I wanted to review the skylight blinds mainly, the standard window shades are easy but angles skylights are more difficult when you want blackout. Packaging was wrong, delicate plastic parts were all taped together using non-see-through foam tape. Under the foam tape were the cords you could easily cut with scissors because you could not see through the foam tape much less the stretch tape on top of the foam tape. The foam was so tight it broke the plastic guides that slide the blinds. You will not understand until you get something like this but the packaging is used to protect the parts in shipping only to have the buyer damage trying to get all the tape removed....TAPE, everything as TAPE with glue and dark gray. Instructions are typical of a company that's too close to the product. This often happens but if they would simply pull someone at random and let them assembly they could solve the instruction problems. Mistake one is all in one instructions....trying to cram too many instructions into one instruction package rather than one for each type. I guess Select Blinds is saying they can't make sure the right instructions are in each package, too difficult for the people working where they are made. The result is poor instructions, complicated by trying to have all instructions for all installations in one document. The skylight instruction are badly written, they should have someone never before hanging try to install using their instructions. Skylight instructions are poorly outlined and too many variations in all they types I didn't want to read about. Save paper, only send instructions for my order, sent via email because that's how they are ordered. Great product, you are selling to home users so write instructions for home users not installers that simply throw them in the trash. The product is not done until the paperwork is finished! I expected better because of the fantastic website, I said fantastic website but very bad instructions!

This product is not worth your time. The installation instructions are horrible. It took me 90 minutes to do a 30 minute job because I had to figure it out on my own. For example, they tell you not to detach the shade and headrail from the anchor rail (held by rubber bands) until the side braces are in place. However, you can't mount the headrail into its brackets because the runners that hold the shade into the side rail extend deeper than the brackets. So you have to loosen it and that makes later steps very difficult. I'm pretty handy and have done a lot of work around the house and assembled many things. I like home improvement projects. This was not a fun project. The product does a good job of blocking out sun. But it looks chintzy. The brackets are all visible as separate components and it looks piecemeal. Considering I spent half as much on much larger beautiful wood blinds from Select Blinds I expected a nicer finished product. The anchor rail came with metal slats to cover the springs and ropes, but the slats are too big to fit into the anchor without bending then a little, which causes them to crease permanently and look really sloppy. Per the instructions they were supposed to be fabric, but I got metal. There was an additional one for the control rail but I ended up using it in the anchor since I ruined the first one trying to get it into place. These blinds block light pretty well but they are not particularly well made, look cheap, and installation was unnecessarily difficult. I also had to wait two months for them to be delivered.

These blinds look great now that they are installed. We have two skylights in our kitchen. It took my husband and father-in-law OVER 6 HOURS to install them. My husband installed the 15 regular blinds in the rest of the house in way less time than that. The blinds came with no instructions, and the instructions my husband was able to find online were super confusing.

We're delighted by our well designed, well fabricated skylight shade. Operation is smooth and fit is perfect. Installation is simple, but the graphics in the instruction manual may be a bit confusing (i.e. what constitutes "up" in skylight orientation?). Install thoughtfully and you'll be fine. Great, high quality product and insulates well and darkens perfectly.