We are enjoying a house sit in U.K. with very heavy curtains keeping out the early morning light and our previous sit in the U.K. had the same .
Both of these properties are hundreds of years old with original wooden single glazed sash windows . So the heavy curtains keep the heat in and the cold out during the winter too .
Modern homes are well insulated and don’t require curtains for keeping warm .
I’m in the UK, I love waking up at daybreak. I too have blinds in my ‘home’ (I use that term loosely nowadays), because I’m from the North East where it rains more, so I find curtain fabric gets more foisty than blinds. Curtains don’t get renewed as often as other soft furnishings.
I hadn’t realised it until now, because I’m definitely a morning person, but you’re right, the majority we sit for have blinds or shutters too. But I don’t care what others have, it’s just my preference to have blinds for my own ‘home’.
@Oztravels Almost 60 woman here and not dead yet 
Good question @traveltails 
There are curtains, but they still let in light. Perhaps you’re referring to shutters?
I lived in Ireland for more than 20 years and never really fully got used to it. I’m originally from Italy where we’re used to have shutters, like aluminum roller ones that allow to make it completely dark inside.
On the first years I was awake at 4 or 5 in the morning and a zombie during the rest of the day.
Eventually I had to start wearing a sleeping mask. It gets misplaced during the night, but it still helps.
I find that a pair of knickers over your head is more effective.
This is also a useful hack if you’ve forgotten your shower cap.
UK citizen here. I have curtains in my bedroom - not blackout, but they do the job - and blinds in my son’s room.
My mother-in-law’s (60) house looks over a valley and she doesn’t have curtains in her bedroom. Personally, I would struggle to sleep in the summer with that much light, but i guess it’s different strokes for different folks.
Thank you to everyone who took the time to answer. As a Brit who was born and raised and lived her entire life in continental Europe it’s interesting to learn how ‘native’ (if that’s even the word I’m looking for) Brits feel about this. It’s also interesting to learn how people from other countries feel. I think nature intended for us humans to rise and go to bed according to sunlight. But even as an early riser, 4.30-5 AM in the summer is too early for me! I caved and purchased an additional two travel blinds as the eye mask didn’t really work that well for me and I decided my sleep is worth the extra £40!
interesting. maybe there is something to do with individual biology too.
this is hilarious! i feel for Harry the dog!
that’s interesting because many of the houses I’ve stayed in have had thick curtains in the living room and I wonder why? why would you need total darkness in the living room but not in the bedrooms?
that’s really interesting because i was thinking that with the changing climate homes in the UK will need shutters now which is a crazy thought.
wow someone else said the same thing so I must have been really unlucky as all bar 1 or 2 of my sits have had slatted blinds that let most of the light in.
yes i experienced this to a lesser extent when i lived in Northern Scotland for a while and struggled to sleep in the summer.
oh wow so i’ve been really unlucky with all of my sits lol
So what i’ve experienced in the majority of my sits are what i think are called venitian blinds (the slatted blinds). I’m used to aluminium roller blinds (or wooden shutters) same as you as this is prevalent in my home country so I’ve been used to sleeping in total darkness my entire life. Same as you I feel like a zombie being woken up at 4 every morning
exactly! interesting to see different perspectives from different Brits.
so like i mentioned i did buy a mask but it moves around so while it helps i still get woken up multiple times and eventually can’t fall back to sleep. but i’ve now purchased travel blinds.
yes it all makes sense. but i’m of the opinion that it’s good to have options i.e. keep the curtains open when you want the light and close them when you don’t. curtains and rods aren’t expensive and are easy to install.
There are a number of reasons. A lot of our UK housing stock is old and some houses are draughty. You want to be cosy when sitting, relaxing and most of us do that in the lounge/sitting room/drawing room/ living room /front room (it goes by lots of names). Whether you’re reading, sewing, watching tv or just chatting a cold draught is uncomfortable. I find the light can cause glare on my tv screen too so sometimes the curtains are drawn against the light.
My sitting room curtains, a matching Roman blind in the dining area (thick and upholstered in the same fabric) were around £1000. The blinds for my bedrooms, kitchen, cloakroom and bathroom didn’t cost even a third of that all added together!