OT: Room darkening curtains?

[Stephres]

Now that it is summer I would like to sleep a little later than 6:30, but my daughter will not allow it. Does anyone know where I can find something to darken my little rooster's room? Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[dvcnewgirl]

I need these too!

 

[holden]

I had the same problem with my early sleeper/riser. Pottery Barn Kids have great darkening panels that go behind the curtain (you need a double curtain rod, which of course they sell). It makes DD's room completely dark, which is great for her 7:30pm bedtime.

 

[Stephres]

Thanks, I will check it out. Rush order please, LOL!

 

[ntink]

I bought room darkening shades - the vinyl roller type - and they work great

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

I bought room darkening roman shades for our bedroom in Walmart. Our room faces the east and we get that sun full blast too early in the morning.

 

[PJinNYC]

I was thinking of shades too for a quick solution for you.

What I did was I got some room darkening curtain fabric and sewed it to the back of the curtains right below where the rod pocket was. I double stitched it so that it would be nice and strong and hang nicely. If you do this though, make sure that you have a decent weight fabric for your curtain so that it doesn't tear from opening and closing your curtains.

 

[Stephres]

Hmm, I don't have curtains at all, just vertical blinds. And the windows are an odd width too; I haven't been able to find shades that are wide enough. I think I might try regular curtains with the darkening fabric. I will have to see how expensive the Pottery Barn stuff is. Thanks!

 

[TravelinGal]

For DS's room we got a sheet of 1/2" thick insulating foam and I cut it to size. Spray painted one side black (for the darkening properties) using a paint that works on plastic and then spray painted it a second time with a color that worked for our room theme. Put white adhesive paper on the outside so the window had a clean look and made a couple of pull tabs on the bottom (used the same white adhesive shelf liner - just folded it together so it wasn't sticky and then used another strip of shelf liner to hold it in place on the back side) so we could remove it easily.

Not only does it help darken his room, but it also keeps his room warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer.

We don't take it out of the window very often - his room isn't intended for play, but for sleep, so we don't need to mess with it. (that's what the play room - and the rest of the house...LOL - is for)

 

[princesspiglet]

I eventually bought the room darking shades at Walmart, but didn't start off with that. I just used a navy blue fleece blanket we had in the closet and hung it up with thumbtacks over the blinds! It worked quite well until I got the shades. You could try that in a pinch.

 

[Tam1067]

Penney's online and catalogue offers some room darkening cordless pleated shades. I just bought some for all my kids' rooms. They're great. I love how they're cordless. They also allow a tiny bit of light in, just enough so you can see in the room without the lights on. You can either buy the standard sizes (they have a ton of them) or order custom made ones. They come in a ton of colors too.

 

[ohiominnie]

I've used smith and noble in the past for all of my window treatments. We have some AWESOME honeycomb shades in the guest room (faces east) and in the living room (to block out glare on the TV) They are TOTALLY room darkening.
Here's their page about honeycomb shades--some are room darkening, some are not, so make sure you read descriptions
http://www.smithandnoble.com/sn/product_category.jsp?nav_cat=-17994&sch_cat=Honeycomb Shades

They also help with heating/cooling efficiency. And they are custom ordered, so you can get them for odd sized windows.

 

[cheerbop]

I got some darkening blue suede like curtain panels from SmartBargains.com at a great price. I also did just happen to see a darkening curtain thing in the Leaps and Bounds catalog today that you put behind your normal curtain.
We also have some of the darkening roller shades from JCPenney and they were cut to size when we ordered.
I also have a early risers, but hate to say that even the darkening things don't work. All 3 of my boys are up by 7am every day no matter the time they go to bed!!!

 

[Stephres]

Thanks ohiominnie: I will check them out.


Lalalalalalala: I can't hear you cheerbop!

Thanks for the tip about smartbargins.com. I looked up the shades at Penneys and they were awfully expensive for a kid's room (and I want to get two).