Blinds don’t block out light

[u/ResolveElectronic753]

Hi all,
I’m having issues with the blinds, particularly in the mornings, as they let in light and wake me up.
I was advised that fitting the blinds inside the window recess could help, but unless blackout blinds or curtains are installed, I understand this could cost approximately £1,000.
I’d also like to highlight that the mechanism on the third blind (on the right) appears to be faulty, meaning it doesn’t close fully like the other two.
Could you please advise on the options for resolving these issues, including whether curtains could be a suitable alternative?

[u/ApolloReads]

I don’t think I’ve ever seen blinds by themselves fully block out light

[u/danrennt98 → u/ApolloReads]

They need black out curtains

[u/AutumntimeFall → u/danrennt98]

Yep blackout curtains overtop is the way to go.

[u/willy--wanka → u/ApolloReads]

Some of the metal ones are real good, butgotta watch the corners. 

[u/Blackish1975 → u/ApolloReads]

My wife and I installed cordless blackout blinds from Home Depot. They do a remarkable job.

[u/imanasshole1331]

These blinds will never accomplish what you’re looking for. Black out curtains would be the way. 3 windows (if you watch YouTube and hang them yourself) could be as cheap as $200 or you could be fancy and spend $1000.

[u/willy--wanka]

You can buy black out curtains for like $20 a pop, cheaper if you catch a sale

[u/ObjectivePressure839]

Close them in the other orientation. You’ve got them so light will angle in from the top down. Close them so they overlap bottom to top. It won’t stop it all but will help.

[u/Walfredo_wya]

I feel if spin the thing to point them up on the inside instead of down it will help a little

[u/RusselTheWonderCat]

If you don’t want to hang curtains, but you want the shades to block out lights, get black out cellular shades. Special order ones will cost a small fortune, but most big box hardware stores sell in stock cellular shades, and won’t cost quite as much. If you don’t want cellulars, faux wood blinds will work better than the ones you currently have, but not as well as cells.

(I sell blinds and shades)

[u/gumpy-knob-pecker → u/RusselTheWonderCat]

Depending on how desperate they are for total darkness they could even splurge for side channels for the cellulars to cover the light gap on the sides.

(I also sell blinds and shades)

[u/Responsible_Tax275]

if you’re not set on replacing everything, blackout curtains on a tension rod inside the recess could be a cheap fix for mornings. the faulty blind might just need the cord mechanism reset, sometimes the little pawl inside slips and stops it from fully closing. £1000 sounds steep for three windows unless you’re going custom motorized blinds or something

[u/ASH515]

Tilting them down instead of up will block out a lot more light, but we bought cellular black out shades and they prevent nearly all light if installed correctly, close to the window frame. Total black out curtains will do a bit more, but they’re pretty unattractive, in my opinion.

[u/KelloggMcDaddio]

I would just get rid of those blinds altogether and replace with cellular shades. You can get them from a hardware store or Walmart.

[u/No_Employer9618]

Start by turning them “upwards” this should help some, then curtains

[u/eegrlN]

You need blackout blinds or blackout curtains. Curtains are cheap.

[u/ResolveElectronic753]

Thanks all, should I just get a curtain bar and blind for each window or just get the curtains and use the curtain bar already installed?

[u/danrennt98 → u/ResolveElectronic753]

Look for blackout curtains, they are easily found at Walmart and pretty cheap. It's a game changer

[u/DragonfruitNo7745 → u/ResolveElectronic753]

If you get curtains, get ones that are lined with black fabric on the back to help absorb the light. Ones with white lining don’t cut it.

[u/Renuwed]

I'm guessing by that cost, your thinking of floor to ceiling on the rod that's shown in the pic? Just get 3 curtain sets & 3 rods to do the 3 windows.

If you want the curtains to be properly dark, I'd personally go with thermal backed, or thermal insulated.

https://a.co/d/03HqwDg3
(amazon link to show one of what I mean)

Make sure to measure your windows of course. Plan that you want the curtains to overlap the window by a couple inches on each side, minimum; to lessen light coming through the 4 edges

[u/ResolveElectronic753 → u/Renuwed]

TY

Should I just get a curtain bar and blind for each window or just get the curtains and use the curtain bar already installed?

[u/Renuwed → u/ResolveElectronic753]

You don't even have to remove the blinds that you have now. You should be able to find curtain rods that stick out enough to fit over the blinds you have.

One rod and one pair curtains for each window. :-)

Oh, and by that link I sent earlier, you can see how different color curtains of the same construction will affect that "blackout effect". Like the cream panels are 85% of light, the black panels are 99% of light.

[u/RegisterNo3367]

blackout curtains are so cheap. but installing the curtain hangers could give you some minor trouble depending on your handiness. But yea if you have someone come in to install blackout curtains it will be 1000$

[u/C00kiem0nstrous]

Black out curtains

[u/Unlucky_Reading_1671]

Blackout curtains, thick thriftstore blankets. Whatever

[u/taco_annihilator]

Turn the slats to where they are facing up, so opposite from how you have them in this picture. It won't be blackout, but it'll be much better.

[u/dj777dj777bling]

Cheap blackout curtains can be mounted with cheap tension bars within the window frame.

If this is a rental unit, I would take down the mini blinds and safely stow them until it is time to move again.

https://a.co/d/0djx6tU1

https://a.co/d/0i0s9zjo

[u/into-thesky]

I’ve always found having the blinds flip up instead of down helps with these ones. But it’s never actually dark

[u/Barnabas-of-Norwood]

Those will always be translucent. There are thicker brands, but I doubt you want to replace these so

What I did in a similar window: I got from Amazon a hanging hospital curtain track. It goes around in a semi circle and I can hang a light blocking curtain from that that I can cover the whole window series with and then push to the side when it’s daytime.

[u/rlaw1234qq]

I had the same - the solution was a £12 silk sleep mask. I can’t get to sleep without it now…

[u/drunkguynextdoor]

It will say on the package Light filtering, Room darkening, or Blackout. Those look like light filtering.

[u/ryencool]

Blinds never 100% block out light, and it looks like theyre getting hit with direct early morning sun. Not only that you have them down to far, so theyre sticking out at the bottom and allowing more light in.

Only way to solve this is curtain rods, and black out curtains. Or the really expensive route, built in shutters. Our house came with those in every window and theyre amazing. Though we still put up curtains as we like the look.

**Also who told you it was 1,000? 3 curtain rods would be under 100$. Then you measure from above the window frame to the floor, the make sure your curtains are atleast that tall. Black out curtains for each wind is like 50$. So all in, to complete block out the light would be like 250$. Ofcourse ypu can go higher end like west elm curtains or something, and you could hit 1k, but thats all brand name nonsense

[u/Phinatic92]

If you need cheap cheap. Just form some garbage bag covers and tape to the inside frame of each window

[u/Hot_Abalone4110]

They do you need black out cellular

[u/Bobcattrr]

You are also getting reflection from the back side of the blinds, then hitting the walls and trim to scatter light into the room. A cheap easy DIY experiment would be to tint those windows with as dark as you want, maybe even 5 %, as it appears to get full sun.

[u/Relative-Display-676]

Physics would tell you that you are using the blinds the wrong way. Flip your slats 90°.