Balichun Blackout Curtains 63-Inch set of 2 Panels (Beige)

This is our second pair of Balichun curtains. We decided to replace a set of horizontal blind strip in our bedroom. The blinds came with the house but we always felt blinds were for the office not the home. We wanted something warm and cosy.

We ordered a beige pair with bronze colored grommets. These match the previous pair but I noticed they differed a bit from our old ones. The differences have definitely been upgrades. The grommets feel more heavy duty with what feels like a thicker more glossy and most likely harder wearing finish. It’s subtle but you can feel it with your fingers.

The curtains themselves have the same finish on both sides. You can’t tell from a distance but the previous pair had a different texture and looked more like lining on the reverse. These are the same on both sides. You can tell the back from the front by the direction the grommets have been pressed. The seams, which are folded and stitched along the edges about ½ inch inset on the sides, are longer at the top to make room for the grommets and 2 inches at the bottom.

Installing the curtains

Since we were replacing blinds, we had to get new hardware first. The grommets are quite large and look best on a thicker diameter curtain rod. Ours are double rods 1 inch thick for these heavier curtains and about half inch for the inner rod for the sheer lace type curtains that are positioned behind them.

Hanging the curtains is pretty easy. Just thread the rod through the grommets making sure that the starting end faces towards the wall. That way when you’re done, both ends will point towards the wall. Your curtains should have hangers when you hang the rod up with the curtains. It’s best to have the first pleat of the curtains go over the outside hanger. That way you can only pull the curtains one way, towards the middle of the window and the far side will be locked in place stopped by the hanger.

These curtains come wrapped tightly in a rectangular zippered bag. This means there are quite a few creases. I’ve learnt that the best way to remove these is with a steamer. It’s possible to iron them but it’s really difficult without creating more creases unless you have a large flat surface to use as an ironing  board. We used a fairly inexpensive steamer that you use on the hung curtains. Just steam along the seams slowly and gently  and then finish off with slow vertical downwards strokes. It took about 30 minutes to do both and the creases are pretty much completely gone except around the grommets which are a little trickier.

In Use

Once hung up, the curtains are very nice and creamy. They are fairly thick and cut out about 90% of the light. We noticed the difference immediately.  The bedroom, where we hung the curtains, is much darker. Normally I can see fairly well in the dark and the moonlight seeping past the blinds can make it hard to sleep. These curtains black out the light and enable me to sleep much easier. I also noticed that the cold draft was gone. I also noticed that high frequency sounds are absorbed by the curtains so noise produced by vehicles passing in the front of the house and noise produced by rain gets filtered out.

Conclusion

These are really nice curtains that block a lot of light. They look soft and creamy. The beige color reminds me of a late coffee with the soft cream on top. And they feel nice and soft between your fingers. So very nice curtains that only let a dim glow through with direct sunlight on the back of the panels. They would work well in a room where you have a projector screen. I will most likely get a set for my studio for this reason.

 

Disclaimer: I received these curtains in exchange for an honest and fair review.