Hear from Our Customers
Your AC runs less. That’s the short version.
Roller shades designed for Texas homes can block up to 95% of UV rays and drop surface temperatures by around 15 degrees. That means your furniture stops fading, your energy bills drop by 20-30%, and you’re not constantly adjusting the thermostat to fight the afternoon sun. Blackout roller shades give you complete darkness when you need it. Light-filtering options let in a soft glow without the glare.
If you’ve got floor-to-ceiling windows or hard-to-reach spots, motorized roller shades handle it without you climbing on furniture twice a day. One tap on your phone, and every shade adjusts. Voice control works too if that’s your setup.
The difference isn’t just comfort. It’s coming home to a house that stays cool without cranking the AC to 68. It’s not replacing your couch in five years because the sun destroyed it. It’s having actual control over how your space feels.
A Plus Shutters & Shades has spent ten years in construction and window treatments across the Austin area, including Garrison Park. We’re not a franchise following a script. We know what works in Texas homes because we’ve installed thousands of roller blinds for windows in neighborhoods just like yours.
Most of our clients are homeowners dealing with the same thing you are: brutal afternoon sun, rising energy costs, and windows that need better coverage. We measure every window ourselves, show you samples in your actual lighting, and install everything so it works right the first time.
We use Texas-made materials when possible and don’t subcontract installs to random crews. The people who measure are often the same ones installing. That matters when you’re trusting someone in your home.
We start with a free consultation at your place in Garrison Park. You tell us what’s driving you crazy about your current setup—heat, privacy, glare, whatever it is. We measure your windows, talk through fabric options, and show you samples so you can see how blackout blinds for windows look in your actual space versus a showroom.
Once you pick your style and fabric, we order everything custom. No stock sizes that almost fit. If you want motorized roller shades, we walk through how the controls work and whether you want app control, remote, or voice integration with your smart home setup.
Installation day, we show up on time with everything we need. We mount the roller shade blinds, test the operation, make sure blackout options actually block light at the edges, and clean up completely. If it’s motorized, we program it and show you how to use it before we leave.
The whole process takes a few weeks from consultation to install. Most of that is fabrication time. The actual installation is usually done in a few hours depending on how many windows we’re covering.
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Every roller blind window treatment we install is built to your exact measurements. That includes inside mount or outside mount depending on your window frame and what look you want. Fabric choices range from sheer and light-filtering to complete blackout—the kind that makes your bedroom dark enough for actual sleep even with Garrison Park’s intense morning sun.
Motorized options come with PowerView technology if you want automation. Set schedules so your dark out blinds open with sunrise and close when the afternoon heat hits your west-facing windows. Control individual shades or group them by room. Battery-powered or hardwired, depending on your setup and whether you want to avoid changing batteries.
For energy efficiency, we typically recommend solar shades on south and west exposures where heat gain is worst. These can cut cooling costs significantly—some clients see 20-30% drops in summer energy bills. The Department of Energy backs this up: proper window treatments reduce heat gain by up to 77%.
Blackout window blinds work best in bedrooms, media rooms, or anywhere you need total light control. Roller shades with light-filtering fabrics fit living areas where you want brightness without glare. We’ll walk through what makes sense for each room based on how you actually use the space.
Motorized systems add roughly $150-$400 per shade depending on the size and whether you choose battery or hardwired operation. That’s on top of the fabric and hardware costs, which vary based on what material you pick and your window dimensions.
The cost makes sense if you’ve got high windows, multiple shades you want to operate together, or you’re integrating with a smart home system. Climbing on a ladder twice a day to adjust a roller blind window treatment gets old fast. Motorization also makes blackout roller shades more practical—you can schedule them to close automatically when you’re not home, keeping heat out and protecting furniture from UV damage even when you forget.
Battery-powered costs less to install since there’s no electrical work. Hardwired avoids battery changes but requires an outlet or wiring, which adds labor cost. Most clients in Garrison Park go battery-powered unless they’re doing a full remodel where electrical is already open.
True blackout roller shades block nearly all light when installed correctly, but “correctly” is doing a lot of work in that sentence. The fabric itself blocks light completely. The gaps are what matter.
Inside mount installations—where the roller shade sits inside your window frame—will have small light gaps at the edges. Maybe a quarter-inch on each side. That’s usually fine for most rooms, but if you need total darkness for sleep or a home theater, outside mount is better. We mount the blackout window blind outside the frame so the fabric overlaps the wall, eliminating side gaps.
Top and bottom light leaks are easier to control. The roller mechanism sits tight at the top, and we can add a wrap or valance if needed. The bottom rail sits flush against the sill or wall when closed. If light creeping under the shade bothers you, we adjust the drop length or add a seal.
Perfect blackout takes precise measurement and the right mounting. That’s why we measure in person rather than having you do it. A quarter-inch off, and you get a light stripe that defeats the whole purpose of dark out blinds.
Solar shades block heat and UV rays while still letting you see outside. Blackout roller shades block everything—light, heat, and view. Both save energy, but they work differently depending on the room and what you need.
Solar shades are your best option for living areas, kitchens, and anywhere you want to maintain a view and natural light while cutting glare and heat. They’re rated by openness factor—1%, 3%, 5%, 10%. Lower percentages block more heat and light but reduce visibility. A 3% solar shade on your west-facing Garrison Park windows can drop heat gain significantly while you still see your yard. These are what typically deliver that 20-30% energy savings because you’re blocking heat before it enters the room.
Blackout blinds for windows save energy by creating insulation and stopping all heat transfer, but you lose daylight. They make sense for bedrooms where you want temperature control and darkness for sleep. Some clients use both—solar shades in main living areas and blackout options in bedrooms.
The real energy savings come from using either type strategically. Keeping roller shade blinds closed during peak heat hours (roughly 2-6 PM in Texas) makes the biggest difference. Motorized shades let you automate that so it happens whether you remember or not.
Installation itself is quick—usually two to four hours for an average home, depending on how many windows we’re covering. A single room with three or four interior roller shades might take an hour. A whole house with 15-20 windows takes half a day.
The timeline from ordering to installation is longer. Custom roller shades are built to your exact measurements, which takes two to three weeks for fabrication. Motorized roller shades sometimes take slightly longer if there’s a backlog on the motor systems, but that’s rare.
We schedule installation once everything arrives and has been inspected. We don’t show up and discover something’s wrong with your order—that’s checked before we’re in your driveway. On install day, we mount the brackets, hang each roller shade, test operation, and adjust tension so everything rolls smoothly. For motorized systems, we program the controls and show you how to operate them before we leave.
If something needs adjustment after installation—a shade isn’t rolling evenly or a motor needs reprogramming—we come back and fix it. That rarely happens, but when it does, we handle it quickly. Most clients in Garrison Park are using their new blackout roller shades the same day we install them.
Quality roller shade blinds are built for this climate, but fabric choice and installation matter. Cheap materials fade and deteriorate within a few years under constant UV exposure. The fabrics we use are designed to handle intense sun without breaking down.
Solar shades are specifically engineered to absorb and dissipate heat. The material is treated to resist UV damage, so it’s not going to fall apart after two Texas summers. Blackout fabrics are denser and typically last even longer because they’re built with multiple layers. Most quality roller blinds for windows last 7-10 years with normal use, sometimes longer if they’re not in direct sun all day.
Motorized systems handle heat fine as long as they’re installed correctly. The motors are rated for temperature ranges well beyond what your interior space will hit, even in Garrison Park during August. Battery life on motorized roller shades is usually 1-2 years depending on how often the shades move.
The bigger issue is installation precision. If a roller shade is mounted poorly, it’ll wear unevenly and fail early no matter how good the fabric is. We’ve replaced plenty of roller shades that were DIY installs or done by crews who didn’t account for Texas heat expansion. Proper mounting with the right hardware prevents most long-term problems.
You can use the same style throughout if you want a uniform look, but most homes benefit from matching the roller shade type to how each room is actually used. What works in your living room probably isn’t ideal for your bedroom.
Bedrooms almost always need blackout roller shades or at least room-darkening fabric. Light-filtering options in a bedroom mean you’re waking up with the sun whether you want to or not, and in Garrison Park that’s early. Blackout window blinds give you control over sleep schedules and keep the room cooler during afternoon heat.
Living areas, kitchens, and dining rooms usually work better with light-filtering or solar roller shades. You want natural light and a view, just without the glare and heat. A 3-5% solar shade blocks enough sun to protect furniture and reduce cooling costs while keeping the space bright.
Bathrooms need privacy but often benefit from light-filtering rather than blackout since most people don’t want a cave during morning routines. Home offices depend on screen glare—if you’re fighting reflections on your monitor, solar shades or blackout options help more than light-filtering.
We walk through this during consultation because it’s easier to explain in your actual space. Seeing how light hits each room at different times makes it obvious what’ll work. Most clients end up with two or three different interior roller shades types throughout the house, matched to how they use each space.
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