Blinds or curtains to keep the light out?

pigeonpie

We fitted expensive JL curtains with black out lining. Waste of money really as the light comes in the top, even though we left 10cms above the window for the rail. Plus if you do get curtains, make them wider than you need (rail wider too) so they start from 'further away' from the window and light, and so when you close them, they meet easily in the middle so no light shows. We also made ours longer to avoid the problem you also get with blinds - when you have the window open, they blow up a bit, letting light in. Ours are a bit narrow; were measured by JL and think they should have been 10cms wider and another 5cms up.
Tracks are uglier than rails but I think they are closer to the wall so probably let in a bit less light.

tr3mor

Paint the wall where the window is in a dark colour. You'll find that much less light reflects through the gap.

And replace the curtain pole with a rail that is fixed close to the wall and is a good amount wider than the window you want to cover.