Blackout Roman Blinds & Window Shades for Room Darkening/ Light Blocking & Insulation

Some rooms are not content with window treatments that just curtail ‘some’ incoming light and ensure ‘a bit of’ privacy;  they need ‘more’. Bedrooms cherish quiet and mood-setting ambience, media rooms deserve theatre-like darkness and nurseries require flawless insulation. A home office may demand a particularly focus-enabling atmosphere while a guest bedroom may ask for ‘polite-isolation’ in a world of its own. Overwhelming missions like these call for sterling champions like blackout roman blinds -  designed specially to insulate, darken and quieten the room - doing ‘more’ than just providing ‘some’ light control and privacy. 

Contrary to popular myths, the great functionality of blackout fabrics does not come at the cost of aesthetics. Rather, The White Window’s blackout roman blinds are a curated collection of the most unexpected colours and swoon-worthy patterns. Does that tempt you to rush to fill your cart? We’re not surprised but we’d like you to spare a moment here to read about our blackout roman blinds so you have all the assistance you need to pick the one that’s right for your home.

A Word About Blackout Fabrics

As their name suggests, blackout fabrics are meant to cause a ‘blackout’ - earning them their momentous ‘room-darkening’ tag. But curiosity cannot hold back from asking how a fabric can achieve that. The secret behind this magical feat is a smart combination of various factors - thick yarn, tight weave, multiple inter-woven layers and thermal coating. Our blackout roman blinds, therefore, act as a super-insulative barrier impenetrable for light, heat and sound. However, not all rooms of the house need such a high level of insulation. Therefore, our collection comprises two types of room-darkening fabrics that vary in their degree of performance -

BLACKOUT FABRICS: These fabrics block up to 98% of incoming light, making them the default pick for the best-performing room-darkening blinds. They also provide reasonable insulation against external heat/cold and sound. Blackout fabrics are highly recommended for bedrooms to create a cave-like dark ambiance that supports deep sleep. They are also ideal for media rooms where pitch darkness is needed for an immersive experience while watching a show. 

DIMOUT FABRICS: Capable of blocking up to 80% of incoming light, our dimout fabrics are a great alternative to blackout fabrics when you don’t want a rigorous level of room darkening. If you hold a torch close to it, you will see a mild glow on the rear side. Since light and heat are two expressions of the same energy, dimout fabrics have that much less of an insulative presence - perfect for rooms that do not need extreme protection from the external environment such as a living room or dining room.

BLACKOUT LINING: While the blackout and dimout fabrics make up the frontage of the roman blind, blackout lining may also be used behind the blinds. Since it shares the same properties as the blackout face fabric, we recommend adding blackout lining to blackout/dimout blinds if you’d like to top up their insulative capacity. Blackout lining is also a perfect alternative to blackout and dimout fabrics if you fail to find a room-darkening face fabric that meets your taste. That means you can select any roman blind from our 2000+ collection and convert it into a blackout blind by backing it with a blackout lining. 

Why You Should Not Miss Out on Room-Darkening Roman Blinds

Blackout roman blinds are primarily sought when a high level of light control is desired. But to reduce it to just this one benefit is to be oblivious to the many other attractive offers hidden within the deal. Opting for blackout roman blinds is signing up for this amazing gamut of benefits that trot along with light control - 

ROOM-DARKENING: All window blinds offer some light control but blackout roman blinds do it much more rigorously. They act as an impenetrable layer to incoming light so when the blinds are down, the room gets darkened. You will still be able to discern the silhouettes of large items in the room - such as a chair or table - and a mild glow of light can also be expected on the frontage of the shade depending on the colour of the fabric and type of lining. But blackouts are the top-notch performers at room darkening that no other fabric can beat.

SOUND ABSORPTION: Blackout fabrics are knit of a very thick yarn in a very tight weave. This helps to control the inflow of sound waves in multiple ways. Obstructed by the thick barrier, most sound waves rebound and those that manage to pierce through get absorbed. So the shrill noises from outside get reasonably softened. Sounds that are generated within the home such as the creaking sounds of wooden floors, squeaking cries of kids and pets, and the whirring sounds of household gadgets also get muffled to a noticeable degree. So, with your blackout blinds on, you get a quieter ambiance that proves to be a great blessing for bedrooms facing bustling streets, home offices that need to cut off from the usual household clamour and nurseries where a little one is desperate to catch a wink.

FOOLPROOF PRIVACY: Blackout window treatments were first introduced in the context of wars to prevent enemies from detecting and bombing inhabited areas. Since they would not allow light to penetrate, detecting a lit house or camp was impossible from a bird’s eye view at night. That’s the same task that blackout window treatments do today, although the context has changed to seeking privacy from neighbours in close-clustered residential areas and symmetrically aligned apartments. By not allowing light to pass through and stopping shadows from being cast on the blinds thereby, blackouts leave outsiders clueless as to which room is occupied or even lit. Such foolproof privacy is indeed of great help if your home is located on a busy street or if your windows face your neighbour's windows.

LONGEVITY OF SHADES: When using a blackout lining, you lengthen the lifetime of your blinds as it protects the face fabric from weathering and sun damage. This is of special advantage to fabrics such as cotton and silk which tend to fade when exposed to sunlight continuously. 

BOOST OF AESTHETIC APPEAL: Blackout fabrics have a thick coating on their rear side that helps present the colour and pattern of the fabric without any distortion. For example, an unlined white roman blind might appear pale yellow when the sun shines behind in full force. However, a blackout white blind will appear a clean white, untinged by the golden light behind it, as it resists light inflow. Similarly, patterns on blackout fabrics also show distinctly with sharp contours. While colours and motifs can appear ‘washed out’ in strong sunlight on unlined blinds,  the same motifs will stand out with clarity on blackouts. 

PROTECTION OF INDOOR FURNISHINGS: Textile, leather and wood furnishings, and accessories that are close to the windows are at the highest risk of premature weathering if exposed continuously to strong sunlight. Electronic and electric gadgets, likewise, tend to become inefficient over time as their interior components become more vulnerable when continually faced with superheated conditions. Since blackout blinds grant protection from harmful UV rays, they also guarantee longer life for all the furnishings and devices exposed to incoming sunlight and heat. 

INSULATION AGAINST HEAT: Heat is the invisible companion of light. The soaring temperatures of the external atmosphere will have a lesser effect on your home if you have blackout blinds as they combat heat along with light. Pull the blinds down at the forenoon so that the strongest rays of sunlight can be averted from entering the house. In this way, your home will stand well-insulated against the heat and your summers are guaranteed to be cooler.

HEAT RETENTION: Blackout roman blinds not only block external heat from entering the room in summer but also prevent the precious thermal energy generated by the heater/boiler from leaving the room in winter. Studies have proven that blackout window treatments cause nearly a 30% decrease in the loss of thermal energy through the windows of a heated room. So, your winters will be warmer and the workload on your heating system will also be reduced.

ENERGY SAVINGS: Since blackout roman blinds reduce the loss of energy, it takes that much less from your HVAC system to sustain the indoor temperatures of the room. And that will reflect in your reduced energy bills -  a great relief for those who are mindful of cutting unnecessary costs and increasing savings. But, the ultimate good is lower emission of greenhouse gases that will have a domino effect on all environmental issues including air pollution and climate change. If you’re a champion of the cause of sustainability, nothing could please you more than making such eco-conscious decisions when curating your home.

DEFENSE AGAINST HARMFUL UV RAYS:  In these times of global warming and heat-induced diseases, extra caution is advised against exposure to UV rays of the sun that are strongest between 10 am and 4 pm. While all materials used for window treatments protect against UV, blackout fabrics outperform all others. 

From top-notch insulation for your home to relief for environmental issues, the blessings that blackout roman blinds bring do not stop at the precincts of your home but affect, even if just in a small way, the entire planet. That’s why, we don’t want you to miss out on blackout roman blinds. Enjoy cooler summers, warmer winters, quieter indoors, darkened bedrooms and the contentment of being kind to nature by choosing to go blackout.

How to Reap Maximum Benefits from Your Blackout Roman Blinds

So, now that you know that blackout fabrics put you on the shortest route to the most insulative blinds, the next step is to find ways to maximise their benefits. Here are a few tips from our home stylists who have assisted several homeowners in achieving maximum results with their blackout roman blinds -

DIMOUT VS BLACKOUT DECISION: Make your choice between the two types of room-darkening blinds based on the level of insulation and light control you’re seeking. It will change from room to room. For example, a blackout fabric is warranted for a west-facing window as it is exposed to the searing sun for the longest time of the day. Conversely, in a little kid’s room pitch darkness may be unwelcome as it can be frightening for a little one. Here, a dimout fabric may do better.

OUTSIDE MOUNTING POSITION: Roman blinds can be mounted in the recess of the window or outside on the wall above. To make the most of the blackout properties of the blinds, we recommend the ‘outside mounting position’ with generous coverage. Extend the shade by a few centimetres on all sides of the window so that light leaks from the edges can be minimised.

PALETTE CONSIDERATIONS: Although all blackout fabrics are designed to control the inflow of light, the palette of the face fabric will have a say in its effectiveness. Since lighter colours reflect more light, you may expect a subtle shine on the frontage of light-toned blinds. On the contrary, dark colours tend to absorb more light,  therefore, dark-coloured blackout blinds may not show any sign of incoming light on the frontage. So, if you want a foolproof arrangement for room darkening, consider darker-hued blackout roman blinds. 

LINING MATTERS: Double blackout layers will yield doubly good results. So, fortify your blackout blinds with blackout lining for foolproof performance in room darkening and a higher grade of insulation. If you are opting for non-blackout face fabrics backed by a blackout lining, remember that the face fabric's colour, thickness and weave somewhat affect the lining’s performance. For example, you can expect more room-darkening capacity from a blackout-lined thick cotton blind rather than a thin loose-woven linen. 

In Closing

From the lulling silence of a sleepy nursery to the moody ambiance of an inviting bedroom, blackout roman blinds have many gifts to offer. With a few thoughtfully made decisions, you can make the most of these wondrous decor accessories that offer top-grade insulation together with the most refined aesthetic appeal. Whether you want the visual treat of flavourful patterns, the play of bold colours or the pristine elegance of pure white, The White Window’s collection of blackout roman blinds will not leave you wanting for more choices. So, get the ball rolling and load your cart with your favourite blackouts that will keep you snug in winter, cool in summer and sleeping deep every single night.

SHEER ROMAN BLINDS | SILK ROMAN SHADES | VELVET ROMAN BLINDS