Blackout curtains, help please

[Lazyi]

Hello. I’m not very good at decoration and home furnishings, but am trying to learn. I need blackout curtians, as my bedroom is bathed in beautiful warm light every morning, and we live next to the bright (street) lights of the city. I had a wonderful consultation with stitched, but they are too expensive for me, how do I get good fitting curtians in my bedroom without it costing ££?

Many thanks in advance!

Dunelms do a brilliant range of all colours and styles

Ikea does them in a few different colours. I managed to put the poles up myself, and I'm not that handy.

Dunelm

If it's really bright you might need blackout curtains and a blackout roller blind behind. Ours are from Argos

Do you know which style you want at the top of the curtain? This can make a difference in terms of whether you can buy off the shelf or have them made to fit your window.

Tab top / eyelet curtains are quite versatile if you’re buying ready made, i.e you don’t need to be so precise about the width.
Pencil pleat have adjustable strings at the back so you can adjust the width to suit the size of yours window.
Pinch pleat are my favourite (maybe others think they are a little less modern...?) but I think you have to have these made to measure -they’d look messy if they were even a litttle too wide for your window.

For each style, there are rules about how to measure - see Dunelm website for a useful guide.

You could buy ready-made and then have a seamstress alter them if needed. Never done that myself but it might be a good, cost effective option.

John Lewis, M&S, and Dunelm all offer made to measure service. John Lewis actually has two options for made to measure - ‘7 day service’ are machine made and you provide your own measurements (they guide you through it) whereas fully bespoke they have someone go to your house to measure and you get more options in terms of (expensive designer) fabrics and extras (tie backs, etc).
Not sure how much your stitched quote would have been... my Bedroom curtains were from JL 7 day service and we’re about £600 (short, lower end fabric, lined with black out thermal lining). Hillaries downstairs but they were more pricey so I won’t even go there...

Get blackout rollerblinds with any curtain for decoration.

@Laurie01

Get blackout rollerblinds with any curtain for decoration.

That is what I have in my very bright bedroom - it is the only thing that actually does the job. I find blackout curtains no good as they leave a dazzling bright strip along the top and bottom which still wakes me up!

I learnt how to make my own. I've found it to be a surprisingly useful skill.

Had sewing machine already. Found a step by step tutorial on the internet ("we're in stitches" I think), and much effort later had some lovely blackout curtains for my son's room. Have made more since. I'm not particularly crafty - it's mostly measuring and sewing straight lines.

Costs vary depending on the fabric costs. Fabric is surprisingly expensive. I find about £100 - £200 for a pair of curtains. But you get exactly the fabric you want.

If you live in a fairly modern, fairly conventional house you might find that ready made curtains will do just fine, as these are made with the most common window sizes in the UK in mind. If not, could you buy some ready made blackout curtains and get them adjusted by a local seamstress? Even with the alterations it will be much cheaper than made to measure. Dunelm and John Lewis do great ready made curtains. Curtains are meant to be very easy to adjust if you're even vaguely handy (I'm definitely not!).

Blinds-2go have a good guide on their website about how to measure for curtains here. Make sure you have lots of overlap at the top and sides of the window to stop the light bleeding in around the sides, the standard wisdom is 15cm each side and 15cm above the window. I'd also consider a blackout roller blind inside the window recess as well as you're near lots of bright light.