Original Pleated Light Filtering Shades

I was VERY leery of these shades because I have never purchased a "Paper Shade" in my life, and wasn't sure that paper would be strong enough. After reading reviews I decided to give them a try. I ordered 3M Scotch Heavy Duty Mounting Tape, 1-Inch by 50-Inch with the shades because I wanted to be sure they stuck. I was able to cut them down to the ODD sizes I needed. My dining room has 4 windows - 2 in the center are considerably larger then the ones on each side of the 2 bigger ones. I was able to cut one shade in half and use those 2 pieces in each side window, and I was able to cut off about 4 inches of 2 more to fit the center windows. These were simple to install. Measure your window, cut with either sharp scissors or an Exacto knife.Pull off the strip covering the sticky strip <I did that and then added the 3M Double Sided Tape>, then simply put them up. These curtains, all 6 of them, come with clips that you put on the bottom of the shade to pull up and down the shade, without touching the paper. It took me an hour to put all 4 shades up, and I'm 100% Disabled so I don't usually do this stuff. But I was excited to see them up and didn't want to wait for my husband to come home from work to do it. I am actually pretty impressed with these shades. They look Amazing! You'd never know they are paper unless you get right up to them and feel them. They are definitely a high quality paper. I had these ugly, ugly plastic mini blinds that I paid a fortune for since they were such odd sizes, and these Paper Shades look like I spent even more! They aren't light "Blocking", but they do filter it. I have more light now then I did with the plastic mini blinds. It's a really nice "glow" light. I like that there's no string/handles, they're cordless. They provide complete privacy <nobody can see in or out> while not blocking out the light. What I like best though is No. 1 - the price is perfect! Where can you get 6 shades for under $40??? And No.2 - I can do this myself! And quickly! AND with no help from anyone. And for someone like myself who has to count on someone to help with almost everything - that's pretty awesome to me! Definitely give these a try!

These shades to the job, but you should plan on trashing at least one or two shades until you get the hang of installing them (unless you don't care what they look like). One lesson I learned is once you get it cut to the right size, hold it in place and only peel off the left half of the adhesive strip, press it in place, then finish peeling off the right side and press the entire shade in place. Our shades have only been up for one day. Hope they stay. In a lot of cases, two plastic clips aren't enough to attach the shade to the bottom of the window. Good luck! **UPDATED REVIEW** Even I followed the installation directions and they initially looked good, they have started to fall and just like other reviewers have mentioned, if the adhesive strip sticks to the paper part, you probably have a ruined shade. I wish there was a better way to adhere the shade to the window frame without taking the chance of peeling off paint when it's time for them to come down. The second photo shows what you can expect the shade to look like if you can manage to put it back in place. Most likely some of the shade will be torn.

UPDATE: I've had these 'temporary' shades up far longer than I planned and/or expected and they have held up quite well. Yes, I had to add additional two-sided tape in a couple of places, but all in all, my bargain has turned out to be a real money-saver until I can afford what I truly want. I've had to raise my rating to 4 stars. I bought these to use as temporary window covering. They definitely look better than putting sheets (or worse) up at your windows. They are easy to trim and install but I found that the glued part does not stay attached to my window frame. I now have pretty horrible looking bands of tape holding these up. So, they'll be even more temporary than I intended. I also found that without the clips securing the bottom, the shades fell out of the window sill and began to stretch out. My largest windows are 53" tall. When I first installed these, they were about 6" short of the bottom, but in a day, the pleats relaxed and they reached the window sill. Lastly, when I opened the boxes, the shades were bent on one end. Fortunately, I did not need the full 48% width. These need to be packed in a box that's about 3" longer. PROS: Inexpensive, easy to install, provide a degree of privacy and look perfectly ok from the outside. CONS: The glue doesn't hold, the shades arrived bent and the length may not be sufficient

Bottom Line: Did not stick to window frames for more than 24 hours (some much less than that), did not cover anywhere NEAR to the listed length (72") which is probably attributable to the pleats though should be considered false advertising, and one blind in a box of 6 was less than HALF the length and looks to be a case that material ran out of a machine when fabricating and nobody noticed. Long version: I have a new home with far too many large windows and no blinds. I needed something cheap and quick while I order real window treatments so my family could change their clothes without putting on an adult exhibition. I needed 30 windows covered and these blinds got good reviews from The Wirecutter so I gave it a go. I bought 5 boxes, cut them to the necessary sizes, and attached to the top of the window frame as directed by included instructions. Immediately it was clear that my 69" tall windows would not be effectively covered. Of my grievances with this product, this is the most acceptable. The 72" in the product description clearly refers to the length of the paper material and not the size of a window it covers. I should have *PERHAPS* done more due diligence here, but I think it's pretty poor game that the manufacturer doesn't give you a clue as to how big of a window these blinds cover. So, it sucks, I think it's not right, but I can maybe see where the mistake was mine and not the maker. However, one blind in the boxes I ordered was extremely too short, even when pulled entirely flat. This was clearly a mistake by the manufacturer. You can even see how the blind ends halfway through a pleat. Someone forgot to fill the machine and I got odd-end. Should have some better QC there. But the worst is that the blinds simply wouldn't stick. I have a new construction house, I don't know if the brand new paint on the windows made any difference, but of the 30 blinds I have hanging, I think maybe 5 or 6 have stayed up without falling. The rest of the 25+ fall daily, at odd times, and I have to climb up and hang them again (remember, 69" tall windows, I need a ladder to fix this) only for them to fall again the next day. On the second day of re-hanging, the blinds started to fall and stick to themselves, so now 3 are ruined because the paper tore trying to unstick the folds. I'm extremely dissatisfied with this product. I don't know if my experience is unique, but as far as stickiness goes, I had 5 boxes of this stuff and they all exhibited the same falling behavior, so I can't say it's just a lemon in my batch. I will note that I saw reviewers who suggested using a bit of rubbing alcohol on the window before sticking. I have done this in one case recently and it hasn't fallen again yet, but it's only just been over 24 hours (a new record). However, this tip about alcohol is not in the instructions and shouldn't be considered 'normal' hanging. Also, I think the reason this works is because the alcohol compromises the paint a bit (the whole upper sill became sticky to the touch after applying the alcohol) so I can't say this is a good approach if you ever hope to take these paper blinds down.

EDIT and UPDATE! I was wrong - -these DO come with clips. There are 6 sets of 2 clips. The reason I did not know is because the clips are packaged at one end of the long box that holds the shades. They could not be seen from the other end of the box. I decided to try opening the other end of the box, too, and there were the clips! The clips are the perfect design for this purpose. So.. if you think your shades did not come with clips, try opening the box from the other end and see if they are hidden in there. Mine were! // I bought these shades to cover a large picture window. They let light in, but people cannot see in. So far, the tape strip on the shades is holding them up just fine. At first, the shades seemed too short, but they stretch out as they hang in place for a few hours. I hung three shades in a row and for the fourth one, I had to trim a few inches off the width. I did this using a scissors and a razor knife. The scissors I was using was too dull. The razor knife worked just fine -- I put the shade on a counter with a thick brown paper bag underneath it. It worked fine. Someone suggested using a paper cutter -- and that seems like it would be ideal. // Before I began, I cleaned the window frame with bleach spray and a paper towel. The shades easily stuck onto the wood and are still up. If one of them falls, I will use other adhesive. // Overall, these look FANTASTIC and not at all like they cost $20. These look classy and have a decorator look. I used only 4, so that means I have two of them left for replacements when needed or for other windows. // Putting these up was so easy! I expected it to be a semi-big project, but it was very easy and done in minutes. And it looks great from inside and from outside.

The shades arrived without the clips. Easy to install.

They look great and make the room feel more open with shaded natural light. The only issue is the adhesive doesn’t work sometimes so I used command strips to keep them in place but they are easy to cut with a box cutter and super easy to install. Plus you don’t have to drill anything or hammer any nails or find a stud. Highly recommended.

This is a great little solve. I have purchased 2 for my small nyc studio apt. I have a window in my kitchen and this works perfectly. It does not even look cheap at all. It will get dirty over time (i have white), but cheap enough to just replace.