Adding a Darkening Layer to an Existing Roller Shade
Rooms used for sleeping—whether a master bedroom, a guest room, or a nursery—become more comfortable and better insulated when light is blocked out. People often rest more soundly in a dark space, and someone who works nights can benefit especially. Cutting glare in a workspace or on a television also eases eye strain. With a modest budget and part of an afternoon, a roller shade can be fitted with a blackout liner.
By Parker Green11 steps
Attach blackout liner to window shades
Making a bedroom, guestroom, or baby's room darker has practical value: it increases comfort and improves insulation, which can lower costs. A darker room helps many people sleep better, and for a bedroom used by someone who works nights, a blackout liner is a useful upgrade. In work areas and around televisions, cutting glare improves visual quality and reduces eyestrain. A blackout liner can be added to a roller shade in about an afternoon and for little expense, delivering the advantages of a darkened room.
Step 1
Lower the window shade so it covers the entire window. With a pen, put a mark on the shade no less than 1 inch above the window's top edge. Applying blackout liner only where it is needed keeps the shade from becoming too bulky, which helps it roll up properly.
Step 2
Remove the roller shade. Engage the spring by pulling down on the shade's bottom, causing it to roll up. Bring the shade all the way up so it is rolled at the top of the window; use a stepladder if that helps. Two brackets hold the shade, and the one on top is open. Lift the shade on the open-bracket side, raising it clear of the bracket. This frees the opposite side, where the pin in the roller shade's center bar sits in the closed bracket. Hand the shade to your assistant so you can get down from the stepladder safely.
Step 3
Fully unroll the roller shade on a table or another flat surface, with its backside facing up.
Step 4
Lay the blackout liner against the back of the shade. Match one edge of the liner to one edge of the roller shade.
Step 5
Put one end of the liner at the mark you made on the shade. Run the liner down to the shade's bottom, keeping the fabric straight.
Step 6
For an even line, measure the distance from the top of the shade to the mark. On the opposite side of the shade, make a second mark at that same distance from the top. Set a yardstick level with both marks. Using tailor's chalk or straight pins, mark a straight line along the yardstick, then cut the blackout liner along that line.
Step 7
If the blackout liner is wider than the roller shade, trim its other side flush with the shade's edge. Roll the blackout fabric down to the bottom of the shade.
Step 8
Beginning at the bottom of the roller shade, spread fabric glue in four stripes, each 6 inches long. Place one stripe ¼ inch in from each edge of the shade, plus a vertical stripe 1/4 inch from the bottom. Space the remaining two stripes evenly from one another.
Step 9
Unroll the blackout liner onto the shade. Align the bottom of the liner with the bottom of the shade. Keep the fabric edges even with the edges of the roller shade, pressing the fabric gently into the glue. Once you reach the top of the glue stripes, add another 6 inches.
Step 10
Continue in the same way, gluing the blackout liner in sections up to the mark on the shade, so the liner is attached securely. At the mark, add a vertical line of glue to secure the top, then press the blackout liner into the glue. Keep the shade flat while the glue dries for at least two hours.
Step 11
Put the shade back up in the window.
