Turn Your Bedroom into a Restful Retreat

Getting a good night’s sleep is essential for optimum health, no matter what your age. One of the keys to high-quality shut-eye? A dark room. 

While you should certainly stow away any electronics and maybe even don an eye mask when you climb into bed, the key to a dark room lies in blocking exterior light from shining in through your windows. 

While any type of window covering will help keep illumination from streetlights, headlights or a bright moon at bay, the following also prevent light from disturbing your slumber. 

The right fabric opacity

Fabric opacity refers to how much light a fabric can block out, and it’s an important consideration when choosing fabric for bedroom window treatments. 

Sheer fabrics typically soften and filter sunlight, semi-opaque fabrics provide privacy while letting in some sunlight and opaque fabrics almost completely block all light. 

An opaque fabric is ideal for a bedroom—but you also have options if you want to enjoy gentle sunlight during the day. You could add a room-darkening liner to your shade, which is often sewn directly into the fabric. Or you could choose a shade style that combines a light-filtering or sheer front shade with an opaque back panel on a single roller. Once you lower the front shade completely, you can move the opaque shade for just the level of light control you desire—giving you the best of both worlds—soothing darkness or soft, natural light.

Outside-mounted shades

You can mount shades inside or outside of the window frame. Mounting your shades inside the frame lets you showcase the window’s trim—just keep in mind that you will have a small gap on each side of the shade (so that the fabric moves smoothly) between the edge of the fabric and the window trim. 

Those gaps, where exterior light can sneak through, are called light gaps. 

Mounting your shades on the outside of the frame helps eliminate those light gaps when you lower your shades, making outside-mounted shades a good option for bedrooms.  .

Layering up

Prefer inside-mounted shades in your bedroom? That doesn’t mean you have to sleep with light gaps. You can block light gaps from inside-mounted shades by layering side panels (which are stationary) or drapery over them. This win-win solution helps you create a darker space, while introducing a dimensional design element.

Many window treatment manufacturers also offer product enhancements designed specifically for filling in that space between the fabric edge and the window. Check with your window treatments specialist for options.