Whether it’s better sleep or more privacy that you’re seeking, a set of blackout curtains like the Deconovo Blackout Curtains might be the answer to your light control problems. Bright light, both natural and artificial, can suppress sleep hormones, which makes controlling light in the bedroom imperative to your sleep health. Blackout curtains are an affordable solution. While they need to be able to block light, they should also be easy to open or tie back for those times you want to let light in. Keep reading to get our take on a set of blackout curtains that are both affordable and attractive.
Effectiveness: Great light blocker
We hung the Deconovo curtains in a bedroom for two little boys. We ordered the 42 x 84-inch curtain panels but received the 42 x 93-inch panels. However, we liked how they pooled on the floor, and the extra length helped trap heat so we kept them anyway. Some light does make it through the curtains during the day, and, of course, you can see sunlight out the edges. So we wouldn’t say that they’re 100 percent blackout during the day. If you worked a night shift and needed complete daytime darkness to stay asleep, you might need two layers of curtains. However, for blocking evening and early morning light that’s less direct, they do a pretty good job. It’s easy to forget how much light from the moon, porch lights, street lamps, and headlights can make it into the bedroom. At night, these blackout curtains kept the bedroom exceptionally dark. They were so effective that the kids were nervous in the complete darkness of the bedroom. We ended up opening them a crack to let in light from the porch. Deconovo also promotes the curtain’s insulation properties. They do keep out some heat (or cold in the winter). We didn’t notice a significant temperature difference in the room once the curtains were hung. However, the room we hung them in doesn’t have extreme temperature changes due to the fact that it looks out onto a covered front porch.
Fabric Quality: Impressive quality but careful with the iron
Some blackout curtains can be stiff, almost like a drop cloth. These curtains definitely don’t fall into that category. You can see the grain of the fabric, and even the tiebacks have beautifully finished seams with strong Velcro. The fabric is thick and heavy but still has excellent drape. The fabric quality and movement that come with the Deconovo curtains will appeal to those who don’t like the stiff look of many blackout curtains. In the full light of the day, they don’t look like curtains that are there for function only. There’s enough interior design appeal that we’d hang them in other rooms too.
Design: Simplicity works
We wanted white because we like the crisp appearance and how white looks in the windows from the outside of the house. Pure white blackout curtains are hard to come by because to make them 100 percent blackout, the curtains either need to be made of thick, stiff fabric or a blackout fabric that causes darkening of the white as light hits it. Deconovo offers 22 color options; the only white color option is grayish-white. Grayish white curtains work in the boy’s Star Wars-themed room, matching with the white, gray, and black bedspreads. Unless a patterned fabric is involved, you don’t usually think about the design of a blackout curtain. They’re two rectangular pieces of fabric, after all. But there are a couple of ways that design comes into play with these curtains, most notably the grommets. Curtains can have many options for hanging like rod pockets, tabs, or ties. The Deconovo curtains use grommets, and they work wonderfully. The large grommets make it easy to install the curtains on the curtain rod and are a cinch to open and close. We’ve also tested some blackout curtains with a rod pocket, and they got stuck on the rod and were far more difficult to deal with. The second design feature we loved was the tiebacks. The finish of the seams was beautiful and the Velcro was well hidden, making them look far more high end than the price suggests. These curtains also come with matching Velcro tiebacks, which are easy to put on and hold the curtains open during the day. We liked that the tiebacks add an extra decor option as you can pull the curtains to the side or tie them in the middle.
Cleaning Ease: Best for occasional washing
The Deconovo curtains are 100 percent polyester and must be hand washed in cool water and line-dried. Their upkeep is fussier than we generally like, especially for use in a children’s room. As expected, folded curtains are fairly wrinkled out of the package. We put the iron on the polyester setting and got to work. Approximately 30 minutes later, the small area we’d been working on didn’t look any different. We bumped up the heat setting one notch, but there were still wrinkles and some of the fabric began to melt to the iron. There was no visible damage to the curtains, but we had to rethink our de-wrinkling strategy. Our next step was to put the curtains in the dryer with a wet cloth even though the washing instructions said not to tumble dry. A good 15 to 20 minutes after that we pulled them out of the dryer to find—the same wrinkles. That’s when we decided to kick our efforts up another notch. We got a thin dish towel, turned up the heat on the iron, added some steam, and tried again. We used the dish towel to prevent the heat from making direct contact with the curtains. This time the wrinkles started to relax. However, we had to use the highest steam setting along with some sweat equity to get out the wrinkles. If you don’t get these curtains dry cleaned, we’d suggest pulling out as many wrinkles as you can while line drying. You’ll save yourself a good 45 minutes or more with an iron.
Price: Great price for good quality
These curtains aren’t expensive, and they have good light control even if they’re not 100 percent blackout in the midday sun. They also offer some thermal regulation. If you’ve got a room that faces the full afternoon sun, curtains like this can be a way to improve the energy efficiency of your home.
Competition: Comparable options vary on quality
NICETOWN Thermal Insulated Blackout Curtains: These curtains give the Deconovo curtains a run for their money. In white, they’re only 50 percent blackout. However, in other colors, they’re closer to 100 percent blackout than the Deconovo curtains. The fabric has excellent drape and feels both heavy and silky to the touch. Deconovo has made a curtain of high quality that looks good but doesn’t cost a fortune. We like all the color options.
