Most Calgary homes need something on the glass and sometimes something over it. Window film handles the jobs the glass does all day: privacy, glare, heat, UV and security. Blinds handle what you want to switch on and off. Here is which does what, so you only pay for what the window actually needs.
Wall Style Innovations installs window film and wallpaper. We do not sell or install blinds. When a room needs adjustable coverage, we point you to Eco Blinds, the blinds company we trust. Film and blinds work well together, and below is how we split the job.
Which one does the job?
| What you want | Best fit | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Privacy in daytime, and keep your view out | Reflective privacy film | While it’s brighter outside than in, outsiders see a mirror and you see out. When your room is the brighter side (evenings, or a brightly lit room by day), it reverses, so pair it with something you can close. |
| Privacy day and night, nothing to open or close | Full-pane frosted privacy film | Privacy that never depends on remembering blinds, with daylight kept. Someone within about an arm’s length of the glass can show as a silhouette: shapes, not detail. Patterned or banded decorative film leaves clear areas, so we check the sightlines first. |
| Heat, glare and fading while the view stays open | Solar window film | It blocks 99% of UV and, depending on the film, 37–82% of total solar energy, and it works with nothing drawn over the glass. |
| Keep furnace heat in over winter | Low-e window film | A low-emissivity film such as All Season Intelligence 65 reflects room heat back inside in winter and still rejects summer heat. |
| Holding broken glass together after an impact | Security film | It can help hold broken glass together and may add delay. It doesn’t make glass unbreakable, but a blind gives no protection at all. |
| A pane that must stay fully dark or screened (AV or projection room, storage) | Blackout film | Zero visible light through the glass, permanently. |
| Privacy or darkness you switch on and off (bedrooms at night, nurseries, a home office at dusk) | Blinds or shades (below) | Adjustable coverage is the one thing film can’t give you. |
Where blinds are the right answer
Film can’t be opened or closed. If you want a room open to the view at noon and closed at 9 pm, or dark for a nap and bright for play, that’s a blind or a shade.
Reflective film’s daytime privacy reverses at night when your lights are on inside, so for evening privacy plan a blind, shade or drapery alongside the film. Eco Blinds’ guide to winter night window privacy covers the evening side that reflective film leaves open.
Using film and blinds together
- Reflective film plus a blind is the classic pairing. The film gives daytime privacy and cuts heat with the view open. The blind closes for the evening.
- Solar film plus a blind: the film does the heat and UV work all day, so the blind can stay open. You close it when you want privacy or darkness.
- Frosted film usually needs no blind at all. That’s the point of it.
- Already have blinds? They stay. Raise them fully on installation day, and if one has to come down for access, tell us at quoting and we plan it into the visit.
The blinds company we trust
When a window needs something you can open and close, we recommend Eco Blinds. We’ve seen their team and installers at work, and we know they do it well. We don’t take a referral fee.
Who does what
- Wall Style Innovations: film on the glass. Privacy, solar, low-e, security and blackout film.
- Eco Blinds: custom blinds, shades and drapery that open and close.
- Both: we coordinate with Eco Blinds on windows that need film and a blind, so the two are planned around each other. For example, reflective film for daytime privacy and heat, and a blind for the evenings. Tell us when we quote if you’re getting blinds as well.
Not sure which your windows need? Tell us the room, the direction the window faces and what bothers you about it. We’ll say honestly whether film is the answer, and if it’s a blind, we’ll say so.