Ours aren’t solar as we opted for more transitional looking blackout shades in our master, but here are a few pictures.

I had a similar dilemma .... went with a shade of white close to wall color. Thought that the darker would look like big dark holes when closed. I have them over a 20’ expanse x 12’ high. The clarity of view is determined by the % of solar protection, I went with 97% since I have west facing glass in the Palm Springs area.

I think this is what I will do as well. I am not found of having big dark holes... Being on the 4th floor, no-one will see in the condo during the day and probably not even at night unless we are are naked next to the window... But my husband wants to have shades.

As I said if you want the view go darker and honestly I find 10% is good choice . I have no idea what 97% would even make sense if you go solar shades.

The higher the openness factor, the looser the fabric weave and the less shade it offers. A shade with an openness factor of 3%-5% blocks more sun and more privacy but it will also allow less view through. ... White fabric can make the view blurry, while black fabric tends to make the view more crisp.Jan 8, 2017

@Patricia Colwell Consulting, it sounds like you have a bit of experience with solar shades. I currently have them in a neutral color in my two-story LR by a brand named Lafayette. I like them very much. I have HD duettes and Silhouette in the rest of the house. For a new build, I am considering doing solar throughout the home. Lafayette is not well known around me. Will you comment regarding how these two brands compare? Thank you.

I honestly use Steves blinds for most of my solar shades they are cost effective , function well and so far have not regretted the purchase for clients. I live in Canada and so not familiar with Lafayette but if you have using HD blinds I think you will like Steves .You can also get them motorized for really tall windows or if you have a ton of windows on one wall facing S. Or W The only thing is you need to either find a designer that orders blinds all the time or you will need to learn all the things about ordering them.

Thank Patricia. That's actually interesting to consider. The living/dining area is facing North and East (corner with windows on 2 sides) and we have an unblock view to a suburb area. I was going with Solar Shades because of the fact it does not block the view only. We are unlikely to use the stores during the day - there won't be direct sunlight to block and the view will be nice. We will most likely use them at night because on the 4th floor, with the lights on, it is possible for people to see into the condo from the street. So, I'll have to decide if I want to see the street and parks lights clearly (then go with charcoal, I guess) or if I rather have the feeling that my windows become a continuity of my walls (and go with white or greige). I guess I will have to decide once I move in and see the view.

Thank you Patricia. I will need to look into Steve's. From recent comments here it seems like HD isn't quite what it used to be from a quality perspective and of course they are very expensive.

Since you have black window frames I would keep your window treatments dark as well. I would do inside mount to keep with the industrial modern aesthetic you are going for.

Here's an example of a kid's room with wild lime green:

Wish I had more examples to show you but we always try to get photos of our windows with shades up to showcase our windows better. However, we deal with them often since they go hand-in-hand with windows.

Hope these few examples help you in visualizing!

I have both 1% and 5% white solar shades in my house. 1% in bedrooms for privacy and light control. 5% in living room to preserve some of the view and to reduce heat gain. It's a neat concept to be able to see the view through the 5% shade, but as soon as the sun is no longer an issue, which is much of the time (overcast days, trees leafed out and anytime after mid-day), I roll the shades up, because that's the view I really want to see. The sun shines through the 5% shade so much so that it hurts my eyes, so I have to position myself somewhere in the room where it is not an issue. I'm not sure how different black would be, but I've noticed that a lot of restaurants have black. I considered black, but I sort of prefer light and bright. I'm not sorry I ordered white, the view may be blurry, but the mind fills in the blanks, if that makes sense. I ordered mine from blind.com.