Blockout Roller Blinds

Bedrooms and nurseries are the obvious ones. Shift workers and parents of young children tend to go blockout on every bedroom window. Media rooms and home offices with a screen facing a window are next, because a blockout kills the reflection that a sunscreen only softens.

West and north-facing living rooms benefit too. Drop the blind through the hottest part of a summer afternoon and the room stays noticeably cooler, which takes pressure off the air conditioning. In winter the same coated fabric adds a layer of insulation against a cold pane.

Where they are less suited: a window you want to see out of all day. For that, look at a sunscreen or a double roller with a blockout behind it.

A blockout fabric blocks light through the fabric, but light can still get around it. On a recess fit the blind has to clear the brackets, so there is a thin gap down each side. Light also comes in over the top of the roll. For most people this is fine. For a true dark room, there are three fixes.

First, face fit the blind so it overlaps the window on each side and above. Second, add a pelmet or cassette headbox that closes the gap over the roll. Third, for the darkest result, fit side channels that the fabric runs inside. Tell us the room needs to be dark and we will build the blind that way, or ask in the notes on a DIY order.

Colour matters less than people expect. A white blockout and a charcoal blockout block the same amount of light through the fabric. Pick the colour for the room.

Blockout roller fabrics range from smooth plains to linen-look textures and woven finishes. They come in whites, neutrals, greys and darker tones. The street-facing side is usually white or off-white so the house looks consistent from outside whatever colours you choose inside.

Samples are free. Fabrics look different under your light than on a screen, so order a few, hold them against the wall at the time of day the room gets used, and then choose.

Order free fabric samples

Standard operation is a continuous chain on the left or right side, with a child-safe tensioner that fixes the chain to the wall. Motorised is the alternative: a battery motor inside the tube, a remote, and optional app or voice control through a hub. Motors suit wide blinds, high windows and banks of blinds you want to run together. You can also add a retrofit motor later.

Motorised blinds and retrofit motors