There's an evening in early October when you suddenly realise: that's it, summer is over — not by the calendar, but for real. You leave work and it's already dusk. You come home and it's black outside, the lights are on in the room, and your whole kitchen is on stage — visible from the street, from the house opposite, from a passing car. In Riga the sun sets around seven in the evening at the start of October, by the end of the month it's a quarter to five, and in December there are fewer than seven hours of daylight. For half the year we live under artificial light — and for exactly that half, our windows work against us.
At FENSTORA we have been making blinds and curtains since 2001, and every autumn the story repeats: in September the people finishing renovations call, and in October — everyone else. Because in summer a bare window is light and a view, while in autumn it's a black mirror, a draught and the feeling that you're not at home but in a shop window. Let's go through what to do about it — no theory, room by room.
Why windows suddenly become a problem in autumn
Three things happen at once. It's dark outside and light inside — and the glass turns into a one-way mirror, transparent in the wrong direction. The heating comes on, and a big window starts to pull cold — even a good double-glazed unit gives a noticeable temperature drop at the surface. And finally the low autumn sun: for the few hours it's there, it shines straight into your eyes and your screen, because it sits so low above the horizon. Good blinds solve all three at once — but different rooms need different ones.
Bedroom: darkness on demand
The autumn paradox: in the evening it gets dark too early, and at night it isn't dark enough — the lamp in the yard, headlights, the lit-up house next door. For bedrooms we most often fit cassette blinds with blackout fabric: the fabric runs in side channels right against the glass, so no light leaks around the edges. If you want to screen the window by day without cutting out the light completely, go for cassette Day and Night blinds: two bands, one opaque and one sheer, shift with a single pull of the chain, and you decide how much of the street to let in. If you prefer fabric and softness, there are Roman blinds — we sew them from standard fabrics in five days, from curtain fabrics to order, and this season we've added double Day and Night Roman blinds: a voile and a dense fabric on one track.
Living room and kitchen: cover up without locking yourself in
The main thing here is to get rid of the shop-window effect while leaving the window its right to be a window. The most honest option is Standard roller blinds in a semi-transparent fabric: from the street only a silhouette of light is visible, and from inside the room doesn't lose its depth. If the window is large and you want something stricter, look at Venetian blinds: aluminium in 16, 25, 35 and 50 mm for the kitchen and study, wood and bamboo in 25 and 50 mm for a living room where in the evening you want warm texture rather than metal. The slats tilt — which is exactly the weapon against the low autumn sun at two in the afternoon.
For panoramic windows and balcony doors, vertical fabric blinds in 89 and 127 mm are still a strong choice — everyone knows them from the office, and in today's fabrics they look perfectly at home. For odd-shaped attic windows there are vertical blinds for trapezoid windows, which cover a sloped opening completely.
Attic, children's room, odd-shaped windows: pleated blinds
If we had to name one product 'for autumn', it would be pleated blinds. The folded fabric holds a layer of air against the glass and noticeably reduces the feeling of cold from the window, and you can move it from the bottom and from the top — open the top to the sky and close the bottom to the neighbours. Standard VEGAS pleated blinds are the workhorse for PVC windows; Cosiflor is the premium class with honeycomb fabrics and German hardware that holds the fabric even on a sloping attic window. For children's rooms we make both without hanging cords.
Outside: when you need a wall, not a curtain
A detached house in autumn is a story of its own: dark, quiet, the owners often away. Aluprof security roller shutters close the window from outside with an aluminium curtain: burglary resistance, complete darkness and one more layer of insulation in front of the glazing. For modern façades with large glazing there are external venetian blinds with slats and fabric screens with a ZIP system — the fabric runs in guide rails and doesn't flap in the autumn wind. And the Aluprof awnings and Aluprof and Sunwinner pergolas that saved your terrace from the heat in summer should be checked and properly stowed for autumn — we'll come and do it in a single visit.
A little comfort: automation
There's a simple pleasure of the dark season: the curtains close by themselves at half past five, before you get home. Electric curtain tracks and Torro automation fit roller blinds, pleated blinds, roller shutters and heavy curtains on a track — with a remote, on a schedule or from your phone. For ordinary curtains we'll match a ceiling-mounted profile track or ZEGAR curtain poles, and the fabric comes from a catalogue of 457 fabrics and more than 6,000 colours. Not sure about the colour? The site has a fabric try-on on a photo of your window: upload a picture and see how it will look.
And yes, the mosquito net season is over — Moskito frame nets are best taken down and stored until spring, while Aluprof roll-up nets and Genius nets simply close into their cassette and winter in place.
Why not to wait for November
In twenty-five years we have dressed more than 50,000 windows across the Baltics, and we know exactly what the November production schedule looks like: everyone remembers their windows at the same time. In October the surveyor comes the same day or the next, standard roller and Roman blinds are ready in five days, and when the clocks go back you'll meet the dark behind closed blinds rather than in a queue.
The quote is free, the measurement is professional, the production is our own in Riga, and we install across Latvia and the Baltics. If you already have an offer from another company — send it over and we'll do better. Book a measurement at fenstora.com or in the chat on the site — we answer in the evening too, right when you're looking at your dark window and thinking it's time.
Questions we get asked in autumn
Which blinds keep the warmth in best?
Pleated blinds with honeycomb fabric (Cosiflor) and cassette roller blinds with blackout — they create a closed layer of air against the glass. From outside — security roller shutters.
What should I choose so I can't be seen from the street in the evening but still have light during the day?
Day and Night roller blinds or ordinary roller blinds in a semi-transparent fabric — by day the light comes through, in the evening the street sees only a glowing rectangle.
How long is the wait in autumn?
Measurement — the same day or the next; standard products — about five working days; products from curtain fabrics and external systems take longer, and we'll give you the date at the measurement.
Can they be fitted without drilling?
Yes: cassette blinds, VEGAS pleated blinds and 16 and 25 mm Venetian blinds mount on the glazing bead of a PVC window with no-drill brackets.
What should I do with the awning and mosquito nets for winter?
Roll the awning up dry and don't open it until spring; take down frame nets and close roll-up nets into their cassette. If you need a hand, we'll come.