Room by room

Nursery blinds: cordless first, blackout second

Two things matter in a nursery window and everything else is decoration. The blind must have nothing a child can loop around their neck, and it must make the room dark enough for a lunchtime nap in June.

UK blind safety is governed by BS EN 13120. Every corded blind we supply is fitted with the required safety device, but in a nursery we push much harder for a fully cordless system.

Room by room: Nursery blinds: cordless first, blackout second in an East Kent home, fitted by Homestyle Blinds & Shutters

Cordless options we fit

Any of these removes the hazard rather than mitigating it.

  • Spring-operated roller blinds — pull down, gentle tug to retract, no chain at all
  • Motorised rollers on a rechargeable battery tube — operated by remote or app
  • Perfect-fit blinds — a small handle on the frame, nothing hanging
  • Plantation shutters — no cord, no chain, and nothing loose to pull

Getting the room genuinely dark

A blackout fabric alone is not a blackout room. Light leaks down the sides of the recess and over the top of the roller, and in a nursery that gap is exactly what wakes a baby at five in the morning.

A blackout cassette with side channels seals those edges. It is the single upgrade that makes the difference between a dim room and a dark one, and it is what we specify for nurseries as standard.

Positioning around the cot

Regulations aside, we will not sign off a fitting where a cot could be moved under an operating chain. At survey we ask where the cot will go and plan the blind around it.

Where the layout is likely to change as the child grows, motorised removes the question permanently.

Room by room - your questions

Yes — looped cords and chains are a recognised strangulation hazard for young children, which is why BS EN 13120 requires safety devices on every new corded blind sold in the UK. In a room a small child sleeps in, cordless is the safer specification.

With a blackout fabric in a cassette with side channels, dark enough that you need the light on at midday. Without channels, expect a soft glow around the edges of the window.

Not for a standard nursery window. Rechargeable lithium tube motors run for months per charge and are recharged with a USB lead — no electrician, no chasing walls.

Always. The fitter demonstrates the tensioner or breakaway at handover and checks it is anchored properly before leaving.

Book before the room is finished

Blinds fitted before the cot arrives means no drilling dust around a newborn. Free measure, no obligation.