The Best Ways to Darken a Bedroom (It’s Not Blackout Curtains)
I need total darkness and perfect silence to sleep at night – a dark room is never enough for me, although I keep trying to find one. If you’re like me, you probably have blackout curtains and a little eye mask, but there are other ways to darken a room even more. Here are some tips you probably don’t already know.
Cover your curtain tracks
This trick from Living etc. is great: you have to stagger the guides of your curtains so that they overlap in the middle. This little gap where traditional, straight curtains meet lets in morning light, which is unacceptable when you’re trying to sleep. And if you have street lights outside your window, this is unacceptable all night .
Using two different overlapping curtain rails solves this problem. Bonus points if you have blackout curtains and/or a second shade inside the curtains. This is the path to true darkness.
Correctly position the blackout curtain
If your window is recessed, according to Living etc. , you should place a blackout roller outside the recess. While placing it inside gives a cleaner look, it also leaves gaps on the sides, which defeats the purpose of a blackout curtain. Location is important here, so if darkness is your ultimate goal, you may have to sacrifice aesthetics.
Glue the edges of the curtains down
Something you rarely see in homes but often in hotels are Velcro tapes or other sticky fixtures used to hold curtains together or stick them to the wall to avoid gaps. I was so inspired by this piece of hotel magic that I did it in my apartment a few years ago and couldn’t believe how effective it was. Again, there is a lot to sacrifice in the aesthetic department. My pretty curtains have big chunks of ugly Velcro, but I sleep better as a result, so my guests just have to deal with an eyesore. Opt for strip magnets if Velcro seems too clumsy for you.
Tape off any small light sources
Another trick I swear by is using duct tape to cover small lights. You don’t realize how powerful indicator lights are until they’re gone, so the next time you’re lying in bed in the dark, look around for little lights. TVs, smart plugs, game consoles, charging docks – any of them can have small light bulbs that can be easily disposed of by unplugging the device or covering them with tape.
Dimming outside the room too
Finally, think about the light that can come in from behind a closed door. For example, the night light in my boyfriend’s bathroom bothers me the hell out, even when the door is closed, because he peeks under the door. Since this is not my home, I can’t install a draft shield there, but in your own home, you can use a draft shield or a rolled-up towel to block out the light coming from under your door, which won’t inconvenience any family. participants or roommates try to spend time in a brightly lit adjacent room. While you’re lying in the dark, you may not even notice the streak of light coming from under the next door, but once you remove it, you’ll notice a darker difference.