Would installing window awnings actually cool down my west-facing bedroom?

Awnings are significantly more effective than blackout curtains because they stop the heat before it ever touches your glass. Once the sun hits your window, the thermal energy is already inside the house. Curtains might block the light, but the air trapped between the fabric and the glass is heating up like a convection oven, eventually spilling into the room. This is especally true on the west side where the afternoon sun is at its most intense and hits at a lower angle. I've seen this exact scenario with west-facing bedrooms where the wall is brick or heavy siding. Those materials act as a **thermal battery**, soaking up heat all afternoon and then radiating it into the room for hours after sunset. If you can keep the sun off that wall and the window frame entirely, you'll see a much bigger drop in temperature than any interior solution could provide. Retractable cloth awnings are great, but even a fixed metal or polycarbonate one will do the job.

Since you have to keep the door shut for the cats, you're also dealing with zero air exchange. The room is basially a pressurized box of hot air. If an awning is too big of a project right now, look into **exterior solar shades**. They install on the outside of the window frame and can block up to 90% of UV rays before they hit the pane. You can still see through them a bit, but they kill the heat transfer immediately. Another thing to check is the weatherstripping on that specific door. If the rest of the house is cool and that room is a sauna, you might actually be trapping the heat in more effectively than you realize. But start with the exterior shade or awning. Moving the 'battle line' from the inside of the glass to the outside is the only way you're going to get that 5-10 degree difference back under control.

Spot on about moving the battle line outside. When you stop the glass from turning into a radiator, the difference is night and day. One thing that usally gets missed is the door undercut. Since you keep it closed for the cats, check the gap at the bottom of the bedroom door. If it's too tight against the carpet, your HVAC can’t pull the hot air out trough the return vents elsewhere in the house. A half-inch gap can make a massive difference in letting that room actualy circulate air instead of just baking.

That thermal battery thing makes so much sense, I never thougth about the walls themselves holding onto the heat. I don't know much about the construction side of things, but woud a specific door material make the heat worse? Our bedroom door is one of those hollow wood ones, and I'm wondering if a solid door would help keep the heat from leaking into the hallway, or if that just traps the 'sauna' even more? Also, for the exterior shades, do you have to drill into the siding to mount those?

Quick update—I put up a temporary exterior shade and you guys were right, stopping the heat before it hits the glass makes a massive difference. However, since the door stays shut for the cats, it’s still getting pretty stuffy. I checked the door undercut and there’s almost no gap. woud shaving the bottom of a hollow door acutally help with the airflow?