Light-blocking Venetian blinds?

[crazyhead]

We're looking to order some blinds for the bedroom, which could sit either in or outside of the window recess. The room is South-facing, so pretty sunny, and it is a real priority for us to be able to block out the light for bedtime.

Blackout roller blinds would be the simplest option, but OH is keen to look at Venetian blinds too, to give us a bit of privacy control (the room is slightly overlooked). Has bought Venetian blinds that do actually keep a bright room dark? Did you fit them inside or outside the recess? Or are we missing a trick on any other sort of blind?

We've seen a make called Privacy that claim to offer superior light blockage - any experience of these?

We thought about shutters, but these seem so pricey that we'd almost want to think about replacing the slightly old window if we went down that route...

Thanks for your thoughts!

I've never tried that make, but venetian blinds have major drawbacks as far as I'm concerned:

• dusting them is a nightmare, but they need it as they do collect a lot of dust.
• venetian blinds are draughty, whereas blackout blinds are thermally insulated by virtue of the blackout material. The thermal insulation would work for keeping a south facing room cool in summer, too.
• a "reverse blind" (from the bottom of the window), or nets, could also address the privacy issue

We have venetian blinds throughout our house and I really like them. The dusting is a bit of a pain, but only takes a couple of minutes every few weeks, and I do like the way you can tilt them for more privacy or to change the light coming in.

They don't keep much light out though, so we put them outside the recess and have blackout blinds inside in the bedrooms. Both blinds from Ikea and it works for us.

Thanks both. Hmm, I really don't want light coming in so will think carefully about this one...