just a design element, but integral to what they do. The stripes are made of an alternating solid or opaque line, then a sheer or almost fully transparent line, similar to a voile or net curtain. As you roll the blind up and down, how the front and back stripes align controls the light coming in, how well passers by can see in, and how well you in your turn can see out.
Align the solid colour stripes and the day and night blind blocks external light – and eyes – fully. Alternate the solid and sheer stripes in matched pairs, and you get diffused but clear sunlight while making it harder for people outside to see inside; but leaving you with a virtually perfect view through the window yourself via the sheer stripes.
Day and night or zebra blinds are as simple and versatile as a roller blind, but also offer all of the privacy and light control options of a Venetian blind.
They are operated just like a regular roller blind. They have a control chain running in a loop at one side of the blind, and you tug on either the front or back of it to make the blind move up or down.
As you do this, the alternating horizontal strips of sheer and opaque fabric criss-cross past each other. If you’re adjusting your blinds because the sun is streaming in, this can create quite a funky/funny lighting effect for the duration, and/or can make your kids look like the stars of an old flickering silent movie, only you know, probably not silent.
That depends on how you align the stripes, and the fabrics you choose for your blind.
If you line up your day and night blind stripes to provide a clear view out via the transparent areas, people from outside will be able to see in at night until you adjust the blind to prevent this.
Assuming that you choose blinds with fully opaque stripes in the coloured areas and that you fully close your blind to make a solid block of fabric rather than alternating solid and sheer stripes, you cannot see through day and night blinds from outside at night at all.
If you buy day and night blinds that have semi-opaque coloured areas rather than fully opaque ones, these are slightly more transparent at night when you have the lights on even when aligned in a solid block.
Think of the sort of effect you’d get through frosted bathroom window glass. People outside who were very close would be able to see movement, broad colour groups, and blurred outlines, but nothing distinctive; nothing to embarrass you or get you arrested, anyway.
Yes, blackout day and night blinds are entirely possible to make; the opaque stripes are made in blackout fabric just like that of a blackout roller blind, and to achieve the blackout effect, you just close the blind and align the opaque stripes to create a solid block of colour.
We generally recommend choosing day and night blackout blinds for bedrooms. (And remember to close them fully at night!)
If you’ve skipped right to the “ok but how much are day and night blinds? Question, here’s the skinny.
Are day and night blinds expensive? Well, they’re generally more costly than their nearest relation on the blinds family tree, common or garden roller blinds. Day and night blinds use twice as much fabric that is itself more costly to produce, as the stripes are not just a design/colour choice, but comprised of two entirely different fabrics.
They are also pretty innovative, have an undeniably contemporary style to them, and do more than roller blinds in terms of the flexibility they offer to control privacy and sunlight without taking the “all or nothing” approach that rollers do.
Roller blinds are like-for-like the lowest cost blind type of all anyway, so every other style of window blind is more expensive; not just day and night blinds!
How much do day and night blinds cost? Our open cassette day and night blinds start from £21.99, made to measure just for you. “Cheap” day and night blinds is something of a relative term; we like to think that ours are keenly priced, but they certainly don’t look cheap, nor compromise on quality.
We specialise in made-to-measure day and night blinds, manufactured in-house here in the UK to your exact specifications. This negates the need for you to have to try and trim them down or cut them to size at home, which we don’t recommend due to the challenges of getting this right for zebra blinds specifically.
Browse our complete range of day and night blinds for sale in the UK, all made-to-measure in the UK to your exact specifications.
Delivery & Returns
UK mainland delivery is free on orders over £179. Otherwise, it is just £7.95 per order, regardless of how many blinds you buy.
For information on our hassle-free returns policy, please see our Returns Page.
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