Blinds: Decent looking way to make a room 'blackout' optionally?

Howdy do folks.

I have vertical blinds in my house at the moment. I like them. They're an off-white colour (ivory), non-blackout and the vertical vanes are great for seeing outside, directing light, etc.

But they're probably hanging about 12 years I'd say. Truth be told, they're in great condition, but just in need of updating.


In my own bedroom, I have my vertical blinds fitted within the window recess. You can close them for privacy, but still maintain decent light in the room. Fitted above the window frame on the wall, i have a blackout roller blind. This is slightly (about 2 inches) wider than the window on each side, and I use this for when I'm trying to get some sleep (a pitch black room helps a lot).


The downside to this is that it's messy looking. I have vertical blinds and their controls, i have a roller blind stuck to the wall (practically a perfect colour-match with the wall itself, but still stands out) and i have the roller's controls too. It's cluttered looking.

I don't like curtains as a general rule, i prefer to keep things as minimalist as possible. I've 3 bedrooms that need blinds re-doing, so i want to do the same in all 3 rooms, but don't want it to look tacky or crappy like it does currently.


Has anyone any ideas?


To shoot down the first suggestion I'll to get: I know you can get blackout vertical blinds. However, the issue with this is that when fitted in a recess, the light still gets through the vanes, and more so, gets around the edges of the blinds. Even with my roller blind being an inch or so wider than the window on each side, I still have command strips to stick it tight to the wall to prevent light leaking in.

If I buy vertical blinds and fit them to the wall outside the recess, the track and mechanism looks untidy and like it's just been thrown up at the last moment, which also isn't ideal.


Has anyone come up with any approach to this that works? Or am i destined to a roller blind over the window and some command strips to keep it to the wall?


Cheers all

Stoolbend

Are timber shutters an option?

Depends how wide the windows are I suppose.

Stoolbend

Stoolbend wrote: »

Are timber shutters an option?

Depends how wide the windows are I suppose.

They could be an option to replace the vertical blind, but i reckon the issue of light 'leaking' through and around the edges would still be an issue with them?

Therefore putting me back into having a roller blind over the window.


I was thinking of putting a box/valance on top of the window for the roller blind (To try hide it) but not sure I'm just making it even more obvious at that point.

Wyldwood

could you replace the roller blind with a nice Roman blind with blackout lining?

_Brian

I worked nights for 13 years and I understand the need to have the room as black as possible to get some sleep.

Have to say I never really found a product that completely blacked out light. There are great blinds for velux windows but nothing 100% lightproof for regular windows.

My bodge solution was a set of the extendable spring loaded poles used for net curtains. I had a heavy black material curtain made for each window.
When I was sleeping during the day I took these out of the wrdrobe and set them in the openings, taking them down when I was done. The spring loaded fitting took seconds to place and remove.
Not perfect but definitely 100% blackout.

Weyhey

What about the cassette blinds? I wonder how good they are.

I use blackout blinds and blackout curtains in the kids room and still some light gets in.

(In my room I have finally gotten used to a little bit of light seeping in from the floor to ceiling black out curtains)