Making a bedroom properly dark
Security lights, standby LEDs and a Highveld sunrise before five. How to get a room dark enough to matter, without renovating.
Light is the strongest signal your body clock gets. Bright light in the evening tells it the day isn't over, and light in the early morning pushes you towards waking. In a South African summer the sun can be up before five, and many homes have security lights burning all night. That's a lot of signal.
You don't need a pitch-black cave. But a room where you can't clearly see your hand at arm's length once your eyes have adjusted is a good target.
Start with a test
Go into the bedroom at night with the lights off. Wait a few minutes, then look around. Note every source of light you can see. Most people are surprised by how many there are.
The usual suspects
Windows
Curtains are where most light gets in, and usually around the edges rather than through the fabric.
- Blackout lining can be added to curtains you already have. It's cheaper than new curtains, and you can buy it by the metre and hang it on a separate track.
- Width and height matter. Curtains that stop at the frame leak light on every side. Rails that extend past the window and curtains that reach the floor seal much better.
- Blinds almost always leak at the edges. Pair them with a curtain if you can.
- For a rented flat, removable blackout film or even tinfoil on a guest-room window is a fair temporary fix.
Security and street lights
If an outside light shines straight into a bedroom, see whether it can be angled down, shielded or swapped for a motion sensor. That helps the neighbours too. If it's not yours to change, a well-fitted curtain is the answer.
The little lights
Standby LEDs on TVs, chargers, routers, air conditioners and inverters can light up a room more than you'd think, especially the blue ones. Black electrical tape fixes most of them in a minute. Light-blocking stickers are neater if tape bothers you.
Your phone
Turn it face down, or better, charge it out of reach. Notifications lighting up the ceiling are a small thing that wakes light sleepers.
If you can't make the room dark
A sleep mask is the shortcut. Look for one with a contoured shape that doesn't press on your eyes, and an adjustable strap. It takes a few nights to get used to.
The other half: daylight
Darkness at night works best paired with light in the morning. Opening the curtains soon after you wake, or getting outside for a few minutes in the morning, helps anchor your body clock so that dark at night does more. In a country with this much sun, that part is easy.