Everyone needs quiet and peaceful sleep to wake up refreshed in the morning. We have a circadian rhythm. Our natural internal clock tells us when it’s light outside, we should be awake, and when it’s dark, we should be asleep. Our body produces melatonin to help us sleep naturally when it’s dark. So having a dark and quiet environment is conducive to a better night’s sleep. There are several tips and tricks to help you with this and be peaceful at night. Read on to find out the details.
Blackout Curtains, Shades, and Blinds
These three items are your best bet to block out all light at night in your bedroom. Streetlights and neighbors’ security lights may illuminate your bedroom at night through your windows. Cars with their headlights on can also produce unneeded light in the bedroom and noise you don’t need when trying to sleep.
Blackout curtains, shades, and blinds are all three unique products to help you block out light and get rejuvenating sleep at night or in the daytime if you take naps or work night shifts.
What are Blackout Curtains, Shades, and Blinds?
Light is blocked from entering a room by blackout curtains, which is one of its biggest benefits of it. As a result of the sunlight during the day, sleeping during the day can be challenging; however, blackout curtains can block up to 99% of the sun from entering a room.
By switching to blackout curtains in your bedroom, you will create the ambiance of a nighttime environment, reducing health risks associated with people who work overnight shifts. Room darkening shades and blinds work in the same manner.
Blackout window blinds give you the most versatility in lighting control of the three products to help you sleep better. Shades may be raised or lowered entirely or anywhere in between.
Blackout blinds are the ultimate because you can open or close them to any height you wish, or leave them closed and tilt the vanes for filtered light during the day. These three items can block up to 99 percent of the light from your windows. The same is true with blackout curtains, as you can open or close them side-to-side as much as you want to let light in your bedroom when you want it in the daytime.
Several Other Tips Can Help You Have a Great Night's Sleep
In addition to your window coverings to block out light at night in your bedroom, other items come into play to help darken your bedroom.
Blackout Drapes
If you are considering blackout drapes, choose a curtain rod that is a room-darkening wrap-around curtain rod for blackout curtains. It’s a special curtain rod anchored to the wall, but it protrudes from the window on each side by a few inches. As usual, the two ends are anchored on the wall but placed slightly farther outside the window frame. It will keep your blackout drapes from letting any light seep inside from the sides of your window. You will be pleasantly amazed at how much a few inches on each side of a window being covered with the fabric touching the wall actually makes.
The premium quality custom blackout drapes will either have tiny holes where the string fits through to lift and lower the vanes or will be equipped with specialized tape that covers the tiny holes. This tape ensures that no pin prick-sized holes are visible, preventing any light from entering your bedroom.
Blackout Shades
For blackout shades, consider an outside mounting option for the best qualities in light blocking. It will give you more light coverage on the side of the window, and gel them a few inches longer than the window’s height to block light from the bottom of the window.
Window Tinting
Window tinting can be an option to darken your bedroom at night as well while saving you money on your cooling bills in the summer.
Rearrange Your Furniture
You can also rethink the furniture placement in your bedroom. You can rearrange the furniture so that outside lighting won’t shine on your bed to disturb your sleep.
Darker Paint Options
Another simple option is to choose darker paint options. Light paint on your walls reflects any lighting in your room, both from day sunshine and exterior lights at night. Choosing a darker color or tone of paint will decrease the light reflection, leading to a darker bedroom overall.
Light-dimmer switches
The use of light-dimmer switches can also help you fall asleep faster. If you are watching TV with the bright bedroom lights on, it makes your body think that it’s not time to go to sleep yet. If you can dim the lights for a half hour or so before you actually go to bed, you can fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer.
Door Draft Stoppers
Door draft stoppers fit underneath your bedroom door to stop any cold drafts from entering your bedroom in the winter and warm air from entering in the summer. Being a more comfortable temperature can also help you sleep better.
Light-blocking Tape
If your windows are older, you may need to add light-blocking tape or weather stripping to prevent drafts in your bedroom. It can be helpful in addition to your blackout shades, curtains, or blinds for even more insulating properties.
Eliminate Electronics in the Bedroom
You may not think it’s a big deal, but any light source in your bedroom can upset your wake and sleep cycles. You may have lights on your cell phone that are solid or blinking light. Power cords and surge protection strips have lights, and your alarm clock is most probably illuminated.
You can sleep better by eliminating all these light sources at night. You don’t need to remove them from your bedroom, but cover the lights with a thick towel, so they are not seen as much.
You may need some lighting that won’t shine in your eyes for safety’s sake when you get up in the middle of the night for something. Under bed lighting is a good idea. It’s a soft light that illuminates the floor next to your bed, but with it being down that low, it doesn’t shine brightly to disturb your sleep.
Everyone needs a good night’s rest and using blackout curtains, blinds and shades are beneficial to keep your bedroom dark at night and dampen outside sounds. Eliminating the glowing lights from your electronics at night can also help you rest easy. An added benefit from these types of custom window treatments is energy efficiency for your home.
Contact us at OM Drape Designs for a full line of blackout custom window treatments that help you sleep better and look beautiful.
