Outside Mounted Window Roller Shades

Outside mounted shades can make your windows appear larger.

1.Pro:  coverage.

Outside Mounts Window Roller Shades are for you , if you like coverage, privacy, and light control.

With outside mounts, the mounting hardware and shade are attached to the wall above the window frame and cover the entire frame when closed, eliminating that light gap between the edge of the shade and the window frame.

This works great for any kind of room darkening shade , but also helps enhance the light filtering effects of other materials.

2.Con: Hiding your window frame

Because the shade overlaps the outside of the frame, it hides your moulding when closed.

This is a funny one because it could turn into a benefit if, say, you have really distasteful moulding around your window that you actually want to hide.

3.Pro:  entire view

Outside mounts may hide your moulding sometimes, but when they’re open no part of your window will be obstructed, allowing you the full enjoyment of your view.

The bulkiness of your material isn’t a limiting factor here, either, as the treatment can extend as far into the room as necessary.

Just be sure to take your material into account when making measurements, to allow it enough room above the frame when the shades are raised.

4.Pro: Making room for stuff on your sill.

Anything you want to place on your sill would also be covered completely with the shade closed, limited only by the depth of your sill.

You still want to allow the shade to close smoothly over your stuff without making any unsightly bumps in the material and pushing the shade further out of flush with the wall.

This works great, however, for windows that are opened with handles or cranks, which occupy the space on the sill where an inside mounted shade would rest when closed.

5.Con: lack of containment

Outside mounts lose the tidy, contained look inside mounts excel at delivering.

The same principle that necessitates windows have frames to appear integrated into the house instead of just looking like a hole in the wall applies to their shades, especially when the shades are closed.

Roller shades again help mitigate this effect, by being so thin they appear less obtrusive and at odds with the wall.  

6.Pro: Trompe

Outside mounted shades can make your windows appear larger.

By default, when we think of window shades we think of putting them near their respective windows.

If, however, you mount your shades at the ceiling, the excess shade will make it look as though your window goes all the way to the ceiling too.

This is particularly effective if you were to leave the shade rolled up only to the top of the window frame, leaving the rest of the wall up to the valance and mounting hardware covered.

This technique works great for windows that are already tall and narrow and for windows in series, but it also can work to make your window look wider as well.

Ultimately, although aesthetic preference does play a role in choosing whether or not to mount your window inside or outside of the frame, we hope we’ve outlined the practical applications here as well, so this decision, at least, is as easy for you as possible. 

No matter which one you end up going with, we’re here to guide you through the installation process.