The Best Blackout Shades for Nursery Rooms
When expecting a new addition to your family, there’s a lot to plan for their arrival and their nursery room is a top priority. Window treatments are an important part of your nursery design, as the right style can provide a tranquil environment that promotes better sleep for your child. With better sleep in mind, blackout shades for nursery rooms are a great choice as they block light for calm, cool atmosphere while providing a stylish, tailored look on your windows. Plus, shades come in a wide variety of styles and material options, so whether you’re going for a chic, neutral design or a charming, vibrant aesthetic, you’ll be able to find the right look for your space.
Cover photo: Blackout Roller Shades, Nate Berkus, Eleo in Navy
Benefits of Blackout Shades for Nursery Windows
Blackout shades for nursery windows are a great choice, no matter the aesthetic style or color scheme of your nursery. They can give you the functionality you need with the look you desire.
Benefits include:
- Room darkening effect for improved sleep quality, thanks to material and lining options that block up to 99% of light through your window.
- Protection from harsh UV rays to prevent fading of your nursery furniture and to reduce glare.
- Enhanced privacy provides you with peace of mind and creates a relaxed atmosphere.
- Energy efficiency for a more temperate environment that can help keep your baby’s room cool and comfortable.
- Cordless and motorized options available for most shade styles, for ease of use and safety, with most cordless and motorized products certified as Best for Kids.
Types of Blackout Shades
Shades come in a wide range of styles so finding the right type of blackout shades for nursery windows is a matter of choosing the best one that best suits your style and your needs. Explore these styles and learn what makes them a good choice for a nursery. Then, learn about how blackout nursery shades compare to nursery curtains to get a better understanding of your broader options.
Blackout Roller Shades
Roller Shades feature material that rolls around a tube at the top of your window. For a blackout effect, you simply need to choose a blackout material.
Why choose Roller Shades:
- Sleek, minimalist aesthetic.
- Easy to mount inside or outside the window frame.
- Super easy functionality, with cordless control available for ease and safety.
- Kid-friendly designs to choose from.
- Green-certified synthetic materials available for safer options.
- Motorization available for effortless control.
Pictured: Blackout Roller Shades, Cora Blackout in White
blackout roman shades
As blackout shades for nursery windows, Roman Shades require blackout lining to provide a room darkening effect. It’s also a good idea to choose a thicker fabric to ensure the best blackout effect.
Why choose Roman Shades:
- Six styles to choose from to get the perfect look with the right functionality.
- Cordless control available with functional styles for ease of use and safety.
- Blackout lining and blackout + interlining available for a room darkening effect and better insulation.
- 650+ fabric options, including kid-friendly designs.
- Motorization available for functional styles for effortless control.
Pictured: Cascade Roman Shade, Luxe Linen in Optic White with Blackout Lining
blackout Woven Wood Shades
Woven Wood Shades offer three styles that are similar to Roman Shades and require blackout lining for a room darkening effect. A fourth style, Roller Woven Wood Shades, are not blackout by nature and not compatible with lining, so you’ll want to choose from Waterfall, Cascade and Standard Woven Wood Shades in order to get a blackout effect.
Why choose Woven Wood Shades:
- All three styles are very functional and easy to use, with cordless control available for improved safety.
- Made of natural fibers like bamboo, reeds and grasses for a sustainable choice and a natural, organic look.
- Blackout lining available for room darkening.
- Motorization available for all styles for effortless control.
blackout cellular shades
Featuring unique honeycomb cells that expand and contract like an accordion when lifted and lowered, Cellular Shades offer a simple, minimalist design. For a blackout effect, make sure to choose a blackout material.
Why choose Cellular Shades:
- Simple, minimalist design.
- Easy to mount inside or outside the window frame, plus, they have a tight fit when inside mounted for optimal light coverage.
- Super easy functionality with cordless control available for safety and ease.
- Beautiful neutral color options available.
- Excellent energy efficiency thanks to honeycomb cells that trap hot and cold air alike.
- Motorization available for effortless control.
Pictured: Cellular Shade, ¾” Single Cell Blackout in Midnight
Blackout Motorized Shades
As you likely noticed, many different blackout shades for nursery rooms offer a motorization option. Motorization offers you effortless control of your nursery window treatments by allowing you to adjust them with a remote, an app on your smartphone or even the sound of your voice when paired with a smart home automation system. Motorized shades are also a safer option with no dangling cords and power cords that are installed out of reach. Some motorized systems even come with a battery powered option with no cords at all except when charging.
Pictured: Flat Roman Shade, Victoria Hagan, Oceana in Slate
Blackout Shades vs Curtains vs Blinds
Shades aren’t the only blackout window treatment for nursery windows. Nursery blinds and nursery curtains are additional options that can provide a room darkening effect. Explore these additional options to learn which is best for your space.
Shades vs Blinds
Blinds traditionally feature horizontal, tiltable slats, typically made from wood or metal. When comparing these blinds versus shades, blinds can offer some room darkening, but typically not quite as good as blackout shades for nursery rooms. Another type of blinds, Vertical Blinds, are not suitable at all as blackout nursery window treatments since they only come in light-filtering materials.
Shades vs Curtains
Drapery can be a great choice for nurseries, especially when lined with blackout lining for a room darkening effect. While shades can be hung inside the window frame or outside of it, drapery is best hung high and wide above the window, with panels that trail to the floor. These long panels do create an opportunity for your child to pull the drapery so monitoring will be essential, but it also provides the best blackout effect and insulation.
Pictured: Outer Layer: Tailored Pleat Drapery, Aberdeen in Bisque and Inner Layer: Waterfall Woven Wood Shade, Laguna in Shell, design by Mindy Gayer
How Do I Completely Blackout My Nursery?
The best way to black out your nursery is actually a combination of blackout shades and blackout drapery. When inside mounted in the window frame, the blackout shade will provide excellent light control, but may still allow some light seepage through the small gap between the shade and window frame. That’s where drapery comes in. With blackout drapery layered over your shades, the panels will block the light seepage creating the best room darkening effect you can get.
Factors to consider for Nursery Blackout Shades
You’ve learned a lot about your blackout shade options as well as some alternatives, and now it’s time to narrow down your choice. Choosing the right blackout shades for nursery rooms depends on your individual needs and the needs of your baby. To help you decide on the right options for your nursery, consider these factors:
- Choose cordless – Cordless window treatments are those that operate without cords or chains. Many blackout shades for nursery rooms have a cordless control option for your peace of mind.
- Create the best blackout effect with the right mounting – If you’re just sticking with blackout shades for nursery windows, it’s likely best to outside-mount your shades on the wall above your window frame or the ceiling. Inside-mounted shades will always leave a small gap between the shade and window frame because no window is perfectly square. By outside mounting your shades, the material will cover the entire window and extend beyond the frame to minimize light seepage.
- Choose safer material options – Many blackout materials for Roller Shades offer green certifications like OEKO-TEX® which indicates minimal chemical use in the production of the material and GreenGuard® which indicates little to no chemical emissions for cleaner air. For Roman Shades and Woven Wood Shades, you have all-natural materials options like linens and wools for Roman Shades and 100% natural fibers like reeds and bamboo for Woven Wood Shades.
- Consider installation – Will you be DIYing your shade installation or relying on professionals? If DIY-ing, there are some shades that are a little easier to install than others, such as Roller Shades and Cellular Shades.
- Take maintenance into account – With a newborn or young child to care for, window treatment maintenance is likely the last thing on your mind. Some materials are easier to maintain than others, such as performance Sunbrella fabrics and other synthetic materials such as those for Roller Shades. These materials are resistant to staining, moisture and stretching, and only require occasional cleaning with a handheld vacuum to remove dust and dirt. If you’re set on a natural material, opt for hardy Woven Wood Shade materials or choose linen, wool or cotton which are much more durable than a more delicate material like silk.
Find the Right Material for Your Blackout Shades
With the insight you need on blackout shades for nursery windows, you’re ready to take the next step in planning for your project. Order free swatches of your favorite materials for your chosen type of shade to compare at home. Be sure to hold samples up to the light to determine if they’ll give you the right level of privacy and light control. For questions on linings and other customizations, visit a local showroom where expert Design Consultants will be happy to assist you. Plus, you’ll find all swatches available for you to peruse in the showroom and take home any you haven’t ordered that catch your eye.
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