Best blackout solution for windows?

[minipie]

So DD (18 mo) is a crap sleeper and the summer light doesn't help.

At the moment we have got a blackout lined roman blind, but loads of light comes in round the edges (room is SE facing). So we have put tinfoil over the panes but it looks awful of course and somehow there is still quite a lot of light coming in!

What's the best solution? I'm willing to invest a bit of money in something if it really works and looks tidy. Ideally I would love something that can be pulled up easily in the day to let some light in (so eg not a stick on blind).

What about curtains instead of blinds? If they're wider than the windows they won't have the same spillage blinds do?

Watching this with interest as we have exactly the same issue and trying to weigh up whether it's worth splashing out on black out curtains myself (GLTC have some). We currently have sticky back plastic on the windows and blinds on top. It's a mess, but works!

Black out curtains and blackout blind

We have an issue like this. So have a blackout roller blind and blackout curtains. I have Velcro dots of the back outside edge of the curtains and attach the edge to the wall to stop light flooding in. I only need two or three dots on each edge.

Hope that helps

Meant to say we got lovely kids blackout curtains from john Lewis.

We use the gro anywhere blind. It's ugly but it's gets 2 more hours sleep.

We've tried various solutions and the best thing I've used is one I made myself. I bought some blackout material, a tension rod (the kind used for net curtains - I got mine in Wilkinsons) and a piece of garden cane cut to the size of the window. You make an open hen at the top, my sewing is awful but it does the job. Make another at the bottom. Thread the top on the tension rod, add the cane to an open hen at the bottom. Sew a couple of short ribbons at the top. You roll the bottom up to the top and tie to ribbons.

The benefit over shop bought blinds is that they cane be placed much closer to the window.

I have black out roller blind plus black out lined curtains for my kids- works a treat!!

Ah I forgot to say

(sorry drip feeding!)

DD's window is a sash window and one side of the frame is right up against the wall. So curtains don't really work as there would be nowhere for the left hand curtain to go.

Hons sounds interesting but slightly more hard work than I was hoping for

Well you could always opt for a blackout roller blind then opt for a one piece curtain that you pull to the side away from the wall with a tie back type thing?. I used to have that in my old house in the first babies room..

Too many opts! Sorry too much wine!

Gro Anywhere blind.

Might be the same as Hons but DM made us one that velcros onto the window frame. The blackout material is totally blackout, have to be careful about sewing as every hole the needle makes will let the sun in like a pinprick size.

We have a thin wooden bar to weight it down and roll it up in the morning and tie with ribbons. It works so well, and was v cheap.

I'm having a similar problem. We have ridiculously big windows so can't buy ready made blinds for the windows. We need 90"x90" curtains so it's looking like it's going to be expensive...

Minipie DDs window goes right up against the wall at one side too. And right up to the ceiling. We have a curtain track on the ceiling and two curtain panels as normal. Fair enough having 2 curtains probably does make the window look smaller when the curtains are open, but it does look balanced and most importantly, it allows more sleep for all!

We have a pleated blackout blind for DC1. It was bespoke from a curtain shop and I don't remember how much it cost, but it wasn't cheap!

However...it works brilliantly.

For DC2 I bought some of that blackout material from Amazon and cut it to fit each window pane. It is secured by sticky Velcro strips so can be removed if needed. Think a big sheet of it cost around £30. It's called Easyblackout.

We just got the gro anywhere travel blind and just put it up behind curtains. Ds sleeps much better in the dark.
www.kiddicare.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/productdisplay0_10751_-1_223403_10001?gclid=CNzm5YCdrL4CFUXnwgodOaUACg&gclsrc=aw.ds

Also and no wanting to cause any offence you have got child safety things on the blind I hope. So many tragic stories seem to appear in the news with toddlers.

We have a Gro Anywhere Blind plus blackout-lined curtains over the top. It's not 100% dark, but its pretty good, even for daytime naps.

We have a gro thingy blackout blind in ds's room which works really well but for our room we are getting PerfectFit Roller Blinds which are the same idea as Velux blinds in that they come with a frame so the blind covers every mm of window pane, no gapping.

Only issue is...I don't know if they are suitable for sash windows, sorry.

We have easy blinds which Velcro to the window frame. They are total blackouts and come down easily in the daytime. Bought from amazon.

www.blocblinds.co.uk/window_blinds/blocout_blinds
these are the best that I have ever used - they really block out the daylight !!! not cheap but sooooo worth it !!!

ooh they look brilliant Houzz! Do you think it would be possible to put a roman blind over the top, or would the cassette get in the way. Also would they fit on a sash window ok....?

Depends on the depth of your window reveal - in mine it would be ok as about a foot deep ! But as it's just for decoration - you could almost add a Velcro'd on pelmet to cover the cassette top ?! The bloc blind itself will block out probably about 98.5% to 99.5% of the light ! They really are that good - so you wouldn't need anything else too !

You need to fix it with clearance for your sash - there's videos on their site to show you two different ways to install them !

So pleased to see all these votes for the gro anywhere blind, I've got one arriving tomorrow and am convinced it's going to revolutionise our morning sleeping.

DD is currently wide awake at 5am [sleepy face]

We have thick curtains and these have blackout linings which work well for us.