Blinds vs. Shades vs. Shutters: Which is Right for Your Home?
Three words used interchangeably in Irish showrooms that mean three genuinely different products. Here's how to tell which one your window actually needs.
The fabric is not the problem
Nearly every complaint about a blackout blind is the same complaint: 'it's still bright in there.' And almost every time, the fabric is doing its job perfectly.
The light isn't coming through the blind. It's coming around it — down the two side gaps, over the top, and under the bottom rail. A recess-fitted blackout roller leaves a gap of several millimetres at each side by design, because it has to clear the reveal to move. In a bedroom facing a June sunrise in Louth or Wexford, that gap is a bright vertical stripe on your wall at half five in the morning.
Solving blackout is an edge-sealing problem, not a fabric problem.
What actually works, in order
Side channels are the answer. An aluminium channel screwed to each side of the reveal, with the fabric edge running inside it, closes the side gaps completely. Combined with a cassette headbox that closes the top, this gets a room genuinely dark. It's the specification hotels use.
A generously face-fixed blackout roller is second best and much cheaper. Mount it on the wall, overhanging the opening by 75–100mm each side and 100mm above. Not perfect, but a very large improvement over a recess fit for no extra cost.
Blackout-lined roman blinds look better than either but leak more, because the folded fabric doesn't seal against the reveal.
Day-and-night blinds do not black out a room. They are excellent products, but they are not a blackout solution, and they are sold as one more often than they should be.
Layering, for people who don't want an aluminium channel
If side channels are too industrial-looking for the room, layer instead: a blackout roller inside the recess, plus generously sized blackout-lined curtains face-fixed wide and high over the top.
The curtain covers the roller's side gaps. It's the traditional Irish solution and it works well, with the added benefit of significant heat retention on a cold north-facing bedroom.
Children's rooms have an extra requirement
Blackout matters most in children's rooms and so does cord safety, and the two pull in opposite directions — a blackout roller with a chain is exactly the cord-loop hazard that safety regulations exist to prevent.
The correct specification for a child's bedroom is blackout fabric with a cordless or motorised operation, and side channels if the budget stretches. A battery-motorised blackout roller has no cord or chain at all and can be scheduled to close at bedtime. It costs more, and in a young child's room it's the right call.
Don't forget the roof window
In attic conversions — increasingly common across Dublin, Cork and the commuter counties — the rooflight is usually the brightest thing in the room by a wide margin.
A standard blind cannot work on sloped glass; it hangs away from it. You need a dedicated roof blind with side channels, in blackout fabric. Get the window's model code from the plate on the sash rather than measuring by hand.
If the room also overheats, choose a solar-reflective blackout fabric rather than a plain black one. Black fabric absorbs heat and re-radiates it into the room.
What to ask for in a quote
Be specific and you'll get comparable quotes. Ask for: blackout fabric, face fix or side channels, cassette headbox, cordless or motorised operation, and confirmation of the overlap dimensions.
If a quote just says 'blackout roller blind' with a recess measurement, you already know what you're going to get.
Ready to price it up?
Compare up to three quotes from vetted fitters in your county. Free, and there's no obligation to book.
Get my free quoteQuestions
Why is light still coming in around my blackout blind?
Because a recess-fitted blind has to clear the reveal to move, so there's a gap at each side. Fit side channels or face fix with a generous overlap — the fabric isn't at fault.
Do day and night blinds work for bedrooms?
Not for blackout. Even with the solid stripes aligned, light passes through the fabric and around the edges. They're excellent for living rooms, wrong for a room you need dark.
What is the best blackout option for a child's room?
Blackout fabric with cordless or motorised operation, ideally with side channels. Avoid any corded or chained blind in a child's bedroom regardless of how good the blackout is.
Will a blackout blind keep the room cooler too?
A plain dark one, not really — it absorbs heat. A solar-reflective blackout fabric with a metallised backing reflects heat before it enters and makes a genuine difference in a south-facing room.