Best Window Coverings for Night Shift Workers
Working a night shift can be a very tiring task, which is why it’s so important to be able to sleep when you come home from your shift. However, the daytime sunlight can prove to be a particularly annoying obstacle to getting the rest you need. Additionally, outside noise and uncomfortable heat are more prevalent during the day, and these can both serve as further obstacles to a good day’s rest. In your effort to create the right conditions to sleep in, your best friends are going to be the window coverings you install to block out all these troublesome factors. Here are our recommendations for the best ways to create a perfect daytime resting space.
- Room Darkening Roller Shades
Roller shades are a simple and straightforward option for solving your light concerns. Room darkening fabrics keep out the light to help make your room dark and calm. Mounting them on the outside of your window frame as opposed to the inside helps to cut down on any gaps where light would normally sneak through into your room. They are not perfect and their effects on noise and heat are not as significant as other options, but they are affordable, unobtrusive, and easy to maintain.
- Room Darkening Cellular Shades
Made up of a series of hexagonal fabric tubes, cellular shades provide greater insulation against both noise and heat than roller shades – or indeed, any other form of standard window covering – can. As with roller shades, they can be mounted on the exterior of your window frame to cut down on the gaps through which light will be able to enter your room, but this is, once again, not a perfect solution.
- Blackout Curtains
Blackout curtains use an opaque liner to prevent light from entering your room. They typically extend a fair distance beyond your window frame, which limits the amount of light that can sneak through. They offer some insulation against noise and heat, though not to the same degree that cellular shades do. Once again, they are not a perfect solution, but they will make a major difference.
- Exterior Shades
Another way of blocking light and heat from entering your home is with exterior shades. These systems block light and heat from even reaching your window and are made from sturdy fabrics that can weather the outside conditions. Once again, there may be some gaps in your coverage, but these shades will make a major difference.
- Layering is Key!
While there are many great products on the market that will help to alleviate the annoyance of light, heat, and outside noise while you are trying to sleep during the day, achieving perfect coverage will likely require you to layer your window treatments. Each layer helps to make up for the light gaps in the other layer or layers and provides greater insulative benefits. Layering blackout curtains over room darkening cellular shades, for example, will create great darkness and some of the best insulation that can be achieved for rooms with windows. For night shift workers who need darkness and a pleasant sleeping environment, layering these recommended products will achieve the best results.
