Whats best for total black out in the bedrooms?

[loveyouradvice]

We're about to move house to somewhere with no curtains blinds or anything....

I'd love to have really dark bedrooms for us all to sleep in

What works best - blinds? Curtains? What kind?

Current house I bought a roman blind for DD bedroom and it never really worked as the light came in around the edges... meant there wasn't much point to it being backed with black out material!

Oh, and who do you recommend getting them from? Ive heard there are lots of good online places now... previously I bought material and had them made up and once got John Lewis to do it but that was crazily expensive....

[SauvignonGrower]

We are blackout obsessives and have blackout roller blinds combined with full curtains.

[Deux]

For complete black out you need a blind to cover the glass. Then curtains that pull back well over the edge of the window frame with the track or pole set up sufficiently high to not have a gap.

For good measure a fitted pelmet over the track will stop light escaping at the top. Well lined or interlined curtains that hang well. And curtain weights in the hems. Mind you if you have all that you'd probably not need the blind too.

[Glitteryfrog]

We've got blackout lined curtains and they're pretty good.
I need a bit of light to help me walk up naturally, I struggle in winter when i have to be up before dawn.

[SheRaaarghPrincessOfPower]

If you're really serious, foil line yer windows

But black out blinds plus wide full curtains should do it

[loveyouradvice]

Thanks all... I guessed it might have to be as much as that... Where do you get your blinds? Online and who? O r?????

[PastysPrincess]

For a cheap version of blinds I use an adjustable shower curtain pole in the recess of the window with a blackout curtain. Then I have my usual curtains above the window. Works brilliantly at a fraction of the cost.

[crazycatlady1989]

Ikea do great black out blinds

[runningpink]

Check out Bloc blinds online ...they are expensive but are actually completely blackout.

[PanannyPanoo]

We have fantastic black out blinds that fit directly to the window frame similar to duo fit, and black out curtains too! I work nights. so sleep in the day. They are great.

[didireallysaythat]

I've got Roman blinds with the black out liners from 247blinds and then curtains on top. Or blackout curtains from IKEA (dead cheap). Currently not sleeping well so going to do both....

[PanannyPanoo]

look into the ones that fit into the frame didIreally. They are brilliant. a local company made ours so anyone near bath that needs black out let me know!

[Palomb]

I bought blackout curtains from Dunelm for my east facing bedroom and they work really well.

[ChocChocPorridge]

I bloody hate Ikea blackout roller blinds.. fitted them to every window upstairs, they were a pain in the arse (all the cutting and fitting, and getting bits the wrong way up..

I found that slatted blinds did a surprisingly good job when combined with blackout curtains (overhanging as everyone's already said)

Of course if you want the Rolls Royce, external roller shutters. I had them when I lived in Spain and they were AWESOME. Bit pricy though.

[didireallysaythat]

@PanannyPanoo can you post a link to a picture ? I can't quite visualise how the blind fits to a frame but I'm slow to catch into things with pictures !

[Believeitornot]

Blackout material velcroed to the window. Plus black out curtains over the top.

[PanannyPanoo]

Google perfect fit blinds they come in a frame that clicks into the window pane frame. so you can still open the window with them open or closed. you can have them fitted so they pull down from the top or up from the bottom- useful if you want to draw they up half way whilst getting dressed so people cant see in but you still get natural light- great if you are on a bus route!

[didireallysaythat]

Thank you - i haven't managed to find perfect fit or cassette blinds wide enough yet (I need 2 x 2.4m wide) but I'll keep looking. Roman blinds were going to have to be done in two blinds because of the width....

[yomellamoHelly]

We have dark coloured blinds and full length dark coloured curtains across the recess the window is in. Almost perfect.

[loveyouradvice]

perfect fit blinds sound amazing - has anyone else used them? Gonna look into them....

[shellhider]

We just got some colour match blackout curtains from Argos and they do a really good job.

[fernanie]

What's your budget like? We've got wooden roller-type shutters on the outside of our windows that we roll down at night. We rent, so I don't know where they're from (and suspect they weren't cheap) but I literally can't see 10cm in front of my face if they're all the way down.

[fernanie]

(Just googled; "wooden roller shutters" doesn't bring up the right sort of result but "security roller shutters" does)