Best Blackout Shades for Nurseries & Bedrooms

If you've ever tried to get a baby to nap at 4pm in June, you know the problem: most "room darkening" shades still leak enough light around the edges to keep a room frustratingly bright. Getting a room genuinely dark takes more than blackout fabric — it takes the right fabric and the right approach to the gaps. Here's how to do it properly.

Blackout fabric is only half the job

A true blackout fabric blocks essentially all light from passing through the shade. But light also sneaks in around the sides, top, and bottom — the gap between the shade and the window frame. On a standard inside-mount shade, that edge gap is where most of the leftover light comes from. Solving it is what separates a dim room from a truly dark one.

Three ways to kill the light gaps

1. Outside mount, oversized

Mounting the shade on the wall outside the window opening — and extending it several inches past each side and above — dramatically reduces side light. It's the simplest, most affordable way to get a much darker room.

2. Side channels (light-blocking tracks)

For the darkest possible result, side channels are small tracks installed along the sides of the window that the shade rides inside, sealing the edge gap. Paired with blackout fabric, this is as close to total darkness as a shade gets — ideal for a nursery or a shift worker's bedroom.

3. Dual shades

A dual (day/night) roller lets you run a light-filtering shade during the day and a separate blackout shade at night, on one headrail — flexibility plus darkness when you need it.

Best shade types for a dark bedroom

• Blackout roller shades: the cleanest, most cost-effective blackout option, and the easiest to pair with side channels.
• Blackout cellular (honeycomb) shades: blackout fabric plus an insulating air pocket — darkness and energy savings, great for nurseries.
• Plantation shutters with a blackout shade behind: the premium look with true darkness when closed together.

Don't forget safety & convenience

For a nursery, choose cordless or motorized — no cords within a child's reach. Motorized blackout shades are especially handy for a nursery: you can darken the room from your phone without opening the door and waking the baby.

Get it right the first time

The difference between "pretty dark" and "actually dark" is in the details — mount type, overage, and whether you add side channels. On a free in-home visit we'll look at your specific windows and tell you exactly what it takes to get that room dark, then build it to fit.