Blackout curtains

See how bright this WiFi thing was

Boadicea

I find this very useful when travelling as some hotels/B & Bs have their windows dressed purely for aesthetics, not practicality!

Oh where did you buy those?

Boadicea

I find this very useful when travelling as some hotels/B & Bs have their windows dressed purely for aesthetics, not practicality!

I stayed in an air b & b recently.
I let mum take the bedroom, I took the sofa bed in the lounge.
I was horrified to find no blinds, or curtains at the windows (high up in a block of flats) owner probably thought none were needed.
Oh, also WiFi thing on the high window sil omitting a bright blue light so I shoved Sharon (Osborne) biography in front of that ha.
Had my old faithful eye mask with me thank goodness.

East facing bedroom here too.

I have a blackout rollerblind behind my curtains.
Some some light still comes in above and below it, but that suits me as i dont want total darkness.

Depending on the time of year and how bright the early mornings are I can lower it to different levels to allow through an amount of light that i am happy with.

I made roman shades, perfect fit inside the windows, blackout lined. Raise easily and they're quite unobtrusive when up.

We have stick on window blinds from blinds2go. So easy, just stick on the glass.

I find this very useful when travelling as some hotels/B & Bs have their windows dressed purely for aesthetics, not practicality!

I bought a made to measure black out blind. Fits perfect and you get no light seepage at all. Its in the grandchildren’s room.

Vertical blinds , over that black-out Roman blinds , over that black-out curtains - I need total darkness to sleep.
My Roman Blinds are 2” over window edge top, side and bottom

I've used attachable blackout linings from John Lewis. They use curtain hooks to attach to the same loops as your curtains. I put them in two bedrooms as I like the curtains I have but they weren't dark enough. Work very well for me.

MT62

Jaxjacky

We use blackout curtains, a blackout blind and I wear a mask! East facing bedroom too, that lot usually works.

Going to refer you as Jacular 😂
I am the same everything pitch black, no ticking clocks, or LED lights on TVs, chargers, etc.

Yep, me too!
And no crumbs in the bed as I'm like the princess and the pea!

MT62

OldFrill

I use a magnetic blackout blind (from Amazon £12 ish). Cut the material to size. Attach the self adhesive, silver magnets to the window frame and blind, pop it on at night and off in the morning, takes seconds.

My window faces west and this cuts out the extreme heat and glare of the setting sun.

I sleep with the window open but if you were to put the magnets on the frame rather than the window there would be less leakage. As it is, with my lined curtains, my room is almost completely dark.

Photo of the blind and another showing the magnets on the window.

What a beautiful view

I was going to say the same thing!
Oh, how I miss living by the sea!

MT62

Jaxjacky

We use blackout curtains, a blackout blind and I wear a mask! East facing bedroom too, that lot usually works.

Going to refer you as Jacular 😂
I am the same everything pitch black, no ticking clocks, or LED lights on TVs, chargers, etc.

About right!😎

Yes they do keep out the light and the heat - we also have venetian blinds on the front North East facing windows - it really does help

For the bedrooms of GC in Scotland, where it hardly gets dark in mid-summer, we bought ready-made blackout liners that attach to existing curtains. Not perfectly light-extruding but reasonably priced, convenient and good enough.

Thanks everyone - some great advice there. I’m sure an eye mask would help too - apart from whatever I decide to do regarding blackout solutions. I never thought of that!

Grammaretto

MT62 that's what happens when the fitter fits them! Can I take them off?
Actually I'm about to move house so the new people can deal with them.

The new house has vertical Venetian blinds everywhere 😟

Sorry for the late reply- yes you could take them off but if you are moving just leave them in place.
It’s a safety thing for young toddlers.

MT62 that's what happens when the fitter fits them! Can I take them off?
Actually I'm about to move house so the new people can deal with them.

The new house has vertical Venetian blinds everywhere 😟

Grammaretto

I have Dunelm blackout blinds in my bedroom which faces East and South (dual aspect!)
Dunelm fitted them but I hadn't realised they have a built in a safety device so only pull in short sections.

The magnetic ones sound much quicker.

On the other hand they are very effective so I'm not complaining.

Do you mean that thing the chain goes through screwed into the wall?
We never fitted ours. The chain hangs loose.

Jaxjacky

We use blackout curtains, a blackout blind and I wear a mask! East facing bedroom too, that lot usually works.

Going to refer you as Jacular 😂
I am the same everything pitch black, no ticking clocks, or LED lights on TVs, chargers, etc.

OldFrill

I use a magnetic blackout blind (from Amazon £12 ish). Cut the material to size. Attach the self adhesive, silver magnets to the window frame and blind, pop it on at night and off in the morning, takes seconds.

My window faces west and this cuts out the extreme heat and glare of the setting sun.

I sleep with the window open but if you were to put the magnets on the frame rather than the window there would be less leakage. As it is, with my lined curtains, my room is almost completely dark.

Photo of the blind and another showing the magnets on the window.

What a beautiful view

We live in the far north where summer nights are very light. Our bedroom curtains are all made with full blackout linings
( cream coloured; blackout material doesn't need to be black) but there is a little light seepage at the top where they hang proud of the wall on rings on a pole. The bedroom is dark enough but not pitch black like a cave or coal mine..

If you need pitch black darkness, you' might need blackout blinds covering the whole of each window frame ( top bottom and both sides)

I have Dunelm blackout blinds in my bedroom which faces East and South (dual aspect!)
Dunelm fitted them but I hadn't realised they have a built in a safety device so only pull in short sections.

The magnetic ones sound much quicker.

On the other hand they are very effective so I'm not complaining.

Could you fit a blackout blind behind the curtains?

I’m with CarrotTop. Most roller blinds have light leakage at the sides . For full darkness you need the blinds which fit into a grove all around the windows . They’re expensive.
We have velux blackout blinds in our loft extension and they’re really good .