Blockout Curtains

A coated blockout is a single fabric with a light-blocking layer bonded to the back. It is the simpler, lighter option and comes in plains and textures. A lined curtain is a decorative face fabric, such as a linen or a heavier weave, with a separate blockout lining behind it. It gives you the widest choice of colour and texture on the room side, hangs heavier, and insulates better.

A thermal lining is a middle option: it adds insulation and cuts most light but is not full blockout. Use it on living rooms that are cold in winter but do not need to go dark.

Linen face fabrics

Light comes around a curtain, not through it. Fit the track wider than the window so the curtain overlaps the wall on each side, and higher so there is no gap above. Ceiling fixing closes the top gap completely. Where two curtains meet in the middle, a centre overlap stops the line of light. For the darkest result, run the blockout on the back track of a double track behind a sheer and let the sheer cover the edges.

S-fold tracks and headings

A blockout curtain traps a layer of still air against the glass. In winter that slows heat loss through the window, and in summer the coated or lined fabric stops radiant heat from a west-facing pane. Heavier lined curtains also soften noise from a road. For the best result, fit the curtain close to the wall and down to the floor so the air pocket is sealed.

S-fold is the usual heading and gives a blockout a modern look. Pinch pleat suits heavier lined fabrics and traditional rooms. Tracks in white or black, ceiling or wall fixed, single or double. Blockouts are heavier than sheers, so on a wide span a wand or a motor makes them easier to draw. A motorised blockout on a schedule is the simplest way to keep a bedroom cool through the afternoon.

Motorised curtains