Creating the right environment in your home is one of the most important things you can do for your everyday happiness. And, a good night’s sleep & happiness? They go hand-in-hand. That’s why knowing as much as you can about room darkening details will help you discover what you really need. Knowing what’s possible is the first step. For a quick look, at features and products, head to our Room Darkening Solutions page. For the finer details? Let’s explore…
Not Just for Bedrooms
To begin with, room darkening certainly helps create the right environment for sleep. But, this lifestyle solution is not just for sleeping. Other rooms where it’s important?
- Media Rooms
- South & West Facing Rooms
- Home Offices
- The Family Room
The Fabrics & Materials
Depending on your room of choice, and what it’s used for, you’ll determine the level of darkness you need. For fabrics to darken a space, they must be opaque, or outfitted with a liner that doesn’t let light through.
What About Shutters?
When considering hard treatments, like plantation shutters, because they’re also opaque, they can block light. But, they may have small amounts of light glowing through the closed slats. Depending on the tilt choice selected, you can have more or less light entering. The hidden tilt, pictured below, offers a clean close and view-through when open.
With a clean close on shutters, as mentioned above, light can still show, but in minimal amounts, like a subtle glow.
Understanding Light Gaps
Another factor to keep in mind when figuring out which room darkening details are most important to you is “Light Gaps.” Also referred to as “Side Gaps,” these terms describe the light that enters between the closed shade and the window frame. Sometimes, it doesn’t effect the experience–the room is dark enough. Other times, clients want to add side draperies to keep light from entering.
For window treatments for be considered *actually* blackout, you should consider those that trap the edges of the shades in a channel, preventing the light from entering. A recent innovation, the LightLock™ feature, is now available for the Duette shades collection.
The Best of Both Worlds
For spaces where you continually need coverage, but you’d like to let in light, explore dual shades. We call it the best of both worlds because you really can experience a range of light from one end of the spectrum to the other.
With dual shades in place, you can darken the room with the secondary shade lowered in place. When you want light to enter, that secondary shade is rolled up and out of sight, but the light filtering shade remains in place.
Which Room Darkening Details Do You Need?
Your home should be your happy place, and controlling the light is a big factor in that happiness! From room darkening details like fabrics, features and function, to selecting the rooms where you need solutions most, our team is ready to help! At Timan Custom Window Treatments, we pride ourselves on helping our clients customize their homes with valuable solutions. Contact us for your FREE consultation.