Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

These have been a life changer! I have been doing shift work for over 12 years and I have never found an affordable, effective, yet visually pleasing and convenient option to darken my room for daytime sleep. I've used roller shades, mini-blinds, curtains, room darkening curtain panels, cardboard, blankets, you name it. I've found that the most effective method to block light (cardboard and blankets) is the most hideous to look at. The more visually pleasing options (blinds, shades) inevitably allow glaring rays of light in that always seem to find my face. The past few years, I've let the visually pleasing factor outweigh the effectiveness factor, but I finally got tired of it. So, I went on the search for a solution and came across these shades on several different sites. These shades are paper and marketed as being "temporary". They are essentially a really long piece of pleated, thick, black construction paper with a tape strip on the top that is used to affix it to your window frame. There is no roller or pull cord mechanism, as they are simply folded up/down to the desired level and then held in place by two black clips (they are included and are much like chip-clips). You install them by simply measuring your window opening and cutting the shade with a razor-edge blade, such as a box cutter. The shade is pliable enough I just held it up into to the opening, bending the excess portion of the shade outward, and then marked my cut with a white crayon. I used a straight edge to hold my place, and then with several swipes of the blade, they were cut to size. Remove the strip that covers the adhesive and then you're ready to stick it in place. I attached mine to the metal portion of the inside of the window pane. I removed my blinds, however that wasn't necessary. These shades would have fit just fine behind them. It took a total of 20 minutes to cut and install 3 shades. Now, I will say that part of the reason these work so well for me is due to my color schemes. My bedroom is full of gray, purple and black. So the black shades showing act as an accent to all of that. Had it not been, I would have probably left my blinds up, so the shades wouldn't be visible from the inside. The exterior of my house has gray siding with black shutters, so from the outside it looks like I have black roman shades that go with my exterior colors as well. With regard to the light blocking ability, I have to say I'm impressed. I have one single window on one wall and a double window on another wall. There isn't a glimmer of light visible through my single window. There is a slight amount of light getting through in the middle portion of my double window, however I do have curtains and when they're closed; they seem to trap most of the residual light. I can't speak of the longevity of the shade just yet, but I'll post an update if needed. However, for the job these do and the price (about $6 each), I wouldn't even mind if I had to reinforce the tape or replace them every once in a while. See the attached photos (if I can figure out how to attach them) for further details. The photos were taken minutes apart, during a sunny St. Louis afternoon around 4pm. I had no lights on in the home and no flash on the camera.