Blackout, dim-out or sheer curtains: which does a Dubai home need?

What each one does

A sheer (also called voile or chiffon) is a light, see-through fabric that softens daylight and keeps the view. Dim-out is a dense weave that lets a soft glow through: makers quote anything from about 70% to 98% of light blocked. Blackout is coated or lined, so almost no light passes through the cloth.

Prices are indicative, from our price guide, for one window from 200 × 250 cm to 300 × 400 cm, including fabric, making and standard fitting (October 2026). Your quote at the home visit is the final price, with VAT.

Why a sheer isn't private at night

Whichever side of the glass is brighter is the side that can be seen. By day the street or the next tower is far brighter than your room, so from outside a sheer looks pale and solid. At night, with your lights on, the room becomes the bright side and the sheer turns into a veil people can see through.

Many Dubai bedrooms look straight at another building, which is why a sheer on its own rarely works in a bedroom.

When blackout is worth it

Dubai's earliest sunrise is at 5:28 am, in early June. In summer the sun rises in the north-east, low enough to shine straight into east- and north-east-facing rooms; by mid-October it rises after 6:15, almost due east.

Blackout earns its place wherever someone sleeps after that:

• bedrooms facing east or north-east;
• children's rooms, for early nights and daytime naps;
• shift workers who sleep by day;
• sleep after Fajr in Ramadan.

Light during sleep matters: in a 2011 study of 116 adults, ordinary room light during the hours of sleep cut the sleep hormone melatonin by more than half.

Dim-out for sunny living rooms

West-facing living rooms take the hardest sun of the day in the afternoon. Dim-out cuts the glare on screens and the heat on the sofa, while the room stays light enough to read and walk around in, which is usually what a living room needs.

Colour changes how dim it gets. One maker's figures: a white dim-out blocks about 70% to 75% of light, and the same fabric in charcoal 90% to 95%.

Two tracks, two jobs

A double curtain hangs a sheer and a blackout on two tracks, the sheer nearest the glass and the blackout in front of it, so each can be drawn on its own. By day the sheer is closed and the blackout waits at the side, as in the picture at the top. At night, or for an afternoon nap, the blackout closes too.

It is the usual answer for Dubai bedrooms, and for living rooms that face another tower. Either track can be motorised: we fit Somfy and Fujikawa motors with timers, so the blackout can close on its own before the afternoon sun reaches the glass.

How to make blackout really dark

Blackout fabric stops light passing through the cloth, but light still finds the gaps. Most of what reaches a "blackout" bedroom comes round the edges, so close all four:

1. The top. A track recessed into the gypsum ceiling, or a pelmet, closes the gap above.
2. The sides. Curtains that run past the window frame, or turn back to the wall, close the side gaps.
3. The middle. The two curtains should overlap where they meet.
4. The bottom. Curtains that reach the floor stop the light from below.

A light or white backing facing the glass also turns back some of the sun's heat. The US Department of Energy recommends medium-coloured curtains with white backings, closed on windows in direct summer sun, and in the UAE cooling makes up about 70% of electricity use in the summer months.

Which to choose, room by room

• A bedroom facing east or north-east, or facing another tower: a sheer and a blackout.
• A child's room: blackout, with a sheer if the window is overlooked.
• A west-facing living room: dim-out, or a sheer and dim-out to keep the view by day.
• A living room facing north or south that nobody overlooks: a sheer may be all it needs.
• A study or home office: dim-out, against glare on the screen.

Not sure? Our consultant brings fabric swatches to your free home visit, so you can see each one against your own window, in your own light.