do I have a leg to stand on? (re black-out blinds)

[mckenzie]

I recently ordered some black out blinds from a local blind shop. I asked the assistant for some advice at the time and she recommended a type of blind (cant now remember the name) but they were nearly £500 and we didn't want to spend that much as we've just moved into this house and don't really know for how long our son's bedroom will have it's current colour scheme. It was then suggested that we order roller blinds as they are the next best thing apparently, not 100% but then nothing is according to the shop assistant. The blinds were £200.
They have now been delivered and fitted and they are useless! We have curtains as well which are lined with blackout fabric. The blind itself is blackout, yes, but the gaps at the top and the sides to allow for the roller mechanism means that there is light getting through. The gap is about 1/2 inch at the top but over 1 inch at the side so even with the curtains, there is still a lot of light getting in. I expected a slither of light at the sides and top, that was my understanding from the conversation that I had with the assistant before ordering but I really do feel now that they are just not worht having yet they cost £200.

Am I being unreasonable?
Am I expecting too much?
Will I just have to put it down to experience? And more importantly, does anybody know of a blind design, home made if necessary, that does a better job?

thanks all

I really don't think total blackout makes much difference to sleeping, if that's what bothers you. My ds sleeps until 6 some mornings, 7.30 others, and when he was younger, he woke at 5am. Same degree of darkness, same baby, different sleeping habits. They won't give you a miracle!

We also invested in black out roller blind and curtain linings (from John Lewis). We have the same problem that light shines around the curtains, but it certainly makes the room dim, although not the pitch black GF talks about. When we stay with friends though we have tried pegging dark duvet covers etc over their windows to make the room darker, but dd doesn't seem to mind. If she is tired and wants to sleep but thinks that it is too light she drapes a muslin or her teddy over her eyes to make it dark enough.

Mckenzie, if I had spent £200 on a blind only to find that it didn?t do it?s job properly I would take them back and ask for my money back. Personally, I think that the gap is much too big and that they measured it incorrectly - especially as you told the assistant that your primary reason for having them fitted was as a light block. I would get on the phone and be assertive!
What kind of curtain fitting have you got? My dd?s bedroom used to have a pole with tab tops but hung away from the window and let in too much light. I have changed them to a plastic "rail track" system and it really helps. I have also put small pebbles in the bottom hem to weight it down and let it hang straight which also helps a bit.
As an ex teacher, the art room office that doubled up as an occasional photo developing lab had an interesting way of dealing with the light problem. They had one large curtain for each window rather than a pair and attached velcro to the outside vertical seams of each curtain. The matching connecting strip was stuck on the walls with PVA (they didn?t show because the strips were behind the curtain) the bottom was stuffed behind the (conveniently placed) radiator. The radiator trick helped them out but I wouldn?t recommend it! Another wild idea that may be totally impractical and not necessarily great looking - how about putting the fabric curtain hook band on the top and bottom and have a top and bottom track to pull the curtain closed? This would help keep it close to the wall? Maybe not...it does sound wierd now that I have written it down.
Sorry if this all sounds totally useless! I am tired and not thinking as straight as I should!

message withdrawn

I'm not sure that total darkness is necessary, but I think that a constant light level is. We have "blackout blinds" in our bedroom, which are homemade; pieces of blacout fabric cut a little bigger than the size of the window and held in place with a small hook and eyelet at each corner. We also have the curtains lined with blackout fabric, but a bit of light still gets through. I've found its extremely difficult to get dd to sleep on the Summer nights when the windows are open behind the blinds and the breeze blows them back and forth. The light level goes up and down, and every time it gets a bit lighter she opens her eyes! Roll on winter when its too cold to open the windows, and anyway its dark at bedtime!!