If you’re looking to decorate your home in Huntington Beach with window treatments that both look great and function well, room darkening drapes are an excellent option. Room darkening drapes, also called blackout drapes, control light exceptionally well compared to regular drapes, making them popular choices for bedrooms, home theaters, and anywhere else you want an extra-dark space.
In this blog post, we’ll cover everything you need to know about using these special drapes for décor in your Huntington Beach home.
Benefits of Using Room Darkening Drapes
There are several key reasons you may want to choose room darkening draperies:
Improved Sleep Quality
Because blackout drapes block external light so effectively, they can greatly improve sleep quality. This makes them well-suited for use on bedroom windows. No early morning sunlight or neighbor’s exterior lights will disrupt your slumber.
Light and UV Ray Control
In addition to visible light, room darkening drapes also help filter out UV rays, which can cause fading to interior furnishings. Keeping UV light at bay helps protect floors, furniture, artwork, and other valuables.
Noise Reduction
Thicker-lined blackout curtains stop lights and help muffle sounds from outside, like traffic. This further promotes better sleep and privacy.
Energy Savings
By blocking warming sunlight in summer and preventing heat loss in winter, room darkening drapes offer energy and cost savings benefits for temperature regulation year-round.
How to Decorate with Room Darkening Drapes
When decorating your Huntington Beach home with these specialized window treatments, consideration of style, installation, hardware, and layering can help you achieve both aesthetic and functional goals.
Complementing Your Style
Room darkening draperies are available in all sorts of colors, patterns, and fabrics like faux silk, velvet, linen, and more to suit your interior design tastes. Whether your home leans toward modern, transitional, coastal, Bohemian, or traditional, you can find suitable blackout drapes.
For kids’ rooms, playful patterns are popular. Textural linens or sleek solids can elevate master suite design. Home theaters may call for rich chenille or velvet in a saturated hue.
Hanging for Maximum Effectiveness
To ensure your blackout curtains optimally prevent light leakage, pay special attention when hanging them. Extend drapery rods several inches past the window frame on all sides so drapes can overlap openings. For total coverage, use double curtain rods to layer lighter sheer panels behind the room darkening drapes.
Selecting Hardware
The right hardware enhances both visual appeal and functionality. Look for room darkening drapery headers across tops, durable clips, smooth glide traverse rods, and weighted hems or ties to prevent pesky cracks of visible light.
For easier operation, consider cordless or motorized remote-control hardware options so you don’t need to reach up constantly to adjust drapes.
Incorporating Additional Touches
To finish the look, accessorize with complementary drapery tiebacks to keep the fabric neatly out of the way. Layer in rugs underneath and decorative valences or crown molding across the tops of windows for a polished framed impression.
Key Takeaways: Decorating with Blackout Drapes
- Room darkening drapes control light and UV rays for sleep, energy savings, and furnishing protection
- Choose drape colors, patterns, and textures that fit your interior design style.
- Hang drapes overlapping windows on all sides for maximum light blockage
- Utilize layering and hardware like dual rods and weighted hems for effectiveness
- Accessorize with rugs, valences, and tiebacks for enhanced decor
Frequently Asked Questions about Room Darkening Drapes
Still wondering if these specialized draperies are right for your Huntington Beach home, and how best to use them? See the answers to these common questions for additional insights.
They start relatively affordable, around $20-$25 per panel for basic big box store options. Pricing increases based on custom sizing, specialty fabrics, lining additions, ornamental details, and hardware upgrades, which can reach several hundred dollars or more per window if desired.
Great options include bedrooms for uninterrupted sleep, home theater spaces for optimal movie viewing contrast, nurseries for daytime naps and children focusing without distraction, or even kitchens if you want to avoid UV damage to furnishings.
Yes, several levels of light-blocking ability are available. Blackout linings filter almost all light, “room darkening” lets some subdued light through, and various thicknesses, like thermal versions, provide different grades of opacity and thermal insulation too.
Contact OM Drapes Design for Your Custom Room Darkening Drapes
Now that you know the many merits of using room darkening drapes when decorating your Huntington Beach home, contact OM Drapes Design to have these window treatments professionally custom-made for your unique needs and style.
Our designers will help select gorgeous fabrics, measure and install drapes to fit your windows, and accessorize for flawless functionality and appearance. We serve all of Orange County out of our Huntington Beach showroom, which features hundreds of fabric choices on-site.
To schedule your initial no-cost, no-obligation design consultation for custom room darkening drapes tailored to your Huntington Beach home’s windows and rooms, call OM Drapes Design today.
