TOP Pleated Shade Fabrics
75 colourways in 5 designs of 20 mm pleated fabric, made into cordless or motorized pleated shades in our Fort Lauderdale workroom.
One layer, folded crisp
A pleated shade is a single layer of fabric set into permanent folds, here 20 mm deep, that stacks into a narrow band at the head of the window when raised. It is lighter on the window than a honeycomb and it does less: one layer filters the light but does not trap air the way a cell does. TOP's pleated range is 75 colourways in 5 designs, all on a 238 cm roll, about 94 inches.
Four of the five share their names with TOP roller fabrics: Orient Pleated, Orient Transparent Pleated, Trento Pleated and Puglia Pleated, with Venezia Pleated completing the range. That helps when a pleated shade in a bay sits near roller shades, but a pleated fabric is its own cloth, so we compare the samples side by side. TOP publishes light and solar figures for four of the five, from colours that pass about half of the visible light to colours that pass almost none.
5 TOP pleated designs, 75 colourways
Pleated fabrics · 5 designs, 75 colourways
Orient Pleated 20 mm
Light-filtering pleated shades for smaller windows, in 36 colours from bright to very dim
Orient Transparent Pleated 20 mm
A see-through pleat for day rooms that keep their view, in fourteen colours
Trento Pleated 20 mm
A light-filtering pleat in twelve colours named to match the Trento roller fabrics
Puglia Pleated 20 mm
A bright, textured pleat in seven colours for rooms that want daylight, not dimness
Venezia Pleated 20 mm
A thin, light pleat in six neutrals including Black, for shaded windows
How we choose a TOP pleated fabric
Pleated or honeycomb
Pick pleated for a crisp single-layer look and a slim headrail; pick honeycomb when the window is hot or the room must be dark, because a cell traps air and a blackout cell stops the light. The pleated vs cellular guide has the full comparison.
Light
Orient Transparent Pleated is the open one, for a softened view by day; Orient, Trento, Puglia and Venezia filter the light. Some Orient colours pass almost no visible light on TOP's sheet, so check the Tv on the design page, not only the colour name.
Humid rooms
Orient Pleated, Orient Transparent Pleated and Trento Pleated are listed by TOP as suitable for humid environments, so they are the ones we choose for a bathroom or a kitchen window.
Cordless or motorized
We build TOP pleated shades cordless, or motorized with Somfy Cord Lift WireFree motors in the headrail, battery powered, with no wiring to bring to the window.
What the figures say
TOP measures its pleated fabrics colour by colour. Orient Transparent Pleated runs from a Tv of 53 in Ice White down to 7, Puglia Pleated from 49 to 19, Trento Pleated from 36 to 3 and Orient Pleated from 34 to 1. A pale colour reflects more of the sun's energy back through the glass and keeps the room bright; a dark one cuts glare harder and absorbs more heat in the pleat.
Because a pleated shade is one layer, it gives the privacy of its fabric and no more: a light-filtering pleat hides the room by day and shows a glow at night, and the transparent one keeps a view by day and hides nothing after dark with the lights on. For a dark bedroom, a blackout honeycomb is the better shade.
Compare the pleated designs
| Design | Colourways | Light | Roll width | Weight | Fire listings | PVC-free |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orient Pleated 20 mm | 36 | Light-filtering | 238 cm | 140 g/m² | None listed | Yes |
| Orient Transparent Pleated 20 mm | 14 | Transparent | 238 cm | 140 g/m² | None listed | Yes |
| Trento Pleated 20 mm | 12 | Light-filtering | 238 cm | 190 g/m² | None listed | Yes |
| Puglia Pleated 20 mm | 7 | Light-filtering | 238 cm | 193 g/m² | None listed | Yes |
| Venezia Pleated 20 mm | 6 | Light-filtering | 238 cm | 94 g/m² | None listed | Yes |
Figures as published by TOP Window Covering on its datasheets and collection pages; a design without a datasheet shows what TOP's collection page gives.
Pleated shade fabrics in South Florida homes
In South Florida we use pleated shades where a slim, light shade suits the window: a bay or a run of narrow casements in a Boca Raton or Fort Lauderdale house, a bathroom with an Orient or Trento pleat listed for humid rooms, a guest room that wants daylight more than darkness. On hot west glass or in a bedroom we steer clients to honeycomb, which does more for heat and light at the same window.
TOP pleated shade fabrics: frequently asked
What does the 20 mm pleat mean?
It is the depth of each fold: every TOP pleated fabric here is set into 20 mm pleats, about three quarters of an inch. The pleat is pressed into the fabric, so the shade keeps its folds when raised and lowered.
Is a pleated shade the same as a honeycomb shade?
No. A pleated shade is one layer of folded fabric; a honeycomb shade is two faces joined into cells that trap air. From the room they look alike, but the cell insulates better and can be made blackout. The pleated vs cellular guide explains the difference.
Can a pleated shade go in a bathroom?
Choose one of the three TOP lists for humid environments: Orient Pleated, Orient Transparent Pleated or Trento Pleated. The design pages show which other pleated fabrics carry no humid listing.
Can TOP pleated shades be motorized?
Yes. We build them with Somfy Cord Lift WireFree motors in the headrail, battery powered, or cordless for a manual shade.
TOP pleated shade fabrics in Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Boca Raton & Palm Beach
Every fabric on this page is bought from TOP Window Covering and made into pleated shades in our Fort Lauderdale workroom, then installed by our own team from Miami to Palm Beach. Our showrooms in Fort Lauderdale (4539 Powerline Rd, by appointment) and Miami Beach (500 South Pointe Dr #150) have motorized shades running.
Choose the fabric in your own light
Book a complimentary in-home consultation. Shortlist the designs you like and we bring the TOP samples, demo motors, and honest answers about light, privacy and exposure.