Blackout Lining Isn’t Just for Bedrooms

It’s easy to think of blackout lining purely as something you choose when you want a dark bedroom.

And of course, that’s one of its main advantages. If you’re trying to reduce the amount of daylight entering a bedroom, blackout lining makes a lot of sense.

But there are other differences between standard and blackout lining that are worth thinking about wherever the curtains are going to hang.

Your Curtains Can Feel More Substantial

Blackout lining is generally a more substantial material than a standard curtain lining.

Once it’s added to the face fabric, it can give the finished curtains a heavier, more substantial feel.

For a large pair of made-to-measure curtains — particularly curtains hanging around a bay window — I personally like that extra substance.

You’re already investing in made-to-measure curtains, so the way the finished curtains look and feel when they’re hanging is worth considering alongside the colour and pattern of the face fabric.

What Happens When Sunlight Shines Through Standard Lining?

This is something people don’t always think about when choosing their lining.

A large pair of curtains will usually be made from several widths of fabric joined together. When strong daylight shines through curtains with a standard lining, you may be able to see where those fabric widths have been joined.

The seams can appear as darker vertical lines running down the closed curtains.

There’s nothing wrong with the curtains when this happens — it’s simply the effect of light passing through the layers of fabric differently around the seams.

But once you’ve noticed those darker lines, you may find them visually distracting.

This can be particularly noticeable with curtains for a large bay window because several widths of fabric may be needed to make the finished pair.

Printed Fabrics Can Sometimes Show Something Else

There’s another less obvious reason I like blackout lining, particularly when choosing a printed curtain fabric.

During the printing and manufacturing process, you can occasionally get irregular dye marks on the reverse of the fabric. These aren’t necessarily something you’d notice when looking at the front of the fabric normally.

However, if the curtains are made with a standard lining and strong daylight shines through them, those darker areas can sometimes become visible as shadows through the face of the closed curtain.

I don’t want to give the impression that this happens with every printed curtain fabric — it doesn’t. It’s simply something that can occasionally happen.

With blackout lining, the light is blocked behind the face fabric, so those marks aren’t illuminated from behind and don’t create the same visible shadowing effect.

For me, it’s another small reason to consider the blackout option. After choosing your fabric, placing the order and waiting several weeks for your made-to-measure curtains to arrive, do you really want to discover something like this when you close them on a sunny day?

Blackout Lining Helps Prevent Light Showing Through the Curtains

Because blackout lining is designed to stop light passing through the curtain, you don’t normally get the same effect when strong daylight is behind them.

That matters in bedrooms, but it can also matter in living rooms.

You might be thinking, “But I don’t close my living-room curtains during the day.”

Most of the time, perhaps you don’t. But there are occasions when closing them during daylight can be very useful.

Think About Hot Summer Days Too

During very hot weather, closing curtains on windows receiving strong sunlight can help reduce the amount of solar heat entering the room.

That’s one situation where living-room or dining-room curtains that are normally open throughout the day may suddenly spend several hours closed.

Blackout lining is useful here because it helps block the strong sunlight rather than allowing it to pass through the curtain fabric.

So even if you don’t need to make the room dark, the ability to close the curtains against strong summer sunshine can still make blackout lining a useful option.

And What About Cold Winter Evenings?

The extra layer provided by lined curtains can also help create a barrier between the room and a cold window area.

That can be particularly useful with a large bay window because there’s a lot of glass separating the room from outside.

Closing the curtains in the evening won’t replace proper insulation or efficient windows, of course, but a more substantial lined curtain can provide another layer between you and the cold glass.

So the same curtains that help deal with strong summer sunshine can also be useful on cold winter evenings.

Is Blackout Lining Worth the Extra Cost?

That ultimately depends on the price difference, the room and what you want from your finished curtains.

But I wouldn’t automatically choose standard lining simply because the curtains aren’t going into a bedroom.

When comparing the options, I’d think about:

• Whether you want to reduce daylight passing through the closed curtains
• Whether you’d prefer the curtains to have a more substantial feel
• Whether the window receives strong summer sunshine
• Whether the curtains will be closed across a large or cold window during winter
• How much extra the curtain maker is charging for the blackout option

Then decide whether those benefits justify the additional cost for your particular room.

My Preference

If I was ordering made-to-measure curtains for my own home, I’d normally choose blackout lining even if the curtains weren’t for a bedroom.

I like the more substantial feel, I prefer not seeing strong daylight and seam lines through closed curtains, and having the option to block more sunlight on a hot summer day is useful.

That doesn’t mean standard lining is wrong. Plenty of perfectly good curtains are made with it.

It’s simply worth understanding what you’re getting with each option rather than assuming blackout lining is only useful when you want to make a bedroom dark.