Black Out Shades via everythingsimple.com
You’ve made it. Moved to New York City. Found an apartment that has you the envy of everyone you know. You work hard. You play hard. And you deserve to sleep hard. But, in the city that never sleeps, grabbing that essential shut-eye, can be a challenge.
The noise is easy to block out. Either your building has windows that are properly sealed or heavy enough to take the edge off the loudest taxi horns, or you have a great sound system to drown anything with the soothing sounds of whales or ocean tides. You may also be high enough up in a gorgeous skyscraper, that the noise simply cannot reach you. If so, fantastic. But all of these city dwellings have one thing that you cannot escape: the light.
The Manhattan Skyline, is a thing of beauty from anywhere except your bed when you are tired and trying to get to sleep, and blackout shades are truly your best option in solving this problem.
What are blackout shades and will they go with my décor?
A blackout shade is a type of shade that, when closed, is meant to block any and all light from entering the room from outside. A “true” blackout shade will block light because of the tight fit within the window casing and the shade. The tight fit is meant to cut back on light with little or no gapping between the material and the window itself.
Blackout shades are highly recommended for anyone who lives in New York City or the outer boroughs and has to fight the glare of the skyline lights when they are trying to go to sleep. Blackout shades are also great if you have an entertainment room in your home or apartment where the television or computer screen has to compete with the glare of sunlight or skyline light.
Generally speaking, textiles and options have come so far, that almost anything can be made into a blackout shade. You can customize both colors and fabrics and style. They tend to have a sleeker design (since the focus of a blackout shade is to block all light), and can be styled with valances or draperies if you prefer a more traditional, designed style.
A blackout shade may or may not require a liner (it depends on the brand and the fabrics being used). A roman shade, or a cellular shade, or a honeycomb shade can be made into a blackout shade using blockout materials. So can woven wooden shades. Custom window shading can turn almost any design style of shade into a blackout shade, and allow you to find the perfect balance between your sense of design and your need for sleep.
Will blackout shades mean I can’t let any sunlight into the room?
With a “true” blackout shade, the light will not enter your room when it is down.
If you do not want to have a constant blackout when your shades are lowered, you may go with a room darkening shade rather than a true blackout shade. Room darkening shades can be designed to any level of opacity that you desire. Room darkening shades can be made to make a room very dark indeed, but they are not designed to specifically block all light whatsoever from entering the room (for example halo light from around gaps between the shade and the wall).
