Interior designers are experts at discerning the key design elements of home furnishings. When they find a design element that also has practical functionality, they know they’ve hit upon a winning combination. That is what the double roller shade offers: chic design meets high function.
Beautiful and Functional at the Same Time

Interior designers like double roller shades because they are a modern alternative to other blinds like wooden or venetian blinds with horizontal slats. However, because they are made from fabric, they are much more aesthetically pleasing. Since the double roller shade consists of alternating horizontal opaque and sheer fabric stripes, they can transition easily from day to night. The finest gradations between the opaque and transparent stripes are made possible by the operating chain. In addition, by adjusting the alignment of the different stripes, light and privacy regulation are fully in your control. The flexibility of the double roller blind is suitable for any room be it the living area, kitchen, bedroom, bath, or home office. They are the perfect product where textile decoration simultaneously exists with the function of light and privacy protection.
Double Roller Shade vs. Roller Shade
The double roller shade is a special type of roller shade. Most people are familiar with a simple roller shade which is a single piece of fabric that hangs down from a top cylinder. The simplest roller shades go up and down with a tug at the bottom of the fabric. When fully open, the roller shade wraps around the top tube and is out of sight.

The unique double roller shade has a top cylinder too, but it also has a narrow bottom rod. This bottom rod exists so that a piece of fabric can run on each side of the bottom rod. This creates the effect of a front fabric and a back fabric on a single shade. The double roller has the appearance of two pieces of fabric that go up and down with an operating chain. The space between the front and back fabric is quite narrow, only about one-half inch. Like the simple roller shade, the double roller can be raised to be out of sight, or it can be adjusted to rest at any point along the window’s height. This special design structure creates all sorts of beautiful effects, which makes the double roller shade very popular with interior designers.
How do Designer Double Roller Shades Work
The double roller shade is unique for two reasons. First, it is special because of the front and back fabric wrapping around the bottom rod. The second reason is because of the signature style of the fabric itself on the double roller shade. The fabric panel for double roller shades has two different colored bands or stripes that alternate across the entire shade. One of the stripes or bands is dark and one is transparent. The dark or opaque stripe alternates with the light filtering or transparent stripe.
Now, stay with me because this is where it gets special. Remember that the double roller has a front fabric and a back fabric. And remember that one of the stripes along the fabric on each side is opaque and one is transparent. That means you can see through the front fabric right to the back fabric along the transparent stripes. So, if you align the transparent fabric stripe of the front panel with the transparent fabric stripe of the back fabric stripe, you will create an alternating dark vs. light striped effect on your shade.

Imagine if the transparent stripe was a transparent white color and the dark stripe was an opaque black color. If you aligned the front and the back panels so that the black of the front fabric overlapped the black of the back fabric while the white transparent stripe of the front fabric overlapped with the white of the back fabric, you would have alternating bands of black and white. This striped effect sometimes leads designers to call the double roller shade a zebra blind. However, the fabric of double roller shades is not always designed to be stripes. So, the term double roller blind is more accurate and reflects the different fabric designs of double roller shades.

Or think of it this way. If you overlap the opaque stripes on the front and back panels, you will simultaneously overlap the transparent stripes. This way, you will be able to see through the sheer stripes and allow the maximum light to filter in. However, if you overlap the opaque stripes on one side with the transparent stripes on the other side, then you can achieve more privacy or room darkening because you can no longer see through the two aligned transparent stripes.
What are Double Roller Shades Made of?
Double roller shades are primarily made from high quality PES and linen. PES is the most well-known synthetic fiber and is more commonly known as polyester. PES (Polyethersulfone) is a durable and strong high quality polymer. Additionally, PES is flame retardant and free of additives as well as safe and non-toxic. The double roller shade fabrics available from Realistic Design NYC are all PVC-free and meet the Oeko-Tex Standard 100. PVC-free means the fabrics are free from any harmful substances and are safe for your home and family. The Oeko-Tex Standard 100 means the fabrics have been tested and certified to be free from harmful substances.
Double Roller Shades for Privacy and Light Filtering
The double roller shade is desirable because it offers both blackout and light filtering fabrics in a single unit. The sheer stripes provide light filtering effects, glare reduction and UV protection. When the opaque stripes in the front and back overlap, the light filtering stripes are also overlapping so your blinds let the light filter through giving you incoming light. You can also see outside through the lighter stripes.
The opaque stripes offer you both greater privacy and room darkening effects. When you need maximum privacy, adjusting the stripes so that the opaque stripes overlap on the lighter stripes, and no one can see into your window. Additionally, the opaque stripes will make the room darker when aligned properly to achieve that effect.
Another benefit is that the double fabric makes it possible to protect against damaging UV rays. The design also gives you light filtering shades on demand and the ultimate in privacy when you need it. Double roller shades are perfect in any time of home and in any type of room. They function as well in city apartments and residential homes as in professional buildings and commercial locations.
Double Roller Shades are Versatile
The double roller shade offers a lot of options making them a versatile design choice. The double roller shade can be used in contemporary or traditional design styles, they are modern window treatments that also fit into any home, function in any room, and can blend with your color choices. Double roller shades are available for most window sizes up to 8’ wide x 8’ high. You can install them in every room of the home and reap the benefits of flexible privacy and light control.
What are Some of the Special Features of the Double Roller Shade?

The double roller shade has many special features which makes them an appealing choice for window treatments.
- Range of colors available to blend with your décor
- Fabric panels in a range of transparencies for flexible light filtering preferences
- Alternating sheer and opaque stripes for light and privacy control
- Chain operation can be on the left or the right
- Reverse roll (shade hangs in front of top rail) or standard roll (shade hangs behind the top rail).
For example, the newly conceived double roller blind fabric called LOLA is based on a special weave technology that alternates a wave design of transparent and blackout fabric. This special weave, where the stripes are wave shaped, creates beautiful 3-D effects when the fabrics are aligned to your liking. Light and privacy protection is still fully flexible, and the blinds are just as functional.
Double Roller Shades from Realistic Design NYC
The double roller blinds available from Realistic Design NYC come in over 80 fabrics with many unique features. There are several different designs and structures such as wave shaped stripes and different stripe heights (2” to 3”). The fabrics are finely woven in three different transparencies.

For example, the newly conceived double roller blind fabric called LOLA is based on a special weave technology that alternates a wave design of transparent and blackout fabric. This special weave, where the stripes are wave shaped, creates beautiful 3-D effects when the fabrics are aligned to your liking. Light and privacy protection is still fully flexible, and the blinds are just as functional.

A second special fabric option on the double roller blinds only available from Realistic Design NYC is the two-colored band option. These special double roller blinds have opaque fabric bands in two colors. So, there is a transparent stripe, and two more opaque stripes in two different shades of colors. The beautiful effect of this three-color band double roller is that the opaque bands appear twice as high when aligned properly. The two different colored block stripes break up the classic stripe design and can help connect rooms with natural tones to create a successful overall ensemble.
The double roller shade is a versatile, beautiful, and functional window treatment that works in any home. Please contact Realistic Design NYC for a free consultation at 917-533-2861 or email at olivia@realisticdesignnyc.com.
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