Room Darkening Using Blackout Shades and Other Window Coverings

Room darkening is what people mean when they say "light control." If you wanted light to come in, then it would not be control at all would it? But making a room fully black, or even just darkening a little can be difficult.

Room darkening is most commonly used to help with sleep. Especially sleep all day. No, just because someone wants blackout shades does not mean that they are lazy. It could be that they have shift work. Or they are vampires. It is not the place of the window coverings company to judge blackout blinds customers. I digress.

The reason the window is the main target for room darkening is because the sun is the biggest source of uncontrollable light, and the window is the biggest portal to the sun. Therefore window blinds are your number one tool in the arsenal. Instead of running off to your nearest hardware store, or clicking off to the online blinds retailer, there are some window treatments you can do yourself.

They call these kinds of projects Do-it-yourself projects. Hmm. The easiest and most common is to just hang up a heavy curtain for light control. I have seen college students tack up a blanket. This works pretty well, but it obviously looks pretty tacky. If you are not a carpenter or interior design major, it will be hard to make your own custom window treatments. DIY projects can be good for testing to see if your window is indeed the number one source of light. You can experiment to see if window treatments are the best bet.

There are different levels of darkening or blackout. For a dark room, you would need zero light - no cracks or anything. Honestly it is best to not even have a window in a dark room. Of course for sleep, dark is very subjective. Some cannot sleep with any light, while others just need to make sure there is not direct sun in the face.

If this is just and apartment or rental, you will not want to spend a lot on blackout shades. Simple opaque roller shades well matched to the size of your window will significantly stop light when lowered. To really get full benefit, you might need cellular shades on a track. The most expensive blackout cellular shades on a track with a bottom up top down control are expensive but fun.

For more information on blackout shades check out my blinds information blog: Best Blinds, where I try and give you all the tips you need in integrating your blinds into the decor of your home.