Nation's Blinds · Custom Window Treatments
Custom Solar Shades in Virginia, Maryland & Washington DC
Sunglasses for your windows: view-preserving screen fabrics that cut glare, heat, and UV fading while keeping the trees, the yard, the skyline — Hunter Douglas Designer Screen Shades and Graber solar shades, measured and installed free.
- Free in-home consultation, measuring & installation
- Up to 40% off + 18 months 0% APR financing
- Vienna, Herndon & Alexandria showrooms
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Openness levels held against your own light and view.
Solar & Screen Shades
Custom Solar Shades in Northern Virginia
The shade for windows whose whole point is the view: solar screen fabrics cut glare, solar heat, and the UV that fades floors and furniture — while you keep seeing out. The openness level is the dial, and choosing it against your actual light is what the free consultation is for.
Key facts about solar shades from Nation's Blinds:
- Nation's Blinds installs custom interior solar and screen shades across Northern Virginia, Washington DC, and Maryland as an authorized Hunter Douglas and Graber dealer.
- Two collections: Hunter Douglas Designer Screen Shades (designer screen fabrics, cassette hardware, Duolite™ dual configurations, PowerView® motorization) and Graber solar shades (including the Eco Performance line and dual screen-plus-blackout shades).
- Screen fabrics come in openness levels — tighter weaves block more glare and heat, opener weaves keep more view — and every order includes a free in-home consultation, free measuring, and professional installation.
Our Solar Collections: Designer Screen Shades & Graber
Two collections, one standard: custom-built to your window's exact measurements and installed by our own team. Tap any photo to browse each collection.
Designer Screen Shades
Screen fabrics with a designer's eye: woven textures and colors that read as fabric, not office film, in openness levels matched to each exposure. Clean cassette or open-roll hardware, Duolite™ dual configurations that add a blackout layer behind the screen, and PowerView® scenes across the whole glass wall.
- Designer screen fabrics, multiple openness levels
- Duolite™ screen-plus-blackout configurations
- Cassette or open-roll; PowerView® motorization
Graber Solar Shades
Whole-home solar value, with a conscience: Graber's Eco Performance screen fabrics deliver the glare-and-UV work at friendlier pricing, and dual shades pair a view-keeping screen with a blackout on one headrail — daylight office by day, movie room by night.
- Eco Performance screen fabric line
- Dual shades: screen + blackout on one headrail
- Cordless and motorized lift options
1%, 5%, or 10% openness? We'll hold each against your view before you choose.
Rated 4.9 Stars by Northern Virginia Homeowners
Homeowners across Northern Virginia, DC, and Maryland rate Nation's Blinds 4.9 stars on Google and 5.0 on Angi and Facebook — for honest guidance, precise measuring, and installations done right the first time.
The Openness Dial: View vs. Glare, Tuned Per Window
Every solar fabric has an openness number — how much of the weave is open air. Low numbers block more; high numbers show more. Choosing it per exposure is the craft.
The View Keeper
Trees, water, skyline — when the window's whole point is what's outside, screen fabric is the only shade that manages sun without stealing the scene.
The Fade Fighter
UV is what bleaches hardwood floors, rugs, art, and sofas — solar fabrics block the vast majority of it, which is the cheapest insurance those finishes will ever get.
Home Office Glare
A 3–5% screen kills the monitor wash-out without turning the room into a cave — the shade Zoom calls were waiting for.
West-Facing Walls
Tighter 1–3% weaves on the brutal exposures cut solar heat meaningfully — the AC works less and the room stays usable at 5 PM.
Honest About Night
Screen privacy reverses after dark — lights on inside, the view flips. That's a fabric fact, not a flaw, and the fix is the next card over.
The Dual-Shade Answer
A screen and a blackout on one headrail: view and glare control all day, full privacy and darkness at night. One window, both lives.
Kin to know about: for the outside of the same problem — porches, pergolas, heat stopped before the glass — see exterior solar shades; for insulation, cellular shades; and for the full fabric range beyond screens, roller shades. Many sun-heavy homes combine two.
Solar Shades for Northern Virginia Homes
This is the shade the region's glass asked for: Arlington and DC high-rises with skyline views worth protecting, Great Falls and McLean homes backing to trees, and the west-facing great rooms of Loudoun new builds that turn unusable every summer afternoon. The white-oak floors dominating DMV renovations make the UV case concrete — solar fabric is fade insurance for the biggest finish investment in the house.
Every project starts with a free in-home consultation where the openness decision gets made properly: fabrics held against your actual window, your actual view, your actual glare — then precise measuring and an exact quote. Or compare weaves at our Vienna, Herndon, and Alexandria showrooms first.
Solar Shades FAQ
What openness percentage should I choose?
The working ranges: 1–3% for brutal west and south exposures where heat and glare are the enemy; 3–5% for the everyday balance most rooms want; 10%+ where the view is everything and the sun is manageable. It's a see-it decision — we hold the actual weaves against your actual window before you commit.
Do solar shades give privacy at night?
Honest answer: no — screen privacy reverses after dark. In daylight you see out and neighbors see fabric; at night with interior lights on, the direction flips. For rooms that need evening privacy, the dual-shade configuration (screen plus blackout on one headrail) or a Duolite™ setup solves it completely.
Do solar shades really prevent furniture and floor fading?
They're the most effective interior treatment for it — screen fabrics block the large majority of UV, which is the primary driver of fading in hardwood, rugs, upholstery, and art. Rooms that get direct afternoon sun onto new white-oak floors are exactly where we install them most.
What's the difference between solar shades and regular roller shades?
Construction is the same — a solar shade is a roller shade whose fabric is a woven screen engineered for openness, glare, and UV performance. Regular roller fabrics prioritize looks and light-filtering or blackout levels; solar fabrics prioritize seeing through. Same hardware, same motorization, different job.
Can I see solar shades on my own window before ordering?
Yes — upload a photo to our free AI visualizer and see Designer Screen Shades or Graber solar shades rendered on your actual window in about 10 seconds. Then at your free consultation, the openness weaves get held against your real view — the one decision this category insists you make in person.
Keep the View, Lose the Glare — Up to 40% Off
Free in-home consultation with openness weaves held against your actual light, free precise measuring, and installation by our own team — across Northern Virginia, DC, and Maryland.
Our Showrooms
See Solar Shades in Person at Our Vienna, Herndon & Alexandria Showrooms
Openness is a see-it decision: hold 1%, 3%, 5%, and 10% weaves up to the same window and watch the view-versus-glare trade change. Or skip the trip and we'll bring the fabric decks to your own light.