What To Do If Your Blackout Curtains Are Still Letting In Too Much Light

Although you may want to brighten up a dark room while you're awake, you may also want your bedroom to feel like a cozy cave when you're asleep. In that case, you can take advantage of the darkness that blackout curtains can create. Granted, there are times when light can still spill in around the curtains, which may be more than just a little annoying. To fix this, the answer is obvious — all you need to do is utilize a few well-placed thumbtacks to address any areas where light might be getting in.

It is an important step to take if your room is too bright. Excessive light can affect the quality of sleep you get and, in turn, lead to various health issues. When light prevents you from sleeping deeply, you might experience depression and changes in your mood as well as a loss of alertness. Poor sleep has also been connected to both obesity and chronic illnesses. Fortunately, blackout curtains can solve the problem only if they work well.

It can be incredibly frustrating to lose sleep after putting up blackout curtains that aren't working to their full effect because some light is still sneaking into the room. However, don't get rid of the curtains just yet. Instead, check out the hack that TikTok user @marisahels offered her followers as her way of handling the situation.

Noting that her blackout curtains tend to be blown away from the wall by the fan she keeps on while she sleeps, she needed something to prevent this fluttering. Pushpins (or tacks) were the solution. Using the pins to securely section the sides of the curtain to the wall, the light that was making its way into the room was then fully blocked out. Although Marisa Helena used clear pins, you could use whatever matches your curtains or simply what you have on hand.

If this doesn't quite work for you, or you don't want to put tiny holes in your wall, don't worry! There's still a way to block out the light completely.

You might have assumed that blackout curtains were the last possible level of defense between you and the light that seeps into your room while you're attempting to get a good sleep. However, you can double-up the darkening action with the help of both blackout curtains and blinds or shades, which may, in fact, be the best option.

Completely spanning the window and extending over each side, it's best to opt for solid blinds instead of ones with slats that won't fully keep light out. On top of that, blackout blinds are often held down by a weighted section at the bottom to keep them from moving. They might also come with a velcro strip that can be attached to your wall or windowsill and lets you tightly secure the blind to keep it from moving and letting in light. If they don't come with strips, you can purchase them and add them to your blinds.

Of course, you can also pop on an eye mask, but you may not need to once you've made your blackout curtains and blinds fully effective and your room wonderfully dark.