Every shade on this page is sold as a blackout. One of them, by its own maker’s figure, stops only about 60 to 65 percent of the light. That gap between the word and the number is the whole problem with buying a dark room off a listing. A blackout rating describes a piece of cloth. The dark you actually get is decided somewhere the rating never mentions: at the bracket, at the side gap, at the valance you did or did not tick on the order form. Below are four blackout blinds and shades, one from Half Price Drapes, two from Two Pages, and one from Neutral Curtains, each read against the brand’s own published specification.
Four shades sold as blackout, and one of them blocks about 60 percent
Line the four titles up and the word blackout is on all of them in some form. Two Pages rates its Alvin Boutique roller at a flat “Blackout Rate: 100%” and describes its Aura cellular as a fabric that “completely blocks light.” Neutral offers its Tavi roller in a blackout version. Half Price Drapes goes furthest and puts the word in the product name itself: the Light Ochre Blackout Tie-Up.
Then read Half Price Drapes’ own page. It states that the privacy lining blocks about 60 to 65 percent of the incoming light, which is the same sentence, word for word, that sits on its Millstone tie-up, the one named Room Darkening, at the same price, the same size, and the same construction. The cloth did not change between the two listings. Only the title did.
So one of the four shades wearing the word blackout is, on the maker’s own number, a room-darkening shade. That does not make it a bad shade. It makes the word on the listing the least reliable line on it, and it sets the rule for everything below: read a shade by how it meets the window, not by the adjective in its name.
In the room
Listed at $10.50. price of the single ready-made size, 46W x 63L. Sold per shade, nothing to configure.
Catalogue photo from Half Price Drapes, retrieved 2026-09-02.
What they share: fitted to a window, and leaking at the edges
Underneath the naming, the four are built to the same task: each is fitted to one window. Three are cut to your measurements. You enter a width and a drop, and Two Pages builds the Alvin or the Aura to it, or Neutral cuts the Tavi to it. The Half Price Drapes tie-up is the exception, sold in a single ready-made size, 46 inches wide by 63 long, which either suits your window or does not.
Made to measure or ready-made, all of them mount the same two ways, and both ways leave a gap. Inside the recess, a shade has to be cut narrower than the opening so it can travel: Two Pages takes three-eighths of an inch off the Alvin, Neutral three-eighths off the Tavi, and Two Pages a quarter-inch off the Aura. That deduction is not a rounding detail. It is the width of the daylight line you get down each side, and in a dark room that thin bright edge is the first thing the eye finds at six in the morning.
The other way out is to mount outside the recess and overlap the frame. Two Pages says how much for the Alvin: order it 2 to 4 inches wider than the frame on each side. That overlap is the only thing on any of these listings that closes the side gap, and it is a mounting choice, not a fabric one.
Between the window you measure and the size that gets made
| Listing | Taken off the width | Variance allowed after that |
|---|---|---|
| Two PagesAlvin Boutique Blackout Cordless Roller Shades | 3/8 inYou take it off yourself | not published |
| Neutral CurtainsTavi Roller Shades | 3/8 inThe factory takes it off | 3/8 in on the finished size |
| Two PagesAura Blackout Cellular Window Shades Cordless | 1/4 inYou take it off yourself | not published |
3 of these 3 listings publish a width deduction, and 1 publish a variance on the finished size. The two are separate numbers and they run in the same direction. Nothing here is averaged, totalled or borrowed from a neighbouring listing.
Source: official product pages from Half Price Drapes, Neutral Curtains, Two Pages, checked 2026-08-22. Fold & Light does not measure products; any percentage is the one that brand publishes.
Rule of thumb
2–4 in overlap per side
Inside or outside the reveal
Inside keeps the frame visible and leaks light at the sides. Outside covers the frame, needs two to four inches of overlap per side, and reads larger.
This is a proportion decision disguised as a fitting decision. An inside mount keeps a handsome frame on show and accepts a strip of daylight down each edge. An outside mount gives a clean rectangle that makes a small or awkward window look bigger, and it is the only one of the two that gets close to a dark room.
Geometry and long-standing trade practice, not a brand claim. Check it with a tape measure, not with us.
The number, and which of them actually publishes one
Ask a simpler question than which is darkest: which of them even gives you a number. Only two do, and they point opposite ways. Half Price Drapes prints about 60 to 65 percent on the shade it calls blackout. Two Pages prints a flat 100 percent on the Alvin roller. The Aura, also from Two Pages and also sold as blackout, carries no percentage at all, only the phrase that its fabric “completely blocks light.” Neutral gives the Tavi no figure either, and instead tells you where the dark comes from, which we come to below.
Now set that flat 100 percent beside the rest of the Alvin listing. It carries no fabric weight and no minimum mounting depth. The boldest opacity number in the group sits on the listing with the least construction data behind it, from a merchant that prints no percentage at all on its own cellular blackout. A figure you cannot trace to a method is a claim, not a measurement, and it reads better as one.
That reordering matters at the moment of choosing. Sorted by the word blackout, the four look equal. Sorted by the one traceable number on the table, the 60 to 65 percent, the shade that looks weakest on paper turns out to be the only one honest about a figure at all, and it is the one whose title oversells it hardest.
What each brand calls it
Half Price Drapes
- Light Ochre Solid Cotton Blackout Tie-Up Window Shade
calls it: shade
100% Cotton (solid cotton twill), off-white lining · weight not published · price of the single ready-made size, 46W x 63L. Sold per shade, nothing to configure.
Two Pages
- Alvin Boutique Blackout Cordless Roller Shades
calls it: shade
100% Polyester · weight not published · starting price, identical on all 10 colourways, no compare_at. Size entered in the configurator. - Aura Blackout Cellular Window Shades Cordless
calls it: shade
100% Polyester · 225 gsm · listed starting price (7 colourways, all at 68.99, no compare_at). Size entered in the configurator.
Neutral Curtains
- Tavi Roller Shades
calls it: shade
100% Polyester · weight not published · listed starting price (11 colourways, all at 42.99, no compare_at). Made to measure: width and height are chosen in the page's size selectors, so this figure is a floor.
Source: official product pages from Half Price Drapes, Neutral Curtains, Two Pages, checked 2026-08-22. Fold & Light does not measure products; any percentage is the one that brand publishes.
In the room
Listed at $49.89. starting price, identical on all 10 colourways, no compare_at. Size entered in the configurator.
Catalogue photo from Two Pages, retrieved 2026-09-02.
The mechanism is what makes the dark, night after night
A blackout you cannot close on command is not really a blackout, and this is where the four separate hardest. Three of them move. The Alvin and the Tavi are rollers: the fabric winds onto a tube at the top and comes straight down over the glass, the Alvin cordless, the Tavi on a cord. The Aura is a cellular shade, rows of honeycomb cells that collapse into a stack under an aluminium headrail and drop back down flat, cordless.
In the room
Listed at $68.99. listed starting price (7 colourways, all at 68.99, no compare_at). Size entered in the configurator.
Catalogue photo from Two Pages, retrieved 2026-09-02.
The Half Price Drapes tie-up does not move in that sense at all. It has no lift mechanism. A four-inch pocket at the top slides onto a rod, and two 70-inch fabric ties gather the shade up by hand. Half Price Drapes describes it plainly as a stationary shade, not built to be raised and lowered daily the way a roller or a roman is. In practice you set it once and leave it, which means its blackout is really a permanently half-drawn dressing, and even fully down it is the 60 to 65 percent shade.
So the mechanism decides whether you own the dark or only approximate it. A roller or a cellular seals flat to the window and comes down every night with one pull, and that repeatable full close is what actually darkens a bedroom. A shade you tie up by hand and rarely lower has ruled itself out of that job before fabric even enters the conversation. For a room you black out every night, the tie-up is the wrong tool whatever its label says.
What moves, family by family
Fabric that rolls
- Two Pages Alvin Boutique Blackout Cordless Roller Shades
rolls onto a tube; cordless; standard roll (curved cassette) or reverse roll (square cassette)
100% Polyester · no minimum depth published · the factory takes 3/8 in off the width you order - Neutral Curtains Tavi Roller Shades
rolls onto a tube, corded lift
100% Polyester · 3 5/8 in minimum inside-mount depth · the factory takes 3/8 in off the width you order
Cells that collapse
- Two Pages Aura Blackout Cellular Window Shades Cordless
honeycomb cells that collapse into a stack under an aluminium-alloy headrail; cordless lift
100% Polyester · 2 in minimum inside-mount depth · the factory takes 1/4 in off the width you order
Nothing at all
- Half Price Drapes Light Ochre Solid Cotton Blackout Tie-Up Window Shade
no lift mechanism: a 4 in pole pocket slides onto a rod, two 70 in fabric ties gather the shade by hand
100% Cotton (solid cotton twill), off-white lining
Source: official product pages from Half Price Drapes, Neutral Curtains, Two Pages, checked 2026-08-22. Fold & Light does not measure products; any percentage is the one that brand publishes.
Rule of thumb
7–10 in of stack
The window a raised shade still covers
Allow seven to ten inches of stacked fabric at the top, and mount above the frame to get it back.
A roman or woven shade folds upward into a band that does not disappear. Inside the reveal, that band sits on your glass all day. Mounted above the frame it sits on the wall instead, and the window keeps its full height when the shade is up.
Geometry and long-standing trade practice, not a brand claim. Check it with a tape measure, not with us.
Check it at the source
Two Pages · Alvin Boutique Blackout Cordless Roller Shades
Listed from $49.89
What that covers: starting price, identical on all 10 colourways, no compare_at. Size entered in the configurator.
Build your size at Two PagesAffiliate link, disclosed: Fold & Light may earn on it, never as a surcharge to you, and it changes nothing about what Two Pages asks. The figure is dated 2026-08-22 and only the merchant page is current. That picture belongs to Two Pages and was taken from the catalogue on 2026-09-02.
Check it at the source
Two Pages · Aura Blackout Cellular Window Shades Cordless
Listed from $68.99
What that covers: listed starting price (7 colourways, all at 68.99, no compare_at). Size entered in the configurator.
Build your size at Two PagesAffiliate link, disclosed: Fold & Light may earn on it, never as a surcharge to you, and it changes nothing about what Two Pages asks. The figure is dated 2026-08-22 and only the merchant page is current. That picture belongs to Two Pages and was taken from the catalogue on 2026-09-02.
The valance and the mount are where you buy the dark
Only one of the four says out loud where the dark comes from, and it is the one with no percentage. On the Tavi listing, Neutral writes that for 100 percent blackout you have to select the front valance, because the back valance can let light in from the sides, since the headrail sits around two inches deep. Read that again: the difference between a dark room and a leaky one is a finishing piece you tick on the order form, not a grade of cloth. The blackout is bought at checkout, in the valance and the mount, before the fabric ever matters.
Mounting depth is part of the same decision, and here the listings are uneven. The Aura needs a recess just 2 inches deep for an inside mount, 2 1/4 to sit flush, shallow enough for most window frames. Neutral lists the Tavi at 3 5/8 inches, though its own FAQ lower down answers 2 inches to a question about roman shades, a mismatch worth taking to the merchant rather than guessing around. The Alvin roller gives no inside-mount depth at all, so that figure has to come from Two Pages before you commit to an inside fit.
Minimum window depth for an inside mount
Neutral Curtains
3 5/8 in
Tavi Roller Shades
Two Pages
2 in
Aura Blackout Cellular Window Shades Cordless
Measure the reveal before choosing a fabric. A shallow frame rules options out faster than a budget does.
Source: official product pages from Half Price Drapes, Neutral Curtains, Two Pages, checked 2026-08-22. Fold & Light does not measure products; any percentage is the one that brand publishes.
The through-line is that a dark room is a mounting job. Inside the recess you keep the frame on show and accept a lit edge. Outside it, overlapping the frame by a couple of inches per side, you get the clean dark rectangle. The fabric rating rides on top of that decision. It does not replace it.
Easy to get wrong
| The habit | What it costs | Instead |
|---|---|---|
| Fixing the rod at the top of the frame The rod goes on the frame, or just above it, because that is where the window is. | The window sits squat under a band of bare wall, and the room loses the height it had. | Four to six inches above the frame at least, or straight to the ceiling. It costs nothing and it is the largest free change available to a room. |
Common failure modes and their fix. No product data on this card.
Check it at the source
Neutral Curtains · Tavi Roller Shades
Listed from $42.99
What that covers: listed starting price (11 colourways, all at 42.99, no compare_at). Made to measure: width and height are chosen in the page's size selectors, so this figure is a floor.
Build your size at Neutral CurtainsAffiliate link, disclosed: Fold & Light may earn on it, never as a surcharge to you, and it changes nothing about what Neutral Curtains asks. The figure is dated 2026-08-22 and only the merchant page is current. That picture belongs to Neutral Curtains and was taken from the catalogue on 2026-09-02.
What each price actually buys
The prices do not compare, and it is worth being exact about why. Three of the four are starting figures for a made-to-measure shade: 49.89 for the Alvin, 68.99 for the Aura, 42.99 for the Tavi, each a floor that rises the moment you enter your window’s size. The Half Price Drapes tie-up is the only finished number, 10.50, but it buys one fixed size, 46 by 63 inches, in a stationary shade you gather by hand.
Half Price Drapes shows that 10.50 struck through from 34.99 with a 70 percent off badge. That badge sits on the listing permanently, so it is merchandising, not a sale, and it is not a saving to plan around. What the low headline really signals is the opposite of a bargain: the cheapest shade here is also the least blackout, at 60 to 65 percent, and the least adjustable, at one size that does not move. Ranked by price, the four sort almost exactly by how much of the fitting and the dark they hand back to you. The configurable ones cost more because they are the ones you can actually mount for a dark room.
What each price actually covers
| Brand | Listed | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Half Price Drapes Light Ochre Solid Cotton Blackout Tie-Up Window Shade | $10.50 | price of the single ready-made size, 46W x 63L. Sold per shade, nothing to configure. |
| Two Pages Alvin Boutique Blackout Cordless Roller Shades | $49.89 | starting price, identical on all 10 colourways, no compare_at. Size entered in the configurator. |
| Two Pages Aura Blackout Cellular Window Shades Cordless | $68.99 | listed starting price (7 colourways, all at 68.99, no compare_at). Size entered in the configurator. |
| Neutral Curtains Tavi Roller Shades | $42.99 | listed starting price (11 colourways, all at 42.99, no compare_at). Made to measure: width and height are chosen in the page's size selectors, so this figure is a floor. |
Not like-for-like. These figures rest on different bases, so they cannot be ranked against each other. Read what each price covers before comparing.
Source: official product pages from Half Price Drapes, Neutral Curtains, Two Pages, checked 2026-08-22. Fold & Light does not measure products; any percentage is the one that brand publishes.
Which one to buy, by the dark you need
None of this points to a single winner, because the right shade depends on how dark you need the room and how you are able to mount it. Three cases cover most people.
If you want a bedroom as dark as these get, and you can mount outside the recess, choose a configurable shade and overlap the frame. The Alvin roller seals flat and comes down cordless; the Tavi does the same on a cord and, with its front valance selected, is the one that names the side-gap fix outright. Between the rollers and the Aura cellular, the cellular adds a honeycomb layer that traps a pocket of air, which Two Pages describes as insulating, so it is the pick where a cold window matters as much as a dark one.
If you rent, or cannot mount deep or outside the frame, the Aura is the pragmatic choice: it needs only a 2-inch recess for an inside fit, and you trade a thin lit edge for a shade that still closes flat every night.
What a room asks for, and what the listings answer
| Someone sleeps hereNeeds the listing to publish: How dark the fabric actually goes | 4 of 4 · Half Price Drapes, Neutral Curtains, Two Pages |
| A child can reach the windowNeeds the listing to publish: What lifts it, and whether a cord hangs | 4 of 4 · Half Price Drapes, Neutral Curtains, Two Pages |
| The window sits in a shallow revealNeeds the listing to publish: Minimum depth for an inside mount | 2 of 4 · Neutral Curtains, Two Pages1 listing carries no such field at all |
| The opening is a fixed sizeNeeds the listing to publish: The smallest and largest size accepted | 2 of 4 · Half Price Drapes, Neutral Curtains |
| The room gets steam, splashes or cooking greaseNeeds the listing to publish: Fabric care, washing, moisture behaviour | 1 of 4 · Two Pages3 listings carry no such field at all |
| A cord must not hang within a child's reachNeeds the listing to publish: A named child-safety standard the product meets | 0 of 4 · not a field on any listing we checked |
Counted across the 4 listings on this page. “Published by none” means the field was looked for on the product page and was not there. “Not a field on any listing we checked” is a weaker statement: it means we hold nothing on it either way, and it is not a claim that the brand publishes nothing anywhere.
Source: official product pages from Half Price Drapes, Neutral Curtains, Two Pages, checked 2026-08-22. Fold & Light does not measure products; any percentage is the one that brand publishes.
If what you actually want is a soft, room-darkening look on a window you rarely close, the tie-up is a real answer, as long as you buy it for what it is: a stationary 60 to 65 percent shade, not a blackout. The mistake there is in the name, not in the shade.
The rule that carries across all three: you are not buying the biggest opacity number. You are buying the fit your window and your routine allow, and then the fabric.
Questions people ask before ordering
Do blackout blinds actually block 100% of the light? The fabric can be rated blackout: Two Pages lists “Blackout Rate: 100%” on the Alvin. But light enters around an inside-mounted shade, not through it. Neutral’s Tavi says true blackout needs the front valance. The rating is the cloth, not the room.
Is a “blackout” shade the same as a “room darkening” one? Not necessarily. The Light Ochre Blackout Tie-Up publishes the same 60 to 65 percent figure, word for word, as its Room Darkening twin, at the same price and size. Read the number, not the title.
Which mount gives the darkest room? An outside mount overlapping the frame by 2 to 4 inches per side, the range Two Pages gives for the Alvin. An inside mount leaves a daylight line down each edge, the width of the published deduction, a quarter-inch to three-eighths here.
Are these corded or cordless? The Alvin and Aura are cordless; this Tavi is corded. The tie-up has no lift at all: it is gathered by hand on a rod, and the brand calls it stationary rather than raised daily.
Can I return a made-to-measure blackout shade if it is too bright? Three of the four are made to your window. None of these brands publishes a return policy we could verify, and we are not assuming one. Measure first, and where you can, order one shade before several.