The Ultimate Guide to Blackout Curtains + Blinds

Curtains and blinds with blackout lining are a great way to ensure complete blackout in bedrooms. Not only do they provide a sense of privacy and a stylish look, but they also help to ensure a night of much better sleep. Here are our top five tricks and tips to help you achieve better blackout in your bedroom.

It may sound obvious, but choosing blackout lining for your made to measure curtains or made to measure blinds will stop light coming through the fabric of the curtain or blind. This means a darker room during lighter months and therefore, (hopefully) more sleep! Blackout window coverings help to keep out light from the outside, which is helpful for those who work night-shifts and those lighter sleepers among us. Additionally, curtains and blinds can help to absorb sound, allowing for a much quieter, more peaceful sleep environment.

As a rule of thumb, curtains will block more external light than roman blinds. Make sure your pole and curtain is 15 - 20cm wider than your window on each side and installed at least 20cm higher than the top of the window. This allows more natural light in to the room during the day, and stops light creeping in around the edge of the windows on an evening. Blackout curtains are the best option to stop this completely!

A recess in a window typically refers to a built-in or indented area in the wall surrounding the window itself. Recessed windows are perfect for achieving maximum blackout. By installing a simple blackout roller blind inside the recess you can block out a lot of external light. To get even better results and a touch more style, over the roller blind, mount a curtain (or roman blind) outside the recess. This gives you the ultimate combination in privacy during the day and blackout on a night!

Installing a roman blind inside a recess will reduce light in the day, due to what we call in the trade “the stack-back” - - - the folds of fabric on an open roman blind. In a recess, the fabric will sit at the top of the window blocking out some of the natural light. So on a small window, installing a roman blind outside the recess may be the better option.

While you can’t get the look of a roller blind inside the recess layered with a curtain outside the recess, you could double up on curtains instead! Achieve great blackout and privacy with a sheer curtain layered behind a thicker fabric on a double curtain pole. Depending on the depth of your window frame, a roman blind may also work well - - - but be sure to double check with a pro.