15 Sound & Light Blocking Window Treatment Solutions

I loved lots of things about living on San Francisco’s Valencia Street: the coffee at Four Barrel, the mariachis at Puerto Allegre, everything at Community Thrift. But the one thing that always got me down was the Valencia Street Yelling Team. Between the constant yelling and the streetlight directly outside my window, falling asleep was a nightly battle. Blackout curtains to the rescue!

Velvet + Wool Curtains:
1. Studded Wool Curtains from West Elm, $79-$89
2. Velvet Grommet Curtains from West Elm, $59-$99
3. Velvet Braided Curtains from Anthropologie, $148-$208
4. How To DIY a Wool Blanket Curtain, from dearly departed ReadyMade

Blackout Curtains:
5 – 6. DIY Blackout Curtains by Make It & Love It
7. Martha Stewart Living Solaris Blackout Curtains from Home Depot, $19.97
8. Threshold Light Block Window Panels from Target, $29-$39 — these got great reviews.
9. Sailcloth Panel with Blackout Liner from Pottery Barn Kids, $49-$69
10. Fifteen Minute, Fifteen Dolla DIY Blackout Curtains by Young House Love
11. Blackout Drape Liner from Pottery Barn, $19-$69 — you can use these under the curtains of your choice.

Blackout Shades:
12. Savannah Roller Shades from JC Penney, $40-$119. According to Good Housekeeping, “this shade earned perfect scores on our professional evaluation for opacity”.
13. North Solar Screen Blackout Roller Shades, recommended by Martha Stewart
14. DIY Blackout Roman Shades by DIY Network

The Future:
15. Sono by Rudolf Stefanich, which “turns your window into an advanced noise cancelling system that allows you to eliminate and/оr control the sounds that pass through”. It’s still in the prototype phase, but here’s hoping you can soon buy a Sono at Target for $14.99. Via Huffington Post.

Bonus Tip: Houzz recommends making sure that your windows are properly caulked: “A mere 1 percent gap in the sound barrier transmits 50 percent of sound”.