So we turn to our Bath Consultant Louise Ball, to offer some advice, and to dispense with a few myths about blackout fabrics.

Modern 3 pass blackout lining is neither bulky nor inflexible and doubles up as an effective thermal lining fabric

Moghul: “Louise, tell us a few things about this most versatile of lining fabrics”:

Louise: “A lot of our customers ask me what blackout lining is? The blackout linings pictured in this blog are 265grms 3 pass linings made from 50% polyester and 50% cotton – which is typical of those readily available on the market. An acrylic coating gives the fabric its blackout properties, and you’ll often see them referred to as “2 pass” or the heavier weight “3 pass” – which derives from the number of times the lining fabric is passed through the coating process. You can purchase fire retardant (“F.R”) OR non fire retardant “NON F.R” linings.”

Moghul: “What colours is it available in?”

Louise: “Typically ivory, cream or white, although some suppliers, such as Evans Textiles have a range of coloured “Evasuede” blackout fabrics available in anything from black and blue through to burgundy, and gold”.

The most common colours for blackout lining are ivory, cream and white

Moghul: “A lot of people talk about thermal lining fabric. What’s the difference between blackout and thermal lining?

Louise: “Thermal lining, like blackout is typically polyester/ cotton construction but lacks the acrylic coating, so if you want a lining that has thermal properties, but you also want blackout, you know what to go for!”

Moghul: “You recently completed the installation of a roman blind in our cherry embroidered Jinda Spot fabric for one of our Bath customers. Can you give us a few reasons why blackout lining works well with made to measure roman blinds?”

A roman blind in our embroidered cotton fabric Jinda Spots shade Cherry, with blackout lining and medium weight interlining

Louise: “There are various practical, as well as aesthetic reasons why you might decide to choose roman blinds over curtains, and here are a few reasons why blackout lining is the perfect compliment to your new made to measure roman blind:

1. It feels like cotton! It’s surprising how many of our customers still have an image of blackout lining as being a thick, rubberised barrier that is practical but not much else. THIS IS WRONG! Blackout lining feels like cotton to the touch and the acrylic coating is so discrete as to not be noticeable.
2. It works like cotton! blackout lining is a little thicker than cotton sateen lining, but otherwise operates in a very similar fashion. It’s extremely flexible and works perfectly with roman blinds
3. It protects the face fabric: blackout lining will shield the roman blind face fabric (the fabric on the front of your blind) from the harmful effects of the sun, giving you the confidence to choose more delicate fabrics, such as silk, for that south facing window. Not only will it protect the fabric from rotting, but it will also prevent the colours of your face fabric from fading over time.
4. It prevents the sun from dissipating the blind’s colours: blackout lining stops the light beaming through your blinds, not only does it protect the face fabric, but it also prevents the sun from diluting those colours /shades that you chose so carefully – as it would otherwise do, as it shone through the back of the blind during daylight hours.
5. It adds strength, structure and substance: because it is a little thicker than cotton sateen lining, blackout lining adds form and support to a roman blind, which is a great attribute particularly when your roman blind is quite wide (see our blog on extra wide roman blinds for more info on this).
6. It’s the natural choice for bedrooms: the obvious one, but blackout lining is a natural choice for all bedroom blinds. Unless you really aren’t fazed about being woken up by the sun, we would always recommend blackout lining for your bedroom blinds.
Moghul: “Finally, do you have any, slightly “off the beaten track” tips that customers should be aware of?

Louise:  “For a roman blind in a south facing window, and particularly when the blind is made the traditional way (with dowelling rod pockets as opposed to pocket tape), you might just consider interlining the blind with a dense composition interlining, as this will prevent the sun penetrating through the blackout lining at the points where it is stitched to the face fabric (what we call the stab stitches). Where dim out, or blackout is a consideration, the blind will be most effective when positioned inside the window recess or reveal, as this will minimise the amount of light that penetrates around the side of the blind. If location inside the recess is not an option, make sure the blind overlap is generous at the sides and bottom edge.

Next week on our blog, Louise will be tackling ways to blackout childrens’ bedrooms with curtains.

The immediate priority was to address the issue of the sun beaming through their south facing windows, and so we recommended an inexpensive roller blind fabric – sheer enough to allow light into the room but sufficiently opaque to negate the glare of the sun coming into the room. The added benefit is that the roller blinds will protect the curtains from the sun, and provide some insulation when the curtains are open (there is a radiator under one of the windows, and so there will be times when they will want the curtains open when the heating is on).

The roller blinds are reverse rolled for aesthetic reasons, and when lowered both lessen the intensity of the sun and protect the curtains

We reverse rolled the roller blinds (which means the fabric falls over the front of the roller blind cylinder). There were two reasons for this. Aesthetically, the blind looks better with the cylinder obscured, but it also enabled us to locate the roller blind close to the wall above the window, which would lessen the required width of the pelmet board.

Some discussions were had as to the relative virtues of poles over pelmeted tracks, and with our guidance, client decided upon a pelmeted solution. She then added her own creative flourish – Schumacher braid to the leading edges of the curtain and the lower edge of the pelmet – which itself would be made to a half/large box pleat design.

After much deliberation, and a search for fabrics that spanned everything that Chelsea Harbour and the wider internet had to offer, client settled upon a linen union fabric in a dusty pink shade from our our Signature Collection.

Double pinch pleat curtains are suspended from an Evans corded (CKS) system track fixed to a 17cm deep pelmet board

Pelmets are a great bedroom solution – for so many reasons. The main driver here was aesthetics – the pelmeted look worked perfectly in this high ceilinged Georgian bedroom, and we were able to get the depth of the pelmet to client’s exacting requirements by producing a mock up of the pelmet after fitting the pelmet board. Pelmets also work wonderfully well in bedrooms for two other reasons.

The pelmet board itself stops light permeating into the room over the top of the curtains. Further dim out measures are taken by returning the curtains to the wall at both sides (sometimes referred to as light lock). And finally, this light lock also maximises the thermal effects of the curtains by minimising the draught that would otherwise seap into the room around the sides of the curtains when closed.

The finished effect - the dusty pink linen union curtains work beautifully with the wall paper and in conjunction with the sheer blinds provide a stunning yet practical solution

The curtains are made with our heavy weight (400gsm) cotton wool domette interlining and ivory blackout lining, to maximise the thermal effect, and to prolong the life of the curtains.

Hmmm. Of course, every journalist needs an angle to give purpose to their weekly offerings, but I think it’s a little dangerous in the soft furnishings world to allow your prejudices to cloud your judgment on any particular client project. Or to put it another way, to provide the ultimate soft furnishings service, you need to recommend the right palette or scheme to suit the location, circumstances and client’s aspirations.

So where are we going with this? Well, we don’t think you can wave your magic journalistic wand and write off one scheme in favour of another. It just isn’t that simple (sorry Katrina!). So if we are advising a customer in a cottage deep in the Cotswolds, pastel palettes, so synonymous with that traditional country classic look may well hold sway.

The pastel hues so in vogue this spring are synonymous with that country classic look

Whereas the striking, so obviously contemporary contrasts of the black and white palette may provide the perfect scheme for that high ceilinged Victorian or Georgian town house in Bath or London, or the uber modern loft apartment in, say Canary Wharf.

Client was keen to reduce the intensity of the sun streaming into her kitchen (granted, this is a little difficult to envisage in this month’s changeable weather!)

We recommended a semi opaque fabric that would lessen the intensity of the sun without totally dimming out the light. Client never intends to completely lower the blinds (Dexter the boisterous chocolate brown labrador being one good reason for this), so we decided to make them just long enought to lower to table level.

The roller blinds (in shade hessian white) reduce the intensity of the sun when lowered, but are scarcely noticeable when fully raised

The low profile of the blinds makes them ideally suited to bifold door environs, where typically there is very little space above or in front of the doors to accommodate curtain tracks or blind mechanisms.

For other blogs in our bifold door series, you may want to click on the following links:

Blinds for bifold doors

Curtains for bifold doors

Laminated roller blinds – a truly made to measure solution

Curtains would always be the first solution where you’re looking for bedroom blackout. But we have a problem. There’s a radiator right under the window, and in the grand proportions of a Georgian house, sill length curtains just don’t look right. Floor length curtains will stop all that precious heat from warming the room in the cold winter months, and for those that say “you can always leave the curtains open whilst the heating’s on”, think of all the heat that you’ll lose through those single glazed windows whilst the curtains are open.

This is exactly the conundrum we were faced with recently, for some charming clients in Bath.

The roman blind sits snugly inside the recess of these Georgian Sash Windows

We suggested curtains inside the recess, but even a Photoshopped mock up couldn’t sell this, admittedly rather “off the wall” option (if you pardon the pun).

So in the end, we all agreed on a pragmatic compromise – a roman blind located inside the recess.

Issues we had to consider: As with any beautiful period property, the windows weren’t completely square, which produces a bit of a headache when it comes to measuring the blind. We wanted the blind to be as snug to the recess as possible to maximise the blackout potential during the summer months, and to minimise draught during the winter.

Typically you would allow 5mm for clearance at each side, but in this case, we specified the roman blind to the exact width of the recess. Also, the ceiling of the recess was about 3cms off horizontal (it dipped on the right hand side), which had to be taken into consideration when planning the drop of the blind.

Thermal properties: We recommended our densest (cotton/wool mix) interlining, which at more than 400gsm is arguably the heaviest on the market whilst not being too bulky. This, when combined with an ivory blackout lining would give the blind fantastic thermal properties – keeping the bedroom cool during the summer months and cosy during the winter. The blackout lining has the added advantage of protecting the cherry red face fabric from the sun’s rays.

Choosing the right mechanism: This is an important, and so often overlooked consideration. Why? because a blind of this size (just under 2 metres drop) with the heavy weight interlining and blackout lining is quite heavy and would be difficult to operate with a traditional cord and cleat mechanism. So we recommended an RBS cartridge (chain operated) roman blind system from Evans Textiles. The chain mechanism is geared, which means the blind is raised and lowered at a regulated speed, which makes it easy to operate and has the added advantage of protecting the blind over time.

But remember – blinds can be a choking hazard! for children left unattended – a particularly acute problem in bedrooms. This is another advantage of the chain mechanism, as the chain can be tensioned on a child safety tension pulley, to keep it out of harms way.

What do we mean by “laminated”? Well, if you thumb through a typical roller blind fabric catalogue from one of the main suppliers (eg Silent Gliss, Louvalite,Sunflex,Luxaflex etc) you’ll see that the fabric is pre-stiffened, or made from a fabric that, by virtue of its stability is suitable for rolling round a blind mechanism.

But if you don’t want to be restricted to a manufacturer’s fabric (eg because you want the roller blind to use a particular fabric from a scheme you’ve put together) the fabric won’t immediately be suitable for roller blinds – because in all probability it will have too much flexibility or “give” in it. So in these circumstances we “laminate” the fabric onto a base cloth. This gives it stability or rigidity and allows it to work on a roller blind mechanism.

Click on above image to view video

In this Cotswolds case study we had the opportunity to take this very bespoke product one step further, by incorporating a motorised, remote control roller blind headrail. The designer we were working with wanted to use a Jinda Spot Ecru from our embroidered cottons collection. Two points are worth noting before we get onto the electrics.

The Jinda Spot is one of our loose weave cottons, and the fact that this can be tamed to work on a roller blind is testament to the effectiveness of the laminating process. Secondly, at 3.36metres wide this is extremely wide for a manufacturer’s own range of fabrics, so to produce a blind this wide with laminated fabric was really pushing the boundaries of what is possible.

Choose your supplier with care: we’ve tried to laminate blinds with a few manufacturers over the years with mixed results, and have only found one that produces a quality of finish that we are happy with (see our previous laminated roller blinds blog for more on this).

Roller blinds don’t just need to be functional, and so to maintain the aesthetics, we located the blind behind a 10cm deep pelmet – which ensures the blind is completely hidden when raised. To finish the look we incorporated lined and interlined, pinch pleat dress curtains at either side of the blind, as pictured below.

The completed scheme - laminated roller blind on motorised remote contol headrail, with fabric covered pelmet and pinch pleat dress curtains

The minimalist living areas call for light management over privacy, and clean uncluttered lines for the stunning, minimalist living space

A duplex apartment in Pan Peninsula with stunning floor to ceiling windows called for a clinical, contemporary look to compliment and augment rather than clutter the minimalist living areas.

There was a small practical issue though. Two of the vertical blind headrail systems would be over 3.4metres long, and, although we have on previous Canary Wharf projects taken hardware up the outside of the building where safe and practical to do so, we were 34 floors up on this particular occasion. So we took to the stair well and carefully threaded the headrails up 68 flights of stairs!

One of the wider vertical blinds - spanning a 3.3 metre wide set of balcony doors. The blind vanes just clear the ceiling air conditioning system whilst narrowly missing the balcony door hardware

To see a video of the above vertical blind in operation click here.

In the bedrooms, where dim out considerations and the need to enclose the space for a cosier feel come a little more to the fore, we suggested 100% linen, interlined, blackout lined curtains with an embroidered tree of life motif.

The curtains were overslung (i.e. hung in front of, rather than underneath) a ceiling fixed, corded curtain track (the CKS system from Evans Textiles), the minimal profile of this sytem making it an ideal track for ceiling fix applications with no pre-installed ceiling pockets or upstands.

100% linen curtains with embroidered tree of life motif bring a touch of softness to the bedroom

Hints and Tips:

Vertical blinds are a great option for city environments where light control or privacy is a consideration, because the blind control rods/cords enable you to tilt the vertical vanes through 90 degrees – giving you a degree of versatility in terms of angling out the light or prying eyes from any given side of the living area – that cannot be achieved with curtains, roman blinds or even venetian blinds.

If you’re worried about the verticals taking up window space when drawn back you can order a headrail that is wider than the actual window space to be covered – so that you can draw your blinds back into the space to the side of your window when they’re not in use.

For tricky corner windows, vertical blinds offer an aesthetic, practical solution:

The tilt control of vertical blinds makes them an ideal application for apartment corner windows

Similarly, the side blinds will be at 90 degrees to the room, which can also give you privacy problems (or in bedrooms diminish the blackout effect of the blinds) because the gap between blind and window will be clearly visible as you walk into the room.

So we were keen to spell out these issues when we were approached before Christmas by a couple who had just recently moved house in Thames Ditton. Following a site technical measure we added to the mix the fact that the blinds were to be fixed inside a box pelmet constructed by the previous owners (which would exaggerate the gap issues mentioned above) and the fact that the ceiling of the bay dropped by 3cms from left to right – which was a particular concern as the fabric they had chosen had a pronounced damask pattern – which would need to be continued seamlessly around the bay – in spite of the drop difference. Oh, and the central blind was a hefty 2.8metres wide – which would raise both fabrication and operational issues!

However they pragmatically (and we think correctly in the circumstances) decided roman blinds were the best option for the bay and so it became our job to tackle and minimise all potential issues…

To maximise privacy, we decided to take the central blind the full width of the bay. The side blinds would then butt up to the central blind an inch or so in from the edge when lowered (as pictured below),

The central blind runs the full width of the bay, overlapping the side blinds to prevent any gaps between each blind when lowered

thereby ensuring 100% privacy (and also minimise draught) by virtue of there being a complete wall of fabric around the bay.

The light/privacy gap issue was potentially greater here without these measures because the three blinds would each be slightly set forward from their corresponding window by being fixed into an existing box pelmet (as pictured above).

The problem of the roman blind folds clashing: would also be reduced by locating the central blind behind the two side blinds, as the central blind folds would simply swing back behind those of the side blinds when raised.

Takling the 3cm difference in drop around the bay would require a little careful consideration. The issues here were two fold. Whilst the sills were level, the ceiling effectively raised by 3cms from right to left. If the central blind was simply fixed up into the ceiling, it would not hang parallel with the windows. Also, any variations in the drop of each blind might also effect what would need to be a seamless horizontal repeat of the damask pattern across the bay.

So we decided to make all three blinds to the smallest (right hand side) drop. Blocks with gradually increasing thickness would then be inserted above the central roman blind mechanism to make it horizontal. We advised that the central blind at 2.8metres wide would be difficult (or exhausting/painful!) to operate with a traditional cord and cleat mechanism, so we instead recommended an RBS chain driven headrail system from Evans Textiles (pictured below).

Blocks with gradually increasing thickness are fitted above the roman blind brackets to bring the blind mechanism to the horizontal

To minimise the gap between blind and window as you walk into the room we suggested traditional cord and cleat mechanisms for the two side blinds – as we could make these to just under 20mm depth (which is just under half the width of the chain driven system). As the drop on the left hand blind was 3cms deeper than the corresponding drop on the right hand blind, the left hand blind would be hung on a 6cm (as opposed to the more typical 3cm) deep batton, so that each blind could be hung at exactly the same distance from the sill.

Roman blind dowelling rods are typically only manufactured to 2.4metres wide, so we lengthened the roman blind rods for the central blind, to bring them up to the required 2.8metre width.

With the three blinds balanced horizontally, the pattern repeats seamlessly around the bay, and the gaps between each blind are kept to a minimum

A three piece hardboard stiffened pelmet: wrapped in the same fabric as the roman blinds was attached by velcro to the existing box pelmet structure, with the distinctive damask pattern repeating horizontally across all three sections of the pelmet, and also tying in with the pattern of the blinds themselves.

The three roman blinds can be raised without their folds clashings as a result of careful placement of the central blind:

With the central blind sitting behind the two side blinds, each blind can be raised fully without the folds of each blind clashing

The key to a successful solution in these circumstances is balancing the client’s requirements on the one hand, with the practical constraints/ challenges presented by bifold doors on the other. Fairly typically there was minimal space between the top of the doors and the ceiling. Roman blinds and roller blinds are often top of the list in kitchen environments, but with too little space above the window for a roman blind to operate, and our client leaning towards a softer, cosier solution than roller blinds can offer, we opted for a single curtain, drawing from left to right.

It was important that the curtain stacked efficiently into the 60cms of space to the left of the window, so we suggested a double pinch pleat heading – one of the most space efficient curtain headings that still has a slightly contemporary edge (which the surroundings required).

The single curtain, although 3.8metres wide, stacks neatly into the relatively limited space to the left of the bifold doors

The client chose one of our loose weave 100% cotton (Jinda Spot) fabrics, which we interlined with our lightest interlining (again to keep stack back to a minimum). To protect these two light layers of fabric from the sun, but also to add a little structure we suggested an ivory blackout lining.

The curtains when fully closed soften the kitchen, help to minimise any draft from the windows and provide that all important privacy from overlooking neighbours

The curtains run the width of the room on a white, powder coated, hand operated  Evans DS system track, chosen because its curved front profile makes it blend seamlessly into the ceiling. Click here for a video of the bifold door curtains in operation.

A note of caution: to cover a space of 3.8metres with the requisite curtain fullness (of just over 200%), the single curtain required 6 widths of fabric. This was pushing at the boundaries of possibility, primarily from a fabrication perspective – our workroom carried it off perfectly without the slightest deviation in drop across the curtain, but were a little uncomfortable making a curtain this wide!