Frequently Asked Questions About Window Blinds

We recommend using a good quality steel measuring tape and taking a measurement for the width in 3 different places as well as the drop. Our full measuring guide which gives detailed step by step instructions as well as a useful video can be found here – Measuring Guide.

When you place an order for the majority of blinds on our website, we will ask you whether the measurements you've provided are a 'Recess Size' or 'Blind Size'. This information is crucial as it affects the finished size of your blind.

A Recess Size is the internal measurements of your window reveal as illustrated in the image below. For a Recess Size, please provide us with the exact wall to wall & ceiling to sill measurements with no reductions. We will then make the appropriate reduction to ensure the blind fits perfectly within the space. The reduction size varies depending on the type of blind.

A Blind Size is the exact size you would like the blind to be including brackets. In most instances this will apply if you are fitting your blind on the wall outside of your window recess. This is illustrated in the image below.

We'll make your blinds slightly smaller on the width than the sizes you give us to make sure that it fits into the space with enough room for it to be installed easily and so the brackets don't scrape the walls, while still covering as much of the window as possible.

The size of the reduction will vary depending on the type of blind you have ordered:

Remember that the width of the fabric will always be slightly less than the total width of the blind to allow for the size of the mechanism and brackets.

Measuring for a bay window can be a little confusing as you need to ensure that adequate reductions are made to allow the blinds to fit correctly in the corners of the bay where two blinds meet. To make this easier for our customers, simply provide us with measurements of all of the available space as well as the angle of the bay & we will make the reductions on your behalf to ensure the blinds fit your bay window beautifully. Simple instructions on how to measure for a bay window can be found in the video below:

This is completely down to you depending on how big or how little you would like the overlap to be. As a rule of thumb we generally advise to overlap by 10cm.

Measuring for sloping vertical blinds may seem a little daunting & complicated but it's actually really easy when you know where to measure. In our step by step video guide below we show you how sloping vertical blinds work, where you should measure, how you should measure & what you should use.

In order to order a blind from our range of Total Blackout Roller Blinds, we require customers to provide us with 7 precise measurements. This may seem excessive but it is necessary to ensure that this product is suitable for your window. Taking these 7 measurements however is a piece of cake. We simply need 3 width measurements, 3 height measurements & 1 depth measurement. Follow the step by step instructions in the video below & you can't go wrong!

Fitting one of our Total Blackout Blinds is a doddle as it doesn't require drilling & can be installed simply with a hammer & screwdriver! The video below shows you step by step how to fit your new blind.

Generally speaking fitting window blinds is very easy. Depending on the type and size of the product you will have a number of brackets which are simply screwed into your recess or wall which the blind fits into. For product specific instructions and step by step guides please visit our fitting pages here – Fitting Guide

Sure, no problem at all. Simply remove the blind from its brackets (if it is already installed), pull the entire control mechanism out of one side of the roller blind tube, pull the entire pin out out of the opposite end & then reinsert them in the opposite ends. Your brackets may only marry to one of the ends, so if you've already fitted your blind you may need to swap the brackets to the opposite ends too.

Completely. We offer proper 3 pass blackout fabrics which offer complete light reduction. Being a roller blind you will have a small amount of light coming in around the sides unless you opt for a Total Blackout Cassette Roller Blind.

Yes, all of our blinds are child safe. We are proud members of the Make It Safe campaign launched by the British Blind & Shutter Association (BBSA) in 2009 to campaign for safer blinds. As a result of legislation introduced in early 2014, the blind industry has altered its products to ensure that any blind featuring a hazardous looped cord is supplied with a child safety device. This device keeps any looped cord tensioned at all times preventing strangulation. There are also restrictions on the length of the cord too. Depending on which type of blind you purchase, your blind will come with one of the following child safety devices:

Each member of our Customer Care team is happy to answer any questions you may have regarding child safety, so if you would like to know more please Contact Us or visit the Make It Safe & BBSA websites.

No problem, we have written a guide explaining how to work out what size roof blind you need and thus which size to order. Please refer to it here – Identify My Skylight Window.

Yes absolutely. You will find a link to order a sample on every product on both the department and product pages, simply click this link and a sample will be added to your basket. Repeat this process for all the samples you require and then complete the checkout procedure - no payment details are required. Your samples will then be shipped free of charge within 24 hours, by first class post.

If when your samples arrive you've not found the perfect fabric, you can simply place another sample order via our website to see more options. Remember, if you need any advice or assistance our friendly team is on hand Monday to Friday via email or phone to give you a hand.

We have two ingenious solutions for this problem - Bottom Up Blinds & Day & Night Roller blinds.

If you have a shallow frame depth then the Perfect Fit system will still fit your window. The smallest bracket available on this system is 22mm deep. If your depth is smaller than this, your Perfect Fit frame will protrude further into your room than your window frame leaving a small gap between the two ie. if your frame depth is 18mm, you will have a gap of 4mm between the Perfect Fit frame & your window frame (22mm - 18mm = 4mm). To prevent light leaking through this gap, fit draught excluder tape at the edges of the underside of the Perfect Fit frame to fill the gap. The area that will be affected is highlighted in the image below:

Draught excluder tape is available in various depths from most high street hardware & homeware stores.

In most instances this will be caused by there being no tension within the spring. This can occasionally happen in transit and is easily resolved by applying tension to the spring, which you can do yourself in a matter of minutes. Instructions can be found here - please refer to the section titled "Adjusting the blind tension".

If adding tension to the spring does not resolve this issue then please contact our Customer Care team to troubleshoot further.

We are always happy to help. Our customer care team will always offer honest, helpful advice & where possible provide suitable solutions to your problem. Just get in touch via our contact form, on the phone or drop us an email. All of our contact info can be found on our Contact Us page.