insights
insights
“The questions people ask on Reddit and Quora are the questions I get asked on every Garden Route consultation. The honest answer is rarely the one a salesperson gives.”Duncan Kane Founder, Custom Blinds Shutters & Awnings
The track matters more. Most outdoor blind failures start at the side guides: low-grade PVC tracks bow in heat and lose their straight edge, the fabric then grips unevenly, flutters and pulls free. Extruded, powder-coated aluminium tracks hold their shape. For any coastal or exposed site that is what Custom Blinds Shutters & Awnings specifies.
A track-guided system, a fabric chosen for the exposure, and a wind sensor if motorised. On the Garden Route that is Ziptrak, the world’s best-known track-guided blind: the fabric runs in a continuous aluminium track and stays tensioned at any height, paired with a Somfy wind sensor that raises it when the gusts come. Raise any outdoor blind fully before a storm.
Both are track-guided Australian systems and both outperform a loose drop-down blind in wind. Ziptrak holds at any height with one-hand, spring-balanced operation and seals along the side rails. Custom Blinds Shutters & Awnings is the sole Garden Route agency for Ziptrak, so parts and the warranty path are direct; it is installed on the Garden Route only.
Tension-mount blinds: spring-loaded brackets that press between the sides of the recess, no screws, hooks or adhesive, no marks when removed. Custom Blinds Shutters & Awnings ships no-drill rollers in blockout and sheer fabrics, and no-drill 25mm aluminium and aluwood venetians, nationwide from the online shop. No-drill blinds run on a chain or cord; they are not cordless.
Adhesive blinds fail: the glue lets go in summer heat. Tension-mount blinds use spring pressure engineered for the blind’s weight and hold for years in a squarely measured recess. Light block is a fabric question, not a mounting question: a blockout fabric on a tension roller blocks as much as the same fabric drilled. Measure the width in three places; that is the variable that matters.
One visual language outside, the right material inside. Match colour and stack profile so every window reads the same from the street, then give the bathroom a plaswood or aluminium venetian, the bedrooms blockout, and the living areas a sheer or zebra. One fabric forced into a steamy bathroom and a dark bedroom suits neither.
Zebra blinds, alternating sheer and solid bands on one fabric, give adjustable filtered light and the cleanest outside read. Aluwood and plaswood venetians give angled privacy and durability, and suit bedrooms and wet rooms. Both ship nationally from Custom Blinds Shutters & Awnings.
Real-wood 50mm venetians for warmth and a quieter feel in living rooms, bedrooms and studies. Aluminium venetians for kitchens, bathrooms and laundries, where humidity is daily; they are lighter, so they also suit very wide windows. A typical Garden Route home runs wood in the living areas and aluminium or plaswood in the wet rooms.
They cost more than blinds and they last. No fabric to fade, full privacy with angled light, no cords, an air gap that buffers heat, and a fitted look buyers treat as part of the house. For an owner-occupied home you plan to stay in, the case is usually strong; for a short-term rental, blinds are the rational choice. The Custom Lifestyle Shutters range is manufactured in Cape Town and fitted on the Garden Route.
Shutters are treated as a fixture rather than a fitting: buyers see them as built in, they photograph well, and they take a job off the buyer’s list. Blinds and curtains are expected to be replaced. On the Garden Route, where glare, view and privacy matter daily, the effect is strongest in living areas and rooms with large glazing.
Pros: durability, no fabric, adjustable privacy, no cords, insulation, a fitted finish. Cons: higher upfront cost, a longer lead time than blinds, and a permanent commitment, so the colour and style must be right the first time.
Shade over a patio or deck in summer, retracted in winter so the same area gets the sun. It shades the wall and windows behind it, protects outdoor furniture from UV, and needs no structural work. On the Garden Route the folding-arm awning is the usual residential choice, fitted with a Somfy wind sensor.
Neither universally. A fixed structure, such as a louvre awning, never has to be retracted for wind. A folding-arm awning gives full sun in winter and full shade in summer, and retracts in a storm. A sheltered courtyard that needs daily summer shade suits a retractable; an exposed sea-facing patio often suits a louvre or a track-guided outdoor blind. A site visit decides it.
Folding-arm awnings for a typical patio: the widest cover, quick retraction, and arms that fold flat against the wall. Fall-arm and wedge awnings for windows and shopfronts. Motorise the wide ones, and on the Garden Route coast treat a wind sensor as essential; an extended awning in an unexpected gust is a written-off awning.
Both, often layered. Blinds give daytime control, half down against glare with the view kept; curtains add softness, sound absorption and an evening feel. A common Garden Route configuration is a roller or zebra blind for the day with a sheer or linen curtain on a track in front.
A blockout blind close to the glass, for darkness. Curtains alone leak light at the sides and top because they hang away from the window. Blockout roller or blockout honeycomb for sleep, curtains over the top for warmth if you want them.
Vertishades: a vertical-vane blind with a blockout backing and a sheer voile face, rotating from full privacy to soft filtered light on one mechanism. Vanes unclip individually for cleaning, which suits pets, dust and coastal exposure. Custom Blinds Shutters & Awnings ships them nationally from the online shop; they suit wide windows and sliding doors.
Aluminium and faux-wood venetians: a weekly dust with the slats closed, a monthly wipe with a barely damp microfibre cloth and mild soapy water. Real wood: dry cloth only, or a wood-safe wipe used sparingly. Never soak any venetian; it warps wood, damages cords and lifts coatings.
It varies with distance, window count and complexity. On the Garden Route, Custom Blinds Shutters & Awnings quotes installation as part of the project. Nationally, online orders are made for self-installation: no-drill blinds go up in minutes without a drill, and drilled blinds ship with fitting instructions.
Yes, if you can measure accurately and use a drill. Wrong measurement, not wrong drilling, is the usual cause of a bad fit: width in three places, narrowest for an inside mount, 100mm overlap each side for a face fix, no deductions. Motorised blinds, very wide blinds and hard-to-reach windows are worth professional fitting.
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Content reviewed by the Custom Blinds Shutters & Awnings team. Visit the online shop for current pricing.
Custom Blinds Shutters & Awnings | South Africa’s trusted blinds, shutters and awnings specialists since 2010.