Guides

Blinds for a Dhaka bedroom: getting a west window dark enough to sleep

Why a blackout blind still lets light in, how to specify an outside mount, and what to do about the heat that comes with a west-facing bedroom.

A west-facing bedroom in Dhaka has two problems at once, and most people only solve the first. The light wakes you at six. The heat keeps the room uncomfortable until well after sunset. A blind chosen for one does not automatically fix the other.

Why your blackout blind still lets light in

Because "blackout" describes the fabric, not the installation.

A blind mounted inside the window reveal has to be cut a few millimetres narrower than the opening so that it can move without catching. Daylight finds that gap, runs down both edges, and in a room that is otherwise dark it reads as two bright lines on the wall. The fabric is doing its job perfectly; the geometry is not.

How to specify a genuinely dark bedroom

Ask for an outside (face) mount and say so before the measuring visit, because it changes the measurements from the first step:

Overlap two to three inches on each side of the opening. More is better. This is what closes the edge gap.
Drop below the sill, not level with it. Light comes up off the sill otherwise.
Mount the bracket line above the opening, four to six inches up, so the stack sits on the wall rather than over the glass.
Check for obstructions first — an AC unit, a curtain rail, a grille. Face mounts need a clear run of wall.

Done that way, a blackout roller gets a Dhaka bedroom genuinely dark. Done as an inside mount, it gets you evening, not night.

Now the heat

Blocking light is not the same as blocking heat, and a plain blackout blind does very little about the second. On a west window in April, the glass keeps radiating into the room long after you have closed the blind.

Two things help:

A blackout honeycomb blind does both jobs in one layer: the aluminised cells block light and reflect solar heat, and the trapped air slows conduction through the glass.
A second blind for daytime. Many bedrooms end up with sunscreen or light filtering for the day and blackout for the night, on the same window. It costs more, but it is the only arrangement that keeps a room usable at three in the afternoon and dark at six in the morning.

If there are small children in the room

Specify a motorised blind, or make sure the chain is fitted with the cleat that comes with it and screwed to the wall. A loose bead chain is a strangulation hazard, and it is entirely avoidable. Never place a cot against a window with a hanging cord.

What to send us

The room's direction, the window's width and height, whether there is a grille or a handle in the way, and whether anyone needs to sleep past sunrise. That is enough for us to specify the fabric and the mount type and send you a price.

Frequently asked questions

My blackout blind still lets light in at the edges. Why?

Because "blackout" describes the fabric, not the installation. The cloth itself passes no light, but a blind mounted inside the reveal must be cut a few millimetres narrower than the opening in order to move, and daylight finds that gap. If total darkness is the goal, mount outside the frame with a two to three inch overlap on each side and a deeper drop below the sill. Say so before we measure and we will size it that way from the start.

Do I measure inside the window frame or outside it?

Both are valid, and they give different results. An inside (reveal) mount looks tidier and keeps the sill usable, but a little light always escapes at the edges. An outside mount overlaps the frame by two to three inches on each side and is the only way to get a genuinely dark bedroom. Tell us which you want and measure accordingly — our /measure guide walks through both with the exact points to record.

Are chain-operated blinds safe around small children?

A loose bead chain is a strangulation hazard, and it is entirely avoidable. Every chain blind we install comes with a cleat or tensioner that is screwed to the wall or frame so the loop is held taut and out of reach — please let us fix it rather than leaving the chain hanging. In a child's bedroom the safest answer is a motorised blind with no chain at all, and cots should never be placed against a window with a hanging cord.

Does a honeycomb blind really reduce heat?

The mechanism is real: the cells hold a layer of still air against the glass, and still air is a poor conductor, so heat crosses the window more slowly. What that is worth depends on your window — a west-facing pane in full afternoon sun benefits far more than a shaded north window, and a double-cell fabric does more than a single. It is a genuine improvement in comfort and AC cycling, not a replacement for the AC.