The Many Uses of “Black Out” Shades
BWS Design • November 14, 2016

Mention black out shades, and people automatically think of night shift workers, who have trouble sleeping during the daytime. But there are actually many other uses for black out shades besides darkening a room in the daylight hours.

Help Your Baby Sleep Better

If you want your baby or toddler to enjoy a good nap during the day, black out shades can be an invaluable addition to the nursery. And if you want to nap yourself while the baby sleeps, a black out shade in your own bedroom will help tremendously.

Enjoy Complete Privacy

A black out shade eliminates the chance that passers-by can see into your home at night — not even silhouettes!

Afternoon Naps for Grownups

Research has shown that a short — 20 to 40 minute — afternoon nap is good for your health. It renews energy levels and makes you sharper and ready to tackle the rest of the day or prepares you for a special night-time event that you know will run late. A black out shade will truly darken your bedroom, sending a signal to your brain for sleep. A good black out shade will also help with outside noise.

City Sleeping

Even in the middle of the night, most cities are filled with light from nearby buildings, streetlights and neon signs. Block it all out with black out shades so you can sleep in peace.

Essential Equipment for Photographers

Whether you’re a professional photographer, or just take photographs as a hobby, a blackout curtain can control lighting like nothing else, plus make the room you use for developing pictures a true “dark” room!  Many professional photographers carry a sheet of black out fabric with them to photo shoots to control the light according to their needs.

Keeping Cool in Summer

Black out shades on the south side of the house will block passive solar heating on a hot day, keeping your home cooler and helping the air conditioner to run more efficiently too.

Keeping Warm in Winter

A good black out shade can reduce thermal loss through your windows by up to 25%, and look great doing it!

Keep Your Home Theater or Media Room Dark

There’s a reason movie theaters are so dark. The movie screen stands out as the only source of light in the room. The same applies to whatever room you use to watch television. Black out shades will keep it dark and enhance viewing.

Help for Migraine Sufferers

When you get a migraine, or even a severe tension headache, light seems to make it so much worse. Taking your migraine medication or aspirin and then lying down in a completely darkened room will help you feel better sooner, and shaving even 10 or 15 minutes off of the time it takes to get rid of your headache makes having a room with black out shades to retreat to a lifesaver!

Protect Furniture, Floors and Artwork

Nothing fades furniture, carpets, hardwood floors and artwork faster than daily doses of sunlight, especially in the summer. Close your black out shades during the day time and protect your floors and decor.

Computer Viewing

Darkening your home office makes computer viewing easier on your eyes. Glare from the sun on the screen can create eyestrain, especially if you work from home and spend a lot of time on the computer.

Black out shades needn’t be the simple black window coverings you might be thinking of. Virtually any fabric shade can be upgraded to include a black out fabric backing, so black out shades won’t “cramp your style” either. You can also dress them up if you prefer a formal or traditional look by simply layering some beautiful draperies on top of them.

You’d be hard pressed to find a more useful window covering than a black out shade. Get yours today at Just Blinds, serving Central Alabama with top-quality window covering solutions for more than 30 years. Contact us for more information about any of our beautiful window treatments anytime.

Expert Advice by Just Blinds

May 29, 2025
Windows give a home warmth, light, and a view of the outside world. But with the right treatments, you can also use your windows to make your home feel cozy. Coziness is a semse of comfort and familiarity. It defines a charm that feels like home, whether it's the coziness of a warm room in winter, your movie den in the summer. When we think of coziness, we often think of couches, candles, and throw blankets. But your windows play an equally important part. After all, it's your window treatments that frame the light, add softness to your walls, and set the mood for every room. The right window decorations can make your home feel warm and inviting. Using Windows, Drapes, and Shades to Create Coziness  Window treatements create a vibe for your entire room. Drapes, shades, and shutters can be used to create a backdrop of texture, color, and style. They also allow you to control the light levels in your home and even the color of the light. This means that your windows are the best place to start when making a room feel cozy. Layering soft drapes in rich colors is a great way to add that sense of comfort and warmth to a room, while cheerful blinds in soft neutrals can help a room to feel relaxed and welcoming. You can also use drapes or blinds to add a splash of color as a bold accent in any room. These touches combined with glowing sunshine during the day create a cozy and comfortable space. Plants as Cozy Window Decor You can use other types of decor to evoke a sense of coziness, too. We particularly love plants. Leafy green plants love the sunshine as much as you do and thrive when placed in a sunny window. Place an elegant snake plant in the windowsill or hang creeping ivy from a hook near the top of a window frame to make your room feel cheerful and alive with green energy. Plants make a home feel natural and vibrantly lived-in which is perfect for your cozy vibe. For a cozy kitchen, you can even grow fresh herbs in a box on the windowsill that add a delicious aroma and tasty fresh seasoning along with their natural visual appeal. Enhance Your Space with Aromatherapy Speaking of aromatics, you might be surprised how much your windows can take part in cozy aromatherapy. Window treatments like drapes and blinds are fabric that can help purfumes and essential oils linger in the room for days. Cozy scents are often warm aromas like cinnamon, vanilla, lavender, almonds, and coffee. But fresh fruit or floral scents that smell like "home" to you can also add a sense of coziness to each room. Simply spritz your curtains with your favorite scents and each room will subtly carry that comforting smell of home that makes you want to snuggle into the couch and relax at the end of each day. Moody Shade and Maximizing Light When we visualize coziness, light levels often play a role. Your minds eye may see a sun-drenched cottage or a gently lit library as your mental idea of a room that is perfectly cozy. Window treatments allow you to set the mood by reducing or maximizing light to the perfect levels. Well-designed shades and drapes can pull back attractively to maximize light, bathing your room in the warm welcoming glow of sunshine. Or if you prefer a more relaxed coziness, you can use translucent drapes or cellular shades to filter the light exactly the right amount. Diffuse and reduced light filtered through fabric of a warm color can make you feel safe and at peace. Increase Your Happiness with Window Design Your home should feel welcoming, relaxing, and cozy. The right window treatments can help set the stage for a delightful welcome home each night, rejuvinating weekends, and an overall feeling of at-home coziness when you are relaxing in your favorite place. To achieve this goal, you can experiment with home decor changes, including your windows, to achieve your ideal at-home bliss. Contact us today for custom drapes and blinds to complete your cozy room design.
April 23, 2025
Your selection of window treatment products and services is not merely about getting a job done. Rather, if you look hard enough, you can find direct correlations between the type of person that you are and the window treatment that you select. We have created this personality-based guide to help you best discover what kind of window treatment truly matches your spirit. The Dependable Type: Wooden Blinds You are the person that all of your friends can count on. You are the type of person who truly sticks to your plans when you make them, and you are the type of person who will choose wooden blinds for your home. Privacy is important to you when selecting your blinds, and that is why you find yourself pulled into the idea of putting up wooden blinds. Besides that, they happen to be highly functional, and that's not something that you are willing to pass up either. The Planner: Blackout Curtains Those who value truly getting the most value out of their blinds or anything else that they install in their homes will think very carefully about their options. For those people, going with blackout curtains makes a lot of sense. They want to gain as much value as possible out of their options, and they know that they can significantly improve their quality of sleep and so much more when they opt for blackout curtains. These also happen to be a great option for those who work night shifts or other odd hours and yet still want to enjoy their sleep. They need blackout curtains to help increase the quality of that sleep and allow themselves to get their day started right. The Tech Enthusiast: Smart Shades They roam among us: The type of people who are quick to adopt any new technology and get to work figuring out how it can improve their lives. These people are great because they are not afraid to take a risk and because they help to move our society forward. They simply want to get more out of each day, and they often do so by adopting and using the latest technologies. These individuals will gravitate towards smart shades for the following attributes: Innovation - Who wants to stick with the boring old ways of shading one's house? Smarter options are now available, and you better believe that the tech enthusiasts among us are willing to latch on to them. Efficiency - These shades are a more efficient option for those who care about that kind of thing. They can be easily activated and set up to open or close automatically (how cool is that?!). Progressive - The "cool" factor is a big deal for people who fall into this category as well. They might not admit to it right off the bat, but they care deeply about what others think about them. As such, they want window shades that have that cool factor attached to them. The Dreamer: Sheer Curtains Finally, we land upon the dreamer. This is the person who views every day for the possibilities that it can bring. They are not scared off by those with a negative attitude. If anything, they believe that they can change those people! Instead, the dreamer wants sheer curtains because they bring in soft light, open spaces, and bring about a feeling of possibility all throughout the house. Sheer curtains are the ideal option for someone who classifies themselves in this way. They will receive plenty of compliments on their curtains, and they will appreciate how open they are to the world.  Which kind of person are you and which window treatment option makes the most sense for your personality? For more inspiration and ideas, reach out and contact us today.