Blackout shades

A blackout shade is decided in two places. First the fabric, which is backed so that no light passes through it. Then the mount, which matters at least as much, because a completely opaque fabric fitted inside the window frame still leaves a line of light down either side.

That is why we usually fit blackout outside the frame, overlapping onto the wall, or with side channels that close the edges off. The difference between the two mounts is very obvious in a bedroom at first light, and it is the first thing we look at when somebody calls because their bedroom is still too bright.

These go mostly in bedrooms, children's rooms and home theatre rooms. For an adult bedroom that doubles as an office, it is often more practical to run a light filtering shade for the day with a blackout behind it for the night, rather than asking one shade to do everything.