Someone sleeps in daylight
In June the sun rises around 5:30 am, before a toddler should wake, and a night-shift worker goes to bed in full daylight. A strip of light down one side can wake either, so ask how far beyond the frame the track will run.
Blackout curtains in Dubai, sized to cover the edges
Blackout curtains
For rooms that must stay dark
Made to measure in our workshop
Price on visit
If the Dubai sun reaches your bedroom before you want to wake, blackout curtains are worth fitting. The room gets dark when no light crosses the cloth and none gets round its edges. A room used only after dark can skip them. We work out that fit at each window during a free home visit.
Last updated
What should you check on a blackout curtain?
Blackout curtains are lined, coated or woven to keep daylight out. The best for a bedroom block light to every hem and hang straight.
The face
Room side
White, beige or a deep shade: the colour you see doesn't decide how dark it gets.
The back
Blackout lining
Turn it over: a sewn-in lining should run into the side and bottom hems.
The hem
Weighted hem
Weights in the hem keep the curtain hanging straight and close to the floor.
A day sleeper, tall glass, a rental or a projector?
Your glass runs floor to ceiling, or double height
A shop blackout curtain comes in set drops, and even a 300 cm one stops short of the floor under a taller ceiling. Ours are cut to the drop we measure, mostly from fabrics 280 to 320 cm wide, so a drop that long needs no seam. For double-height glass, our fitters bring scaffolding, charged separately.
You rent the flat
Every track we fit is screwed in; we don't fit no-drill systems. A ceiling track already strong enough for a lined curtain saves new holes. At move-out we take the track down, but filling the holes and painting aren't part of our work.
Slides wash out in your meeting room
Close a blackout curtain while you present, and keep a sheer across the glass between meetings to cut the glare. We fit offices, warehouses and hotel apartments as well as homes.
Floor-to-ceiling glass
Sheer, light-filtering or blackout: how dark do you need it?
Illustration, not a measurement
Sheer
Softens daylight and leaves the view open. Once the lamps are lit after dark, it hides little from outside.
Light-filtering
Cuts the glare while the room stays bright enough to read or work by. Enough for most living rooms and home offices; too bright for a bedroom at dawn.
Blackout On this wall
The level for a room where someone sleeps after sunrise. A dim-out fabric falls between this and light-filtering: the room turns dim, not dark.
Why does a closed blackout curtain still let light in?
Light past a closed blackout curtain shows what to fix. A strip at one side means the track stops at the frame; a line along the top, that the curtain hangs below the ceiling. Light in the middle or on the floor means it is too narrow or too short.
Light down one side
| What you see | Why | What closes it |
|---|---|---|
| A strip at one side | The track stops at the frame | A longer track, so the curtain covers the wall |
| A line along the top | It hangs from a pole or wall brackets | A ceiling track, or a box over a wall track |
| A gap in the middle | The two curtains only meet | Edges that overlap |
| Light on the floor | The drop stops short | A drop measured to the floor |
| A glow through the cloth | No blackout lining | A blackout lining or fabric |
What do you choose: lining, heading and layers?
The back of the curtain sets the light through it, and the heading sets the light over the top. You choose both with the fabric at the visit.
Lining
Coated backs: grey, white, cream
Coated blackout fabric
Most of our blackout fabrics carry a silicone coating on the back, in grey, white or cream depending on the fabric.
Sewn-in blackout lining
Sewn behind a dim-out or sheer face fabric, so both hang as one.
Thermal lining or interlining
An extra layer against the heat, which we can add to curtains you already own.
Heading
Eyelet
Pinch pleat
Wave
How each heading hangs
Wave or pinch pleat
Usually runs on a track, which can sit tight to the ceiling.
Eyelet
Hangs from a pole, so some light comes over the top.
Layers
Sheer by day
Blackout at night
Two layers on a double track
Sheer and blackout
Daytime privacy from a sheer on the window-side track; darkness from the blackout curtain on the room side.
What changes for blackout curtains in a Dubai home?
- Heat: closed through the hours of direct sun, a blackout curtain cuts the heat and keeps sunlight off floors and furniture. Choose a pale backing to face the glass: a dark one soaks up heat and passes it in. DEWA's own summer advice includes shading glass, and Dubai's August highs average 42.1°C (Dubai Meteorological Office figures, 1977 to 2015).
- Damp: on the coast, the National Centre of Meteorology has forecast humidity up to 90%. A lining that rests on the glass, or stays shut for days, dries slowly. Leave a gap between lining and glass, and draw the curtain back once the sun has moved off the window.
- Weight: every pull on a heavy lined curtain tugs at its track. Gypsum board alone isn't made to carry that, so we drill it, fit gypsum plugs and fix the brackets before the track goes up.
- Renting: the landlord must agree before the track's holes are drilled (Dubai Law No. 26 of 2007, Article 19). At move-out, Article 21 expects the flat as you received it; Khaleej Times explains both articles. Your contract may allow drilling as long as every hole is filled by the end of the tenancy. This is information, not legal advice.
- Towers: many buildings set rules for a fitting day. We arrange what the building asks of us as the contractor. If an NOC has to come from you as owner or tenant, you request it and pass it to us.
If the room only needs the glare cut, a lighter fabric from the rest of our curtains will do. For a west room, see also heat through west-facing glass.
For a nursery, read about curtains for early-waking bedrooms; for colour, see red curtains with a blackout lining. Add a sheer nearer the glass for daytime privacy, and for a projector, see meeting-room curtains.
If the curtain alone isn't dark enough, add a blackout roller behind the curtain. A ceiling-track heading closes the line of light along the top. On a busy road, look at a heavier lining for traffic noise, and before you compare quotes, see what a quote includes.
A pale back to the glass
What makes one blackout quote higher than another?
The amount of fabric sets the estimate: width × height × your heading's fullness (2.5× for eyelet or wave, 2× for pinch pleat). The calculator prices it at our starting rate per m², making and fitting included, with a 6 m² minimum. The fabric you choose and the measurements from the free home visit set the final price.
Side to side, across the window
Top to bottom, where it will hang
Blackout curtains
- From
- 50per m² of fabric
- Fullness
- 2.5× the window's width
- Includes
- Fabric, making and fitting
- Window
- 200 × 300 cm
- Fabric
- 6.00 m² × 2.5 = 15.00 m²
Estimate
Enter a width and a height to see an estimate.
750
Charged at the 6 m² minimum.
Width × height × fullness gives the fabric; it is charged on 6 m² at least.
The final price depends on the fabric or material you choose and the measurements we take at the free home visit.
Before you compare quotes, see what a full quote lists, part by part.
How does a blackout curtain look at each window size?
A small window
One panel across the whole window.
A bedroom window
A pair on a ceiling track running past the frame.
A wide window
A pair whose edges overlap where they meet.
How does a blackout order run, from message to fitting?
The Curtains Dubai measures your windows at a free home visit, makes your blackout curtains in its own workshop, and fits them.
Samples against the window
Message or call us
Say which rooms must be dark, and at what hours. A photo of each window helps. Home visits run Monday to Saturday, 9 am to 7 pm.
The free home visit
We come anywhere in Dubai to note the width and drop of each window, and where its track can go. We bring fabric samples, so you see them in your room's own light.
Made in our workshop
A deposit confirms the order. Our workshop in Dubai cuts and sews each curtain to the sizes taken at your windows, and fitting follows 3 working days after approval. Big or complicated jobs take longer, so if a baby is due or you move in on a set date, tell us before you approve.
Fitting day
First the track, then the curtains; check each edge in daylight before the fitter leaves. If a curtain we measured doesn't fit, we alter or remake it at no charge. Book the visit for the room that wakes you first: we'll set where its track ends and how far each drop falls.
What do buyers want to know about blackout curtains?
Anything else, ask on the phone: 050 257 7765
How much do blackout curtains cost in Dubai?
Our blackout curtains start at 50 per m² of fabric, making and fitting included, and the fabric you choose can raise that rate. With an eyelet heading, a 2 × 3 m window needs 15 m² of fabric, an estimate from 750. The quote prices each window and each part on its own line, and holds for 30 days.
Blackout curtains or blackout blinds: which keeps a room darker?
A blackout curtain keeps most rooms darker. Its track can run past the frame, so the cloth covers the wall at each side. A roller blind inside the frame leaves a sliver of light down each edge, unless side channels hold it. For a day sleeper, use both, with the curtain closing over the blind.
What is the downside of blackout curtains?
Closed at noon, a blackout curtain shuts out most daylight, so you need the lamps on. The lining adds weight, which calls for a firmly fixed track, and raises the price. When open, the thicker curtain takes more room at each side of the window.
Can you wash blackout curtains?
Read the care label first: it sets how a blackout curtain can be washed. A coated back can crack in a hot wash or a dryer, so keep to the label's temperature. We make and fit curtains, but we don't clean them.
What warranty comes with blackout curtains?
Two warranties of 2 years each cover our blackout curtains: one on the stitching and making, one on our workmanship in fitting them. Sun fading isn't covered by either. If something goes wrong, contact the salesperson who handled your order.
Related curtain pages
R01 Bedroom curtains
Early sun and naps in the room you sleep in.
Made to measure in our workshop
Price on visit
C02 Sheer curtains
The daytime layer that hangs nearest the glass.
Made to measure in our workshop
Price on visit
R04 Office curtains
Meeting rooms, projectors and glare on glass walls.
Made to measure in our workshop
Price on visit
C03 Motorized curtains
When a tall blackout curtain is easier drawn by a motor.
Made to measure in our workshop
Price on visit
Request received
We call or message you on the number you gave to agree a day for the visit. Then we visit and measure every window. The visit and the measuring are free.