I can’t afford curtains for my room at the moment. I already have a tiny blanket over the one window and a memo board covering the other side, but I want to cover it completely. I don’t have another blanket I can use, most blankets are too heavy to put over a window and would fall. I don’t want people seeing inside my room.
What can I put on my windows other than curtains?
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The old timey thing was to tape up newspapers, but do news even paper anymore? And tape is probably an app. Stupid future.
Clear adhesive paper will make your windows look frosted so that no one can see in. And it leaves no adhesive behind when you take it off.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/EasyLiner-Brand-Contact-Paper-Adhesive-Shelf-Liner-Clear-18-in-x-24-ft-Roll/36139855
If you want to block light as well, only peel away the edges of the backing, leaving the opaque center paper in place.
Bed sheets
Check with your friends or Facebook marketplace to see if anyone has any privacy film for glass windows (check Amazon to see what I mean) left over they aren’t using. I have two rolls sitting in my linen closet and if a friend asked I’d give them the remainder. You never know!
If you’re wanting to block out all light you can use aluminum foil and double sided tape. That’s what I did when I worked 3rd shift so I could sleep during the day. It works extremely well.
Cardboard
Tapestry
A big flag. A national flag. A sports team flag. Anything you can find at a cheap discount store.
Do you have second hand stores in your city ? You always can find very inexpensive curtains there ….. or even cheap sheets
Elmers glue will frost the glass, aluminum foil will stick with windex, thrift stores have really cheap sheets you can hang like curtains,
To give more privacy for first floor windows facing a parking lot, I used some beige colored packing paper smoothed out, cut to size, and some double-sided tape bits. An alternative was some gift wrapping paper or brown paper bags.
In the past I have used a cloth sheet and pushpins at the top of the wood window frame/out of site so I do not damage and risk my security deposit. I have used the tinted plastic sold at hardware stores and it was a big project, more expensive, and really brought out all OCD tendencies…but it cut down on some serious brightness and was a pretty great longer term darkening situation.
Tinfoil
Tissue paper, like the gift wrapping, not the ones you blow your nose with
Tape newspaper over the windows.
Buy a newspaper, wet the pages and smooth them onto the window glass. $2 job done.
Roller shades are probably the least expensive thing. Or cheap blinds.
Find sheets at the thrift store.
Try thrift stores! You can find nice things there 🙂
What a classy bunch, newspaper and cardboard
I have those cheap paper and plastic blinds from IKEA. There are paper ones from family dollar and I think other stores might have them too. I bought dark ones and with a cheap curtain it block enough light so I can sleep.
You can pick up blinds for fairly cheap
OMG such crazy answers. If you have a Home Depot near you – buy paper curtains. They go up with a simple piece of tape and last forever. They have full privacy coverage at night and let some light in during the day because they are opaque. I love them. Comes with clips to raise the bottoms and you can cut them to the size of your window. Super inexpensive and they really look nice. I think a box with six curtains was about 10.00.
You can buy cheap plastic tablecloths for a dollar or two. They are lightweight and come in pretty colors.
Pillows shaped like dinosaurs
Window shades from ikea are very inexpensive.
When I was a broke university student, I bought a cheap shower curtain at the dollar store and put that up with a tension rod (also from the dollar store). Fancy me had a fabric one.
Use cheap alternatives: bedsheets, shower curtains, cardboard, tinfoil, paper, or fabric from a thrift store light, easy, and private.
Blinds
Just use bed sheets. If you only have one set, get a cheap flat sheet from goodwill.
Surf fb Marketplace under the “free” header. Also maybe place an ad on Craigslist asking for what you need. Do you have a Catholic Charities or a Jewish Family Services? People are incredibly generous.
There is an old time product called Glass Wax. It is a window cleaner but you apply it to the window and it dries. You just wipe it off and the windows are clean. You can leave it on the glass indefinitely and will make the windows opaque. Good for privacy but not necessarily for darkening.
Go to the thrift store- all kinds of curtains, sheets or fabric.
Growing up, every window in my house was covered with bed sheets, minus one or two that had blinds.
I have double-pane sliding windows, and managed to fit some thick cardboard between the windows. That proved to be pretty effective!
I ordered window film from Amazon. You dampen the window and press it on. It’s been up more than a year and it’s still snug. I got the rainbow one so neat patterns are on the floor when the sun shines through. You can’t see through it from the outside and when I want to remove it there’s no adhesive left behind.
You could spray it with that stuff they spray on car windows at the dealership. It’s removable, unlike spray paint, but it will stay on and give you privacy.
Black trash bags
Black Sabbath or AC/DC flag in silk black!
Shade
Paint?
I got paper blackout shades. Cut to fit, super easy. Homedepot. Cheap as shit. You can always get a nicer version if you wanted.
I actually have curtains up but they don’t block the light well enough so these are behind them.
Plantation Shutters
IKEA has really cheap blinds for $6. They work well but you get what you pay for with these. Give em a try!
There are stick up accordian blinds
Do you purchase things online? Packing paper and cardboard work well. Use painter’s tape if you tape them to the wall or window sill. Aluminum foil is good.
You can get very inexpensive, lightweight blackout curtains on Amazon. The brand is Nicetown. It’s been a couple of years since I purchased any, but they were around $15 and work well.
Do you know anyone with a sewing machine? Go to a fabric store and buy a few metres of cheap fabric in a pattern you’re happy with. Sew an edge on the bottom and a pocket on the top to run a rod through: curtains!
They have a variety of “blinds” in different price ranges. Temporary paper blinds are 4 for $10. They’re paper, but if you mount them right they look like regular blinds. They also have regular mini-blinds for about $7.00 a window.
Miniblinds
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Mainstays-1-Cordless-Vinyl-Light-Filtering-Mini-Blinds-White-23×64/272658968
Temporary paper shades
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Redi-Shade-No-Tools-Original-Light-Filtering-Pleated-Paper-Shade-White-36-in-W-x-72-in-L-3201090/202674905
Aluminum foil blocks light like nothing else. I worked overnight shifts for 2 years. I would have gone nuts without it.
All of solutions would cost something, if you have to buy supplies, and cheap curtains are like $10.
Maybe you could use a rug, a shower curtain, a bed skirt, a bath mat or even a bath robe or towel. Aluminum foil or butchers paper from the kitchen. You could repurpose a car’s sun visor. You could get some card board boxes and cut them to the right size.
So there are some options there with house hold items, but it may look tacky.
Table cloth or bedsheets
al foil. just have something white to the street.
Epsom salt it actually works. I’ve used this on a bathroom that was visable to the street:
To create a temporary, frosted window effect with Epsom salt, you can dissolve Epsom salt in very hot water or beer, add a drop of dish soap, and then apply it to a clean window. After the solution dries, crystals will form, creating a natural-looking frosted pattern that can be easily removed with a wet rag or by scraping. Method 1: Epsom Salt and Hot WaterThis method creates a temporary, crystalline frost effect.
Method 2: Epsom Salt and BeerThis variation uses stale beer as a binder, which can provide a more consistent, longer-lasting, but delicate, frost.
Tips for Best Results
Do you want black out curtains? You can find those for $10 at the dollar general if you’re in America.
Cheap white shower curtain, a buck-ish at random stores.
I use throw blankets. Like the little fluffy ones. I use push pins to put them in the wall. They are a little thicker but they aren’t as heavy as a blanket and they’re window sized.
I’ve also used beach towels, sheets, a random piece of fabric I found, cardboard, and cheap window cling to cover windows. I like ALL my windows covered, by whatever means necessary.
I hope you find something!
Self adhesive film, frosted or patterned. Lots of people do.
If you are a hippy nail a tie dye bedspread to the windows
Aluminum foil. Helps with keeping heat in as well.
Tin foil. Just dampen the window a tiny bit and it will stick no problem.
Bubble wrap will let in some light as well as adding an insulation layer.
I got some spring rods and paper tablecloths then folded them to size and draped them over the rods. They don’t look half bad and were very inexpensive. Not fancy, but they worked good enough. The tablecloths come in many sizes and colors
Order a decorative window film that is opaque. Amazon.
IKEA do temporary blinds you stick them on and cut them to size you have the option of white and then black for black out – SCHOTTIS
Pleated blind, white, 90×190 cm
Butcher paper. Cardboard. Sheets. We own a very nice house and have shower curtains in our windows.
Lots of plants.
I used sheets because they’re lighter
Get some bed sheets from the thrift store.
Cut to width with about an extra 1.5 inches on both sides.
Use iron-on Stitch Witch, fabric glue or a glue gun to create a hem by turning under .5 inches (press with an iron) and then 1 inch (press) along both long edges.
Do the same at the top but make a pocket about 4 inches deep for a pressure rod.
Hang and check the length. Make about a 3 to 4 inch hem at the bottom and voila. You have curtains.
When i was with my ex we went to the fabric store and picked put some fabric to go over our window
Have you gone to a thrift store. You can often find something for very little money. Curtains if you’re lucky, but other stuff that could work like a dark sheet, or some other item you can repurpose to do the trick.
For years, I used old bedsheets as curtains. A screw on either side of the window frame with a piece of bailing wire between them as a curtain rod.
How can anyone NOT afford curtains. You can get a really cheap set if you can’t get the proper black outs.