Are you a shift worker, new parent, or someone who sleeps during the day? Normal blinds and curtains won’t always provide you with the level of light closure you need to get a solid sleep during the day; you may need to consider an alternative, such as shutters or blackout blinds.
If you do work at night and sleep during the day, then chances are your Circadian Rhythms are already knocked out of sync. These rhythms regulate our sleep-wake cycles as well as our metabolism. If you’re not getting the levels of sleep required during the night, it’s extremely important to make up for it when you do get the chance to sleep.
Your best options for optimal light closure are probably shutters, blackout blinds, or a combination of shutters and standard curtains. There are various options available to ensure that your sleeping abode is dark and comfortable, but not every option will be suitable. In this post, we’ll answer some of the commonly asked questions.
Are shutters better at controlling light than blinds?
After a long night shift, the only thing you want to do is lay down in a dark room and sleep for as long as possible. It might seem like the simplest thing in the world to do, but there are challenges to this, especially if your curtain let in light due to the fabric, shape, or fit.
It’s even more important to control the light in a bedroom if you have a new baby that needs to sleep for long periods throughout the day. Light from the curtains can disturb the sleep of a baby and wake them early. This is not only detrimental to their growth but also to your ideal schedule.
In comparison to curtains and venetian blinds, shutters are far more effective at light control. When closed, they can make the room very dark – but not completely black. Despite this, they are excellent at light control and can be combined with curtains to achieve a perfectly black environment.
Are blackout blinds the best solution?
You might think that if you invest in blackout blinds, they are guaranteed to create a dark and comfortable environment for you after night shift, or for your baby sleeping during the day. The reality is that even blackout blinds allow some light into the room. Depending on the fabric, sunlight can actually penetrate some blackout curtains around the sides or through the cord holes.
That is not to say that blackout curtains don’t do an excellent job at creating a dark sleeping environment, but if you want a complete blackout scenario, you will need to think about combining the blackout curtains with shutters or blinds. This situation is actually fairly common for people who require a completely dark room for sleeping.
Blackout plantation shutters
Blackout Plantation Shutters are wooden framed shutters that attach to the window frame with hinges. They have a series of downward facing slants designed to block out the majority of light while allowing air to pass into the room – particularly when the window is open.
People who prefer shutters to blinds tend to be those with unusually shaped windows, bay windows, or a particular style in the room, such as farmhouse decoration. But they are also excellent for blacking out a room for the purposes of sleeping during the day.
Of course, shutters are not a perfect solution on their own. They allow light to seep in from between the louvres, the panel, and the frame, but it is far less light than you might expect from another conventional window dressing.
So do window shutters provide complete blackout?
While shutters are an excellent solution on their own for many situations, they may not be ideal if you need a complete blackout situation. Shutters on their own may be good enough for a shift worker who can tolerate some light filtering through, but for a young child, it could be intolerable on a regular basis.
Luckily, you can choose some excellent combinations that are very effective at achieving a complete blackout environment. Shutters with integrated blackout blinds will guarantee that the room stays in total darkness, even at the height of the afternoon sun. And if you prefer the aesthetic of shutters on the inside, you can buy a blackout blind to fit behind the shutters.
One other excellent light blocking solution is simply to cover the shutter with curtains. They may not be a guaranteed solution – such as using blackout blinds – but they are a more affordable alternative that can prove almost as effective.
