I've got blackout blinds but my bedroom is still light- help!

[Cinammoncake]

Any advice wise MNers? Do I need to get curtains as well or paint the walls darker or something (currently cream walls) It's too light and I have trouble falling asleep

@kinsss, they are pretty big to start with and have drawstring edges to make them smaller.

I've used tinfoil rather than groblind, make it a bit damp and it sticks to the window.

Also newspaper and sellotape to save weight in a suitcase when flying 😂

@kinsss the portable blackout blinds have suction cups so stick onto any window. They fold up quite small so no hassle especially with both kids having sleep disorders. There's a link further up the page to them...made by the grobag company.

We have black our blinds and black out curtains and have found the combination of the two actually seems to make the room black

These... https://www.johnlewis.com/gro-anywhere-blackout-blind-ollie-the-owl/p4289513?sku=238261997&sppc=2dx92700046625836245&tmad=c&tmcampid=2&gclsrc=aw.ds&&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIpcT-yqTU5gIVh6ztCh0yaQzNEAQYASABEgIOafDD_BwE

Ah thanks for the explanation folks. I never knew!

You can get blinds that fit your window exactly www.soeasyblinds.co.uk/perfect-fit-blinds

What about having a blackout blind in the window recess & curtains with blackout linings hung outside the recess? That way you have two layers that light has to get through. If you have street lights immediately outside your house, you can ask the council to put a shield to stop the light at the side facing towards your house.

not all sleep masks are created equally.
amazon.co.uk/Sleeping-OriHea-Breathable-Adjustable-Blindfold/dp/B07VCPSYY4/ref=sr_1_6?crid=3S6NZRYBIEVA0&keywords=sleep+mask&qid=1577398019&sprefix=sleep%2Caps%2C301&sr=8-6]]

this is a good one

and this

amazon.co.uk/Upgraded-VOLUEX-Breathable-Sleeping-Adjustable/dp/B07RHZ2PQL/ref=sr_1_12?crid=3S6NZRYBIEVA0&keywords=sleep+mask&qid=1577398083&sprefix=sleep%2Caps%2C301&sr=8-12]]

ive got a few different types

My window wall is dark purple definitely makes any light that sneaks through far less intrusive

That's interesting randommess I have thought about painting the walls quite dark after I stayed in a hotel room with dark walls and had a great sleep.

Nat6999 that's interesting to know. The street light isn't directly outside, it's near though. There's no recess, it's a bay window.

I'm going to start with the cheaper option of velcro tape suggested by quillbill on my existing blinds at the edges, see if that helps, and then will save for curtains as it's a big window and will need a special rail for the bay and probably made to measure curtains as it's wide.

This thread has been brilliantly helpful. MN has some hardcore blackoutters! great tips

I can't open your links unfortunately branleuse
Do your sleep masks stay on all night? I think I'm a night time fidgeter

If you have a bay window then you need to remove the light seepage around the edges. So you probably need to get blackout or thick curtains where you can pull them right around the edges of the bay.

We just have regular straight windows and have put Venetian blinds in the recess to cut out a bulk of light, then blackout blinds straight across the front and they are wider than the window by about 2 inches on each side. Gives a good result as we have street lights outside. Curtains would give a better result but we don't need it to be pitch black, just dark enough for the kids to sleep in the summer when the sun hasn't yet set.

We had a local blind company do ours. Very competitively priced against online suppliers plus they measured and fitted them.

We have these in all our bedrooms (cut to size for each window, sometimes I've used 2 per window) plus back out curtains. No light at all and we have a street light right outside the front. Also they look ok from the front and can be rolled up without bother in the day.

www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/schottis-block-out-pleated-blind-dark-grey-90369507/

I have blackout blinds in the recess and blackout curtains outside the recess of every bedroom window in our house. It is fairly effective. We're all poor sleepers. After night shifts to help DH sleep I also sometimes roll towels to put across the top of the curtain rail and the bottoms of doors. You can also get magnetic strips that work a bit like Velcro, but I've had same issue with those as with Velcro, which is that it doesn't stick very well (the glue on the material and/or the window frame) which gets annoying.

You can get specially made blackout blinds which have boxes/ encased rails (possibly called cassette blinds?! Maybe) around the edges for an exact fit. May be pricey but a good long term solution. I couldn't be bothered in the end because our windows weren't their conventional sizes.

You can also get blackout blinds which adhere with static. Now those are amazing! If they run out of 'stick' you can rub them with something fluffy and it comes back. Those were what we had most recently before the blind/curtain combo. I cut them to fit exactly the windows and they aren't expensive either. I found them a faff to take off and put back up daily though, standing on chairs trying to line them up. They'd be ideal for travelling.

I have considered shutters in the past too 😂

Blackout curtains across the bay with made to measure roller or roman blinds. Ikea curtains do the job nicely.
www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/majgull-room-darkening-curtains-1-pair-light-grey-30346750/
We have these.

@Cinammoncake actually the other thing I do after a night shift is to switch bedrooms. Our main bedroom faces due south and has big bay windows plus another window, and never gets properly dark despite blackout curtains in the bay and blackout blinds on the other window. I go and sleep in the spare room which faces North and use the gro- anywhere there. Obviously moving bedrooms isn't always an option though!

is it vertical or roller blinds? rollers are typically better as verticals sway x

Ditto eye masks. Solved my sleep problems.

@cinnamoncake look for the memory foam 3d sleep masks. Thats all i linked to. About a tenner on amazon.
They stay put much better than flimsy sleep masks and block out much more light. Im a light sleeper and these usually stay on. Worth a try

We have blackout blinds and curtains.

I have Night time anytime blinds in the DCs’ rooms, these are kits with blackout fabric which you cut to size and then use magnetic Strips to stick them to the window frame. They work well, you can take them on and off daily, the only annoying thing is storing them in the day as they can’t really roll or fold up with the magnetic tape on (and the fabric doesn’t take well to being folded either).

We have blackout curtains and a pelmet - the pelmet makes a huge difference because there isn't one in DDs bedroom and she gets light seeping through the top.

It was there from previous owners but from what i can work out, it's bits of MDF covered in fabric. So a carpenter should be able to make you one to fit.

I think you should give eye masks another chance. Sounds like the one you had was far too big for it to come off during the night. Using eye masks has truly transformed my sleep.