The workhorse for Melrose Arch's big glass.

The fabric decision

This is the choice that actually matters on a roller blind — the tube and bracket are just hardware.

Blockout gives a total light stop and an insulating layer against Highveld summer heat and winter cold — the right call for bedrooms, nurseries and any media room in the building.

Sunscreen (typically 3%, 5% or 10% openness) is a mesh weave that cuts glare and UV while keeping the piazza or skyline view — the default we reach for on Melrose Arch's big living-room glass. Lower openness means more heat and glare blocked, less view through; 3–5% is the standard for view-preserving sun control on full-height windows. It's worth knowing honestly: sunscreen gives daytime privacy, but at night with the lights on inside, it reverses — visible in from outside — which is why we usually pair it with a second blind for bedrooms.

Light-filtering / translucent fabric softens light and gives full privacy without a view — a good fit for a study or a street-facing bathroom window.

Double rollers: the bedroom answer

A blockout and a sunscreen fabric on one bracket — sheer privacy-with-view by day, total darkness at night, controlled independently. It's the practical answer for a Melrose Arch bedroom that also happens to have a skyline view worth keeping.

Control & finish

Chain control (with a wall tensioner as standard — see our note on child safety) suits single windows and tighter budgets. On a wide glass wall or anywhere reaching a chain is awkward, motorised control is worth the spend — see our page on motorised blinds & automation. Cassette or pelmet valances hide the tube completely and can be colour-matched to your frames or fascia, which matters in a sectional-title block where the facade needs to read as one clean line.

Where they shine, where they don't

Rollers are the right call for modern apartments, big glass, and anywhere you want an easy-clean, minimal look across a range of budgets to premium fabrics. Very wide unbroken spans need a central join line or a motorised linked pair — and if the room leans heritage rather than city-modern, a timber venetian usually suits the character better.

What a roller blind costs here

Rollers are quoted per square metre, installed, and the fabric and control set the figure rather than the address. Manual, chain or spring, in blockout, sunscreen or a light-filtering weave: R1,000 to R1,600 the square metre. Motorised: R2,500 to R3,800, covering the tube motor, the control you choose and the setup on the day.

A small window is billed at a minimum instead of by area — a cloakroom pane needs the same tube, brackets and fitting visit as a full-height living-room panel. And these are planning bands, not a quote: every window gets its own number at the free measure, in writing, before anything is ordered.