It’s so funny you brought this subject up now. I was just looking at black out material. One of our rooms does get a bit too much light in the early morning although no one has complained. It does already have curtains. Instead of buying new black out curtains and replacing the them, I found this material that would be much cheaper. It also helps with noise. I’m going to sew it on the inside of our existing curtains.
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Mike, be prepared for very sore fingers, with a thimble and pair of pliers at the ready. If it’s similar to black out fabric in the UK, it’s sort of coated with a heavy, tough layer of something that does the blacking out, if that makes sense. I had someone line a pair by machine and make a pig’s ear of the job; I had to deconstruct and put together by hand. Curtain fabric, blackout fabric and the outer lining. My hands were very, very sore too.
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A dissenting comment: I do not have any blackout curtaining in my rooms, since I prefer guests who are out and about during the day (they are mostly businesspeople and are out early morning). If you do not provide curtains like this, and show it in your pictures, you have an opportunity to filter guests that prefer leaving daytime.
That being said, if you DO have blackout curtains, highlight them in your photos, as not every curtain or window treatment will accomplish the goal of light free sleep.
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I went with Walmart’s own brand for all my bedroom windows. They have grommets and came in different colors.
Have not received any complaints, they look and feel like normal curtains.
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This is true - didn’t think about it but with blackout curtains, people tend to sleep in. For many hosts, it would be a negative.
We always use the blackout curtains if they are there, but also leave them slightly separated where they join in the middle so the light triggers us to get up and at-'em to start the day.
So true! I had suggested installing black out curtains to my wife a while back and she said, “No. I don’t want guests sleeping in all day!”
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If a block out all the light in the room and don’t put an alarm clock, I’m easily capable of getting up at 4PM. 
I’m thinking of putting in blackout rolls and making them slightly short 
.
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I prefer a really dark room at night, and dislike red or blue computer component lights also. In our str to be in the sleeping cabin ( It’s a vintage trailer) there are heavy, but not black out curtains. I suspect you might notice a rare car driving by. Otherwise its very dark outside. I may install roll up old style shades, after reading all these great comments! For the outdoor curtained bed I made a moon blocker for overhead. Removeable in case someone prefers a big light!
And then there is this… we thought about booking it during our recent trip to the Lapland but in the end decided on a traditional ski cabin and hiked to the Northern Lights vantage, which were best visible over a frozen pond.
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Isn’t that cheating on the ice igloo experience? Mind you, with these I might be tempted but not an ice one; no way!
I actually thought about that too when we decided to get them, but sleeping well is one of the most important factors, if not the most important factor to guests enjoying their stay. We did have two guests suggest getting them though, so I figured it must be a problem.
I’m stuck on feeling that anyone jet-lagged would benefit from blackout curtains helping them get rest and get on schedule. If they want to get up earlier, as has been suggested they can leave curtains opened a bit.
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I wonder how the “no-sew” tape that is ironed on would work.
No sew tape is really messy especially if you want to clean your item. The tape would have to be removed, and the peeled sticky parts will never look clean. Sewing recommended. I am really into customizing our str (to be- only weeks away now;) with unique textiles.
I tried that initially with the “Pig’s Ear” job. Basically, she had not used the full length of black out fabric, leaving a gap at the bottom half of about 2ft. So I used the left overs with stick on tape in the hope it would work. These were for our bedroom, so I don’t have time to be as fastidious as I am for guest rooms. It didn’t work; it bunched up, they didn’t hang properly and eventually came unstuck. If I had used it at the top where they need to be hung, an added problem would be the resulting thickness. I don’t use rufflette, but it would have been really hard work sewing this on if I did, and again, they would not have hung well. I use black, cast iron poles with finials, and metal rings with clips to hang curtains in pleats. This is really cost effective in terms of the amount of fabric needed to cover a window effectively, about half the amount used for rufflette. Again, if the top hem included lining x 2 = curtain fabric, the clipping/pleating job is hard work but possible with two people!
Not that I am obsessed… just more experience over the years than I ever expected to gain. Ikea used to have a selection of good poles, finials and rings; simple and effective. Sadly they’ve cheapened/plasticised their product.
Thanks for the advice. I’m not much of a seamster (I guess that’s the male equivalent for seamstress). I’ll have to rethink the blackout curtains.
You can also buy blackout liners for your existing curtains that are made to go behind them, no sewing necessary. You could also install a blackout shade behind the curtains, although with an inside mount it’s hard to block all the light around the edges.
Ah yes, I would amend my answer of not needing blackout curtains if I lived in the UK. In Spain dawn doesn’t come much before 7.30 most times of the year, but when I am at my daughter’s house in London (think 4 large Georgian windows) I really don’t appreciate being woken at 5 a.m. every day.
I simply can’t believe the pop up ads that find their way here. “Made to measure curtains and blinds” has just appeared. Spooky.
A few months ago, Roger, the Landlord of the pub next door, was exceedingly maudlin, along the lines of “well, I’m not going to be around much longer anyway, so sod the lot of you”… He’s all of 73. His (younger) mother-in-law and I started taking the piss by drawing up an End of Life Care Plan with him, consulting properly on his every wish. What we didn’t realise (as he’s like a teenager), Himself was googling every single wish on the list. He found aged oak barrels we could saw in half for a coffin, yellow silk to line it with, and snow globes that can be personalised, to put his ashes in for mourners. The evening ended with much hilarity but I still have bloody snow globe ads popping up on chrome. The joy is that when Roger becomes a miserable old git again, we bring up the Care Plan and he cracks up laughing once more. It works like magic.
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I have blackout curtains in my listings (and my personal bedrooms).
Some curtains have it built in. If you’re attached to the draperies you have, there are panels that can be added to the back, though they are very plasticky and stiff. Roller shades sound like your best bet, because then it is completely up to the guest to use them. In our listing with heavy blackout drapery, the room is quite dark at any time of day with them closed.
I can sleep with light infiltration at times, but do not prefer it. When I travel, I do a full Audrey (a la "Breakfast’)…earplugs and eyeshades. Total sensory deprivation. 
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