Ever felt your room is “too bright” even with all the curtains closed? The kind of problem is often due to the curtains! You might have the wrong curtains installed in your room and they’re definitely not serving the purpose completely.
It’s because room darkening and blackout curtains are two different types of curtains. But unfortunately, both these terms are being used interchangeably nowadays — and that is actually what’s causing the confusion. With Fixit Design, the best curtains supplier in Dubai now you can understand how darkening and blackout curtains are different from each other and which one you should get for your space.
What Are Room Darkening Curtains?
Blackout drapes curtains are designed to darken out the room by reducing the daylight entering the room as much as possible. These curtains are made of thick and dense fabric with an added layer of lining or padding to the main curtain to get a darkening effect. They’re also made with simple fabrics like linen or cotton with an added liner at the back for a room-darkening effect. But they never provide a full blackout.
This curtain type offers 70% to 90% room darkness based on the type of fabric you choose for your curtains. If you’re someone who likes to have good sunlight in your room but also wants occasional light control, then these room darkening curtains would do the job for you. Plus, with their wide range of design options, they offer more flexibility in terms of matching your interior decor.
Let’s uncover the pros & cons of these room-darkening curtains to understand them in a better way.
Pros
- Balance Between Style & Privacy:With room darkening curtains, you can have soft light in your room while also protecting privacy. They make a great choice for places where darkness is needed but complete blackout is not necessary.
- Great For Daytime Nap: They can dim the room enough to make it calm and relaxing for a good daytime nap without making it feel like night.
- Reduces Screen Glare: You can reduce screen glare through these darkening curtains in the offices, gaming or media rooms where you need to cut down the light reflection.
- Offers Energy Efficiency: Room darkening curtains provide insulation from heat and cold and help maintain room temperature. This is significantly efficient in reducing the energy bills for air conditioning and heating units.
- Versatility in Design Options: Another significant feature of these curtains is their versatile design options. As these curtains use layers of fabrics to create a darkening effect, you have complete control over the fabric design, type and even the padding and lining options.
Cons
- Light Leaks Around the Edges:If you’re looking for complete blackout, then these curtains are not for you as they don’t provide a 100% darkening effect. Besides, if they’re not installed properly you might also find lights leaking around the edges.
- Needs Lining or Layering: To get a 70 to 90% room darkening effect, these curtains require lining or layers of fabrics, which also makes the curtains quite heavy to handle.
- Less Effective For UV Protection: Although they use layers of fabrics, they still cannot offer full protection from UV rays. And it may lead to furniture fading over time.
- No Sound Insulation: Compared to blackout curtains, room darkening curtains offer a minimum to no amount of sound insulation. That means you might have to face noise even with the curtains drawn.
- May Compromise Privacy: Room darkening curtains can also compromise your privacy as they might give off silhouettes in exceptionally bright rooms or at night.
What Are Blackout Curtains?
Blackout curtains are specifically designed to keep almost all of the light from entering the room. This curtain type is made with densely woven and multi-layered fabrics such as foam and acrylic or rubberized lining that offer a significant amount of light obstruction.
Their designs of blackout curtains in Dubai are known to offer complete light obstruction from almost 99% to 100%. As these curtains are made from densely woven and padded fabric, they also offer thermal and noise insulation, cutting a significant amount of heat & cold along with noise to maintain the relaxing environment inside the room.
Also Read: Best blackout curtains Reviews & Buying Guide
Discover the pros and cons of blackout shades so you can have a thorough knowledge of them:
Pros
- Total Light Blockage: You can get a complete light blockage with blackout curtains, making them a perfect choice where total light blockage is required.
- Thermal Insulation: As they use densely woven fabrics along with added liners at the back, they offer good thermal insulation. No matter how hot or cold outside, these curtains make the room temperature moderate.
- Noise Reduction: Along with light and temperature control, the densely padded fabric used in the blackout curtains also offers great noise insulation by cutting down the noise coming from the neighbourhood.
- Improved Sleep Quality: With their 99 to 100% light blocking, thermal & noise cancellation capacity, they can help you get a quality sleep by making your room dark enough like nighttime.
- No Compromise on Privacy: Blackout curtains offer complete control over light, providing complete privacy. Which means whether it’s day or night, no silhouettes or shadows could be seen on your curtains from outside.
Cons
- Can Feel Too Dark: These blackout curtains often feel too dark for some spaces. Plus, they can also make some rooms very small like caves, especially if they’re used in living rooms or during daytime.
- Heavier to Handle: Compared to room darkening curtains, these curtains use an extra padding layer which makes them heavier than the room darkening ones. Plus, they’re also quite difficult to handle.
- An Expansive Option: Blackout curtains are more on the costly side as they use multiple layers of fabric and extra padding to reach full blackout capacity.
- Limited Style Flexibility: If you need full room blackout, these curtains have limited fabric range and colors as only the dense fabrics and solid colors can help achieve a 100% blackout.
- Not Suitable for All Interior Types: These might not be a suitable choice for all types of interior decor choices, especially the light colored and airy ones. And if used, it might need extra lining and padding – that would further increase the expense.
Room Darkening Vs. Blackout Curtains: A Side-By-Side Comparison
| Feature | Room Darkening Curtains | Blackout Curtains |
| Light Control | 70 to 90% light control, making the room feel relaxed by diffusing the daylight. | 99% to 100% light control, blocking out the light completely like it’s night time even during the day. |
| Privacy | A moderate level of privacy, and may give off shadows or silhouettes if the room is brighter than outside. | Offer total privacy with 0% visibility from outside, whether it’s day or night. |
| Thermal Insulation | A good amount of thermal insulation with a moderate level of energy efficiency. | A strong amount of thermal insulation — no matter how extremely hot or cold outside. |
| Noise Reduction | Minimum level of noise insulation. | A higher level of noise cancellation due to thicker fabrics & paddings used. |
| UV Protection | With light leaking around the edges may reflect some UV rays, causing your interior to be damaged over time. | With complete light blockage, get a high level of UV protection with no interior damage. |
| Cost | Generally more budget-friendly than blackout ones. | A bit on the expensive side due to high-end materials and padding. |
| Best For | For nurseries, offices, living rooms or general spaces that need flexible light control. | For bedrooms, media rooms, and night shift workers requiring total light blackout during the day. |
Which One Do You Need?
Knowing all the differences between the room darkening and blackout curtains, by now you might have understood that these are two different curtain options with different features and uses. That’s why, before going for this type of curtain, you need to ask yourself a few questions to get the right one and it might help you make the perfect curtain choice for your space.
- Do I need a complete blackout or just want to dim the room a bit with a flexible lighting option?
- Does this room require a moderate level of privacy or total privacy?
- What level of noise cancellation does this room need?
- Is the room aesthetic my priority or do I need maximum light control?
Answering all these questions might help you choose the perfect curtain for your space that would fit it perfectly.
Conclusion
Room darkening or blackout curtains both have their own benefits as both are amazing curtain options. But when it comes to making a choice between both of these curtains, you need to keep your requirements and conditions as the top priority. Because when you choose a curtain that fulfills your needs, that means you’ve gotten value for money.
