Dim-Out Curtains

Dim-out is the lining most people in Dubai are sold by mistake — and it is also the right answer for a lot of rooms. Both of those are true, and this page exists so you can tell which situation you are in before you order rather than afterwards.

What it actually is

A dense, heavily woven lining with no coating on the back. It is cloth all the way through. Most of the light goes and a soft glow stays — the room reads as evening rather than night. Hold it up to a lamp and you will see that glow; that is the test, and it is the difference between dim-out and true blackout lining, which is coated and stops light dead.

Why it gets sold as blackout

Because it looks like it should be. Dim-out is thick, heavy and often dark, and in a showroom under artificial light a dim-out curtain and a blackout curtain are indistinguishable. The word "blackout" is also unregulated here, so it gets attached to anything dense. The customer finds out in their own bedroom at half past five in the morning, which is the worst possible moment and the most common complaint in this category.

We are not going to do that to you. If dim-out is what suits your room we will call it dim-out, and if you want darkness we will tell you it is the wrong lining.

Where it is genuinely the better buy

Living rooms. You want the glare down and the room still alive. Full blackout in a living room makes it a cave in the daytime, and most people who fit it end up leaving the curtains open anyway.

Home offices and study corners. The problem there is screen glare, not brightness, and glare is solved by taking the edge off the light rather than removing it.

Guest rooms. Comfortable for a visitor, and it keeps the room usable as a second sitting room or study the rest of the year.

Rooms with a view worth keeping. Dim-out behind a sheer gives you a layered scheme without committing the window to darkness.

Where it is the wrong lining

Any bedroom where someone needs to sleep past sunrise. Any nursery where a child naps in the afternoon — daytime darkness is harder than night darkness, and dim-out will not get you there. Media rooms. Shift workers. In all of those, the honest answer is three-pass blackout, and the honest thing for us to do is say so.

What it does for heat and drape

A dim-out lining adds real mass to a curtain, which helps it hang properly and does something for heat on a west-facing window — not as much as a coated blackout lining, which reflects, but more than an unlined panel. It also protects the face fabric by taking the ultraviolet first, which matters more than people expect: the lining usually goes brittle before the fabric fades. The fibre detail is in choosing curtain fabric for a Dubai home. It suits any heading, and stacks tidily on a wave track.

How we work

A supervisor visits your home free, with the fabric books, and holds dim-out and blackout side by side against your own window so you can see the difference yourself rather than take our word for it. Every window measured twice, one written price per finished window within 24 hours, nothing added later, fitted on the date in your contract rather than a range, with a one-year mechanical and labour warranty. Book a free measurement.

Questions we get asked

Is dim-out the same as blackout?
No, and anyone telling you otherwise is selling. Dim-out is uncoated and glows when held to a light. Blackout carries a coating that stops light dead.

How dark will my bedroom actually be?
Comfortable at night, and clearly light by early morning in summer. If you need to sleep past sunrise, this is not the lining.

Can I put dim-out in some rooms and blackout in others?
Yes, and most homes should. We specify room by room rather than applying one lining to the whole apartment.