How to choose blinds and shutters
There is no best window covering, only the right one for what that window is doing wrong.
There is no best window covering, only the right one for what that particular window is doing wrong. Start with the problem rather than the product and the choice gets much simpler.
Start with the problem
| The problem | What to look at |
|---|---|
| Room is too hot in the afternoon | Something outside the glass — aluminium shutters or a Zipscreen™. Internal coverings will not fix this. |
| Glare on a screen | Louvres, so you can angle light down without darkening the room. Plantation shutters or venetians. |
| Need the room properly dark | A blockout roller blind. Shutters close tight but are not designed as total blackout. |
| Cold room, high power bill | Honeycomb blinds — the cells trap air, the same principle as double glazing. |
| Privacy at street level | Shutters. Close the bottom louvres, leave the top open, keep the light and the airflow. |
| Bathroom, kitchen, laundry | Thermalite. Water resistant, wipes clean, will not swell like timber. |
| Patio you cannot use | ZipScreens. Wind is usually the reason, not temperature. |
| Curtain look, blind function | Curtains — soft fabric vanes that rotate open and closed. |
| Windows too high to reach | Motorisation. Worth doing at install; retrofitting is more work than fitting it from the start. |
If you are choosing a blind, the fabric matters more than the mechanism
Roller blinds all roll up. What separates them is the cloth. Ours are manufactured in Brisbane in PVC-free and plant-based Ingeo fabrics, across more than 3,000 colours, in three broad types:
- Blockout — stops light entirely. Bedrooms, media rooms.
- Sunscreen — cuts glare and UV but keeps the view out. Living areas facing a garden.
- Two-in-one — a blockout and a sunscreen blind on one bracket, so one window does both jobs at different times of day.
That last one solves the most common complaint we hear: a living room that needs the view during the day and privacy at night.
One thing worth asking any supplier
Ask where it is made, and what happens if something goes wrong in year six.
A subtropical climate is hard on window furnishings — humidity, UV, storm season, salt air near the coast. A product specified for a temperate market will not necessarily hold up here, and if it fails, an importer is dependent on a factory overseas.
Thermalite Shutters and Roller Blinds are manufactured in our Brisbane factory within 15 working days. Zipscreen™ outdoor blinds and Aluminium Shutters are manufactured in Brisbane by our suppliers, while Honeycomb Blinds are made overseas. These products take approximately 4 weeks.
Free consult and quote
Brisbane and the Gold Coast. No obligation, and we do the measuring.