Best blackout blinds: The best blackout roller, Roman and skylight blinds for total darkness from £8
Sunshine blasting through your windows long before your alarm goes off can really mess with your sleep. The best blackout blinds block the light completely without costing the earth or needing fiddly installation.
Indeed, the sanctuary offered by blackout blinds and curtains isn’t just essential for good sleep in summer. Babies and children need far more sleep than night time allows, and shift workers – or anyone needing a daytime nap – will know the difference a properly dark bedroom can make.
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Skip ahead to find out which blackout blinds we recommend, or read on for more tips on choosing the right blind to keep out those unwanted rays.
The most important factor in a blackout blind is, of course, its ability to block light. All the blackout blinds we recommend below are praised by buyers for their blackout powers. However you will need to make sure that the blind fits your window, because even the smallest gap will let light flood through. So, among the factors to consider when choosing a blackout blind, look for...
Adjustable width and drop. Measure your window carefully before buying, then cover your back by erring on the large side and buying a blind you can trim to size without interfering with the mechanism. Most roller blinds can be cut length-ways (adjusting the drop), and a few can be cut width-ways. More elaborate designs like Roman blinds usually can’t.
See related Best eye mask: The best eye masks for a great night's sleepBest sleeping earplugs 2022: Reduce nighttime noise from just 35p a pairBest pillow 2022: Sleep easier with one of our favourite microfibre, memory foam and down pillowsVersatile fixing options. These allow you to hang your blind inside or outside the window's frame (a bigger overlap of the frame means less light gets through, since light can't go round corners), or to the ceiling to stop light leaking from the top of the window. John Lewis’ excellent roller blinds can even be flipped round so that the blind sits almost flush to the window.
Moisture-resistant roller blinds are ideal for bathroom and kitchen use, and for any room whose windows suffer condensation in the chillier months.
Insulating backing is well worth spending an extra few pounds on, since it helps to stop the heat that can accompany harsh summer sun. Insulation also helps to keep your room warm in winter.
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Instant temporary blackout blinds are a brilliant invention. These can be stuck to windows in seconds using adhesive strips (perfect for when you’ve moved house and haven’t hung curtains yet) or with suckers, which are easy to remove and reposition, making them ideal for children’s rooms, or when travelling.
Skylight blackout blinds are built into a frame that blocks out the tiniest speck of light when they’re closed. That’s extra important with skylights, given that these windows look straight up to the sun. You can buy Velux blinds that are made to fit specific Velux windows, but we also recommend Bloc skylight blinds, which fit a wider range of roof and loft windows. They’re all relatively easy to fit by yourself, but you may need to include a telescopic pole in your purchase to help you reach the blind.
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The best blackout blinds to buy now
Price: From £35 | Buy now from John Lewis
This beautifully designed John Lewis blackout blind comes in a good range of sizes (widths from 61cm/£35 to 183cm/£65), but you can trim it length-ways or width-ways for a perfect fit. It can also be reverse-rolled to give a closer fit to the window.
The blind’s blackout powers are superb, but it manages to brighten the room at the same time thanks to its fresh, classy print design that would work well in a bathroom or kitchen as well as a bedroom or nursery. The chain mechanism has a child safety lock and can be attached on the left- or right-hand side, and the supplied universal brackets can go inside or outside the window frame, or even on the ceiling. A really versatile, high-quality, great-looking product.
Key specs – Material: Polyester; Drop: 160cm; Widths available: 6; Colours available: Other colours available without pattern
Buy now from John Lewis
Price: From £8 | Buy now from Argos
For under a tenner, these durable wipe-clean blinds from Argos will totally block all external light, and even help regulate temperature with their insulating backing. Like John Lewis’ roller blinds, these are also moisture-resistant and come with a special “p” clip that makes the chain child-safe.
Widths vary from 60cm (£8) up to 180cm (£20), although you can trim the blinds for a better fit, and installation is fairly easy using just three screws. The blinds also come in a really good range of colours, including bright pink and a lovely teal, as well as black, white, grey and taupe.
Key specs – Material: Wipe-clean fabric; Drop: 160cm; Widths available: 5; Colours available: 10
Buy now from Argos
Price: £65 | Buy now from Amazon
Velux’s blind is about as blackout as they come, leaving no gap whatsoever when it’s pulled down. You can buy a telescopic rod in case it’s a bit too high to reach (available separately for £29). The blind’s three-layered Oeko-Tex fabric is backed with aluminium to help regulate the room’s temperature, which is especially important if your loft doesn’t have central heating.
The big catch is that the blind only fits Velux windows, and you’ll need to buy the right sized blind and frame for your window (open the window and look for the code on a silver plate at the top). But its Amazon reviews are among the best we’ve ever seen. More than 1,400 five-star reviews hail the blind’s total blackout powers and say it’s surprisingly easy to install, thanks to the pre-fitted mounting system.
Key specs – Material: Oeko-Tex fabric; Sizes available: 19 (match Velux window code to blind); Colours available: 6
£64.99 Buy nowPrice: £24 | Buy now from Amazon
Temposhade blinds are a marvel of modern window dressing. They’re made from pleated paper so you can cut them easily with scissors, and their strong adhesive strips stick firmly on or above your window. You also use drawing pins in case you don’t want to use the adhesive strip, and neat little clips to hold the blind up during the day. And they really work! They fully block the light, and if your window is on the large side you can overlap two or more blinds to prevent any light leaks.
There are six blinds in each box, enough to black out your whole flat or fill a generous bay window, and they’re so easy to cut and hang that you can get the whole job done in half an hour. We also like using them behind our favourite curtains for extra light-blocking power, and many Amazon buyers love their crisp, modern look enough to hang them permanently.
Key specs – Material: Paper; Drop: 180cm, or 200cm if ironed flat; Widths available: 1 (89cm, cut to fit); Colours available: 2
£24.49 Buy nowPrice: From £45 | Buy now from Next
Roman blinds are a cosy happy medium between roller blinds and comforting – but pricey, bulky and hard-to-clean – curtains. This lovely soft blind folds neatly at the top of your window when you want to let light in, and opens quickly to block all light when it’s time for sleep, or TV, or whatever you’d rather do without the light pouring in.
We like that this blind can be fitted inside or outside the window recess, and to the wall or ceiling, but unlike most roller blinds it can’t be cut to size, so you’ll need to check measurements carefully before buying. Buyers say it’s great quality and easy to fit, and its safety system stops kids and pets getting entangled. It comes in dusky pink or grey, with available widths from 60cm to 180cm (£95).
Key specs – Material: Polyester; Drop: 140cm; Widths available: 5; Colours available: 2
Buy now from Next
Price: From £34 | Buy now from John Lewis
Bloc skylight blinds are compatible with all the main roof window brands including Velux, Roto, Fakro and Rooflite. Like the official Velux blinds, they come with a built-in frame that means they provide 100% light blocking, and they’re relatively easy to install using a handful of screws. Bloc blinds come in a bigger range of colours than Velux blinds, and to help you choose you can order up to five fabric samples by emailing johnlewis@blocblinds.com.
Key specs – Material: Fabric; Sizes available: 17 (up to 116 x 78cm); Colours available: 8
Buy now from John Lewis
Price: £32 | Buy now from Amazon
Whether you frequently travel or you’re looking to make things easier when you move house, The Gro Company’s portable blackout blind is a solid option. The thick material effectively blocks sunlight, while also providing thermal insulation, keeping the room warm in the winter and cool in the summer.
Mounted straight onto the window with suction cups and resized with velcro patches, this blind is versatile enough to fit a variety of windows, and simple enough to make relocating completely painless. After several moves, the suction cups may begin to lose their efficacy, so it’s very important to clean a window thoroughly before mounting, to best ensure the longevity of your portable darkness.
Key specs – Material: Fabric; Sizes available: 1 (Adapts to fit any window up to 130 x 198cm); Colours available: 1
