Curtains that block light
 

My fiancee and I are looking for curtains that completely block light, for two different reasons. He wants insulation to keep the power bill down, and I don't sleep well and am woken up by the sun coming through the windows.

I've seen a brand called Roc-Ion blackout drapery, but I was wondering if anyone had any other brand suggestions, price estimates, etc.

Mine block out light completely, have no idea what kind they are, the only light that gets in is through the edges, but I'm sure there's ways around that.
They have got a white backing to reflect the light and a dark veneer on the room side, workds well.

I used to use pull shades and then a simple decorative treatment and then a heavy light blocker behind that. so a total of 3 dressings on the widow. very effective for vampires.

I am with you on this one - need dark to sleep.

If you're crafty and can sew, you can make your own. You can buy light-blocking backing fabric at any fabric store, and the front can be whatever you want. We had striped sateen roman shades that I made with light blocking lining. Our current curtains I also made - black velvet lined with black satin embroidered with silver and gold.

Otherwise, check out drapery web sites and stores. I think homedecorators.com has some.

Just get big, heavy drapes like hotel rooms have. Like Kostya said, they have to be reflective on the "out" side and dark in the "in" side. They also should be big enough to completely cover the window, the frame, and the walls beneath and above it.

When I started working nights (and therefore sleeping in the day), I went out and bought something similar to this. They worked okay, not amazing. The best $4 I ever spent was on one of those little raccoon-like masks that block out almost all light. I sleep wonderfully now (except, when you take it off, the light hurts for a little bit).

I've placed many orders through Smith+Noble , and have had great success. They sell Twilight Shades, which we put in our son's room, and they are DARK. The prices are cheap, the installation is easy (10 minutes), and you send them the window measurements to the eighth inch, so they fit perfectly.

I just use some horizontal blinds with curtains over them. The combination works quite well.

I bought the thickest roller curtain thing I could buy. It's cheap. It works. If your windows are bigger than that, I'd suggest some good horizontal blinds and some dark curtains over them.

A few years ago, my high school psychology teacher was telling us about the ordeal of finding a shade that made the room dark enough for her OCD son to sleep. They ended up with a shade that the guy at the curtain and blinds store called "The Vampire." I'm fairly certain that he was referring to a nickname and not a brand name, but it may be a common nickname, you never know. I'd say you should go to a store that sells shades, and ask for something that will make your room pitch black.

Thanks for all the replies, I'm so surprised!

It can't really be anything that has to be installed - I suppose I should have mentioned that. We're moving into (separate) apartments for a year as I finish school.

I'm not very crafty, so that's out. And I can't sleep with anything on my face, I've tried those sleeping masks.

The curtains I found online are said to work well and get good reviews, but it's $100 for a set, and I don't think I have the money for that at the moment. Still in the poor college student stage. I'll keep looking, though, and thanks for all the great suggestions.

Some double stick tape and aluminum foil on the glass.

yep, aluminum foil works pretty well, I used it to black my room out in high school. it just looks like shit :p

I cut a cardboard box in the shape of my window and taped tin foil to the outside. I then creased the cut out so I could fold it and toss it under the bed (use packing tape to re-inforce the crease's or the tinfoil will rip) Now, when I need to get rid of glair I lift my blinds, put the tinfoil / cutout invention (patent pending) in the window and lower the blind. 0 light. It looks good on the inside, just like the blinds were closed and outside it looks semi-normal. It cost me nothing but if I bought the supplies it would be sub 10 bucks. Give it a shot.

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Meh, yeah, I think the tinfoil thing is kinda .. ugly. yeah. Plus, we both have huge windows, and I have a sliding glass door to the balcony.

How about useing this stuff http://www.reflectixinc.com/
Put it between to sheets of fabric