My neighbor leaves her porch light on all night. This really shouldn’t concern me except for the fact that when I lay my head on my pillow at night, her light is aimed directly in my face. My neighbor is a sweetheart, so I would never say a word about it to her. But what’s a girl to do? I had a problem and I needed an answer. My inspiration came, during a particularly restless night sleep: room-darkening panels! I had been meaning to replace the panels I had hanging in my bedroom since I moved in. I’d used the rods from the previous owner and they were wimpy and hung too low. In the middle of the night, however, I knew the answer to my problem was to deal with the curtains and the porch light head on. I sat up in bed at 2:30am and ordered 4 room-darkening panels and two hefty rods. Bruce and I hung the curtains by week’s end. We hung them almost at the ceiling (thereby elongating the room). I have slept like an old dog ever since. (People always say “slept like a baby” but anyone who’s ever had a baby knows that this is not a good analogy). Besides this wonderful sleep, the benefits of room-darkening curtains include:
Saving Money on Your Heating/Cooling Bills is One of The Best Benefits of Room-Darkening Curtains
Because room-darkening curtains are thick, they have an R-Value. This is the capacity of an insulating material to resist heat flow. The higher the R-value, the greater the insulating power. In other words, room-darkening panels insulate! This is great news for you and for Planet Earth. Room-darkening curtains will keep more cold out in winter and more cool in in summer. Draw your room-darkening panels and save yourself some cash!
Preventing Fading of Furniture, Artwork and Rugs is a Benefit of Room Darkening Curtains
If you keep room-darkening curtains closed when you are not in the room, room-darkening panels will block a lot of light. Blocking light is a great friend to your textiles (furniture and rugs) as well as your artwork. Light fades and blocking light helps to stem the tide. No one wants their Van Gogh to fade into a Starry Night or their red, Chippendale sofa to turn pink. So consider room-darkening curtains to protect these investments.
A Final Benefit: Getting a Better Fall and Richer Look at Your Window
The benefits of room-darkening curtains don’t stop there. Because they are “thicker” by design they tend to fall better at the window line. Room-darkening curtains fall better than their unlined or lightly-lined brethren. Choosing these panels, therefor, gives you a better fall to the curtain and a richer look, without the expense of custom-made, heavily-lined drapes. It’s a little, budget-friendly decorator trick worth exploring.
And don’t forget to check your local consignment store or thrift shop for these room-darkening curtains. At Consignments Ltd. we often have room-darkening panels, many times new in the package. People buy the wrong size, wrong shade, etc. and then fail to return them, so they consign them. It will save you some cash if you score them this way. However you acquire them, the benefits of room-darkening curtains are worth it.
For more on the topic of curtains, check out me previous blogs: Spring Cleaning Checklist and Design Tips For Small Spaces.
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