Blackout curtains

We live in the far north where summer nights are very light. Our bedroom curtains are all made with full blackout linings
( cream coloured; blackout material doesn't need to be black) but there is a little light seepage at the top where they hang proud of the wall on rings on a pole. The bedroom is dark enough but not pitch black like a cave or coal mine..

If you need pitch black darkness, you' might need blackout blinds covering the whole of each window frame ( top bottom and both sides)

I have Dunelm blackout blinds in my bedroom which faces East and South (dual aspect!)
Dunelm fitted them but I hadn't realised they have a built in a safety device so only pull in short sections.

The magnetic ones sound much quicker.

On the other hand they are very effective so I'm not complaining.

Could you fit a blackout blind behind the curtains?

I’m with CarrotTop. Most roller blinds have light leakage at the sides . For full darkness you need the blinds which fit into a grove all around the windows . They’re expensive.
We have velux blackout blinds in our loft extension and they’re really good .

Our bedroom faces east, too. We had Hillarys blackout blinds fitted this year and they work pretty well. However, the sunlight is so strong and direct that it seeps in at the top and sides. If you want total darkness, go for the type which have a kind of channel screwed to the wall which enclose the blind completely. The blind sits inside the channels, so no gaps between it and the wall. I wish I'd known that before I ordered the bog-standard ones, but I use heavy curtains and a blind.
Pros: Ours work well and run smoothly.
Cons: Choose how dark you really want it to be before ordering. Also bear in mind that they aren't cheap - we had 2 windows done on that side of the house, which cost £600 in total. They are quite big windows, though - about 7' x 4'.

We use blackout curtains, a blackout blind and I wear a mask! East facing bedroom too, that lot usually works.

MT62

You just have to be mindful of the cheaper black out curtains with the bonded fabric as they can give off a plasticky smell.
I bought some from the range to put me on until we decorated.
I had them lined as they weren’t lined.
Actually they are quite heavy.
Another thing is I have steamed them but the creases haven’t come out 💯 %

That’s when I first put them up, steamed with hand held steamer- not brilliant.

You just have to be mindful of the cheaper black out curtains with the bonded fabric as they can give off a plasticky smell.
I bought some from the range to put me on until we decorated.
I had them lined as they weren’t lined.
Actually they are quite heavy.
Another thing is I have steamed them but the creases haven’t come out 💯 %

I bought self adhesive pleated blinds in white and black for kitchen / door ..just cut to width/length ..only £4.00 each🤩 Dunelm

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202609/medium-31qk7u-pxl-20260921-100940159.jpg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202609/medium-5vd8p6-pxl-20260921-100802856.jpg

I use a magnetic blackout blind (from Amazon £12 ish). Cut the material to size. Attach the self adhesive, silver magnets to the window frame and blind, pop it on at night and off in the morning, takes seconds.

My window faces west and this cuts out the extreme heat and glare of the setting sun.

I sleep with the window open but if you were to put the magnets on the frame rather than the window there would be less leakage. As it is, with my lined curtains, my room is almost completely dark.

Photo of the blind and another showing the magnets on the window.

I bought some inexpensive blackout curtains from Dunelm - from their Luna range. They are very effective.

Ditto, except mine came from The Range.

I make my own curtains and line them with blackout material.
They definitely 100% work.

I bought some inexpensive blackout curtains from Dunelm - from their Luna range. They are very effective. The lining is integral to the fabric which makes them very easy to alter. They don't have a lot of weight which might be a plus or minus for you but they are very effective in keeping out light and heat. I ran some weights through the hem to make them hang better.

I can also recommend John Lewis Textured Weave range which have more weight. Again, very good at keeping out light and heat.

They will help but you will still get seepage of light especially round the top edge. A pelmet covering the top edge will stop that