I've got to say that the beginning of your post reminded me of this so much: http://www.27bslash6.com/halogen.html

In all seriousness, coming from a Mediterranean country to the UK, the summers can be quite annoying with the light starting a little after 4am and if you don't have a good set of blinds it can get very disruptive.

Your solution (ugly as it maybe ;) ) it's actually quite good as it does not require a lot of effort or DIY that a landlord could object to.