A good nights sleep & total blackout blinds | AD

Getting a good night’s sleep becomes as evasive and mystical as the unicorn when you’re a new parent. But total blackout blinds are literally the holy grail and go a long way in making things a little easier.

Sleep deprivation is most definitely a form of torture. And ‘sleeping through’ is a hot topic of conversation; discussed in every playgroup up and down the country. Those first few weeks of life with a newborn can be  pretty exhausting.

And then once you’ve managed to get your angel into a good routine —

Bang

— teething starts.

And so, your good night’s sleep is disturbed once more.

And again when they’re having a growth spurt. Or ill. Or when the clocks change.

Changing of the clocks (bye bye routine)

Aaah the clocks changing.

The clocks going forward has always been one of the highlights of my year. It’s a clear signal that winter is finally over and long light days are ahead.

But when the boys arrived, putting the clocks forward was something that threw us all out of kilter. Losing an hour was bad enough but trying to put them to bed in the daylight was awful.

Even a black-out blind — and curtains with black-out lining — couldn’t stop the light shining around the window frame on sunny mornings like a halo.

And as the sun greeted the world, so my little sons awoke also, and our day began.

Total Blackout Blinds — A Game Changer

I remember going to a friend’s house to stay and they had Velux windows in attic room we were sleeping in.

The blinds that they had pulled down within a frame and made the room so dark it was unnerving. I recall saying to Mr D how weird it was that all blinds weren’t made that way.

And even made a feeble attempt to look for some but failed and gave up looking.

So, last year, when I was asked if I’d like to work with a company called Order Blinds, I mentioned the Velux blind in a frame and asked them if there was an alternative for normal windows.

When they said ‘yes’ I literally couldn’t believe my ears.

Could I have finally found the holy grail? The answer to a good night’s sleep?

In a word, yes.

But the question is;

Why doesn’t everyone know about this? Especially parents of small children?!

This Product Has Changed Our Lives

This product has literally changed our lives? Sounds a little dramatic but it’s SO fabulous. I can’t understand why they’re not more widely used — why everyone doesn’t know about them.

They’re called Total Blackout Roller Blinds. They basically comprise of a metal frame, that fits to your existing window frame, with a blind that sits within it.

This ensures there are no gaps on either side. Or top and bottom — of the window, that you would normally have with a traditional blind.

The other bonus for children’s rooms is the safety factor.

The blinds are spring tensioned, which enables you to raise and lower them with a central tab, rather than cords or pulleys.

They are, quite simply, brilliant*.

The answer to a good night’s sleep

A Little Caveat

*Apart from, if you live in a wonky old house like ours.

Just one thing I would say. The claim ‘Installation doesn’t require drilling and can be fitted in minutes’ is not strictly true. If you have sloping, wonky walls — and window recesses that are not 90° — proceed with caution.

Fitted in ‘minutes’ ended up being months. The first blind that I had diligently measured the window — three times to ensure a perfect fit — for, ended up being scrapped.

We had secondary glazing in a frame on the window of the boys’ room, and I’d not taken this into account.

The glazing  — and its frame — had to be removed and Mr D had to create another, wooden frame, suitable for the Perfect Fit blind. This caused much swearing and even more mess, as removing the original frame took half the wall with it.

Oops.

Are Total Blackout Blinds Worth All The Fuss and Mess?

I am fairly certain that if you live in a new build — or a house that has straight corners — you would not encounter this kind of problem.

But was it worth all the fuss and mess?

Yes. Absolutely. Because you can’t put a price on a good night’s sleep.

And because my words and pictures really don’t show just how effective the Perfect Fit blind is, at keeping the light out. I thought I’d make a little film clip to show you. It’s the shortest film I’ve ever made but perfectly demonstrates how well this blind keeps the light out of the boys’ room.

If you’re woken early — due to the light creeping into your bedroom in the wee small hours — and want a really good night’s sleep, then get one.

I really, really can’t recommend them highly enough.

Many thanks to the team at Order Blinds for bearing with us on this review and being so incredibly patient. Getting the blind to fit our wonky old windows was definitely easier said than done but now it’s up, I couldn’t be more delighted!

This is a collaborative post but all thoughts, words and photographs — as ever — are entirely my own.

Caro Davies

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Caro Davies is a former art-director turned writer and content-creator, and editor behind UK lifestyle blog The Listed Home. She writes about home-related topics, from interiors and DIY to food and craft. The Listed Home has been featured in various publications, including Ideal Home, Grazia, and Homes & Antiques magazines.

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