Roller blinds
One smooth panel on a tube. Sunscreen keeps the garden view while cutting glare; blockout does the bedrooms. Both on one bracket if you want it.
Parkhurst · Johannesburg
The extension is beautiful. By three o'clock it's an oven.
Made-to-measure blinds, roller shutters, awnings and motorised shading for Parkhurst's 1940s cottages and the light-filled rooms behind them.
- Free in-home measure and a written, itemised quote per window
- Every opening measured individually — original steel frames are rarely square
- Child-safe operation as standard, cordless and motorised options shown
Made for this suburb
Parkhurst's problem isn't light. It's the afternoon.
Behind the 1940s street faces hide some of Johannesburg's smartest renovations — opened-up backs, stack doors, skylights and rooms that run the width of the stand. They are wonderful until the sun swings north-west and the glass starts working against you.
The fix is layered, and the order matters: stop the heat outside the glass with an exterior screen or a roller shutter, then control glare and privacy inside with venetians or sunscreen rollers. Blinds alone will darken a hot room; they will not cool it.
- Out backNorth and west-facing extensions gain most of their heat through glass. Exterior shading intercepts it before it arrives.
- Up frontOriginal steel casements and narrow sashes want slim inside-mounts — 25mm venetians or neat cellular blinds, measured opening by opening.
- OverheadRenovation skylights need their own shading, or the room you built for light becomes the hottest in the house.
- Village sideDeep, narrow stands and close neighbours put privacy and shading on the same window — usually a day-night or dual roller.
The three o'clock sweepScreen down — heat stopped at the glass
What we fit
The full range, specified for the room it goes in
Everything below is made to order and measured on site. If a product is wrong for your window, we will say so before you spend anything on it.
Day/night blinds
Alternating sheer and solid bands in one blind. Line them up for privacy from the neighbours, offset them to keep the view. Ideal on narrow village stands.
Aluminium venetians
25mm slats that suit steel casements and wet rooms. Tilt them up for soft daylight, down for privacy, flat for dark — the most controllable blind there is.
Timber venetians
50mm basswood with tapes, for the rooms at the front where the character lives. Warm, quiet and generous — kept out of steamy bathrooms.
Cellular / honeycomb
Honeycomb air pockets that insulate single glazing. The neatest answer behind an original steel window — slim stack, no drilling into the frame itself.
Vertical blinds
Hanging vanes that rotate and stack right back off the opening. Still the practical choice for a wide sliding door you use every day.
Panel blinds
Broad fabric panels gliding on a ceiling track. Architectural, calm, and the cleanest way to dress a stack-door wall in a new rear wing.
Skylight & shaped blinds
Roof glass, gables, arches and triangles — the openings most companies decline to quote. Tensioned side channels so the fabric stays flat overhead.
Concealed blind boxes
The headbox hides in a ceiling recess so only fabric shows. Best planned while the extension is still on paper — ask us early and we will spec the void.
Roller shutters
Rigid aluminium slats that roll down outside the glass — the heaviest-duty way to stop sun, heat and glare, with blackout privacy when fully closed.
Worth knowing: these are shading shutters, not security-rated shutters. A security-rated shutter is a different product, available on request.
Folding-arm awnings
Shade the courtyard in summer, fold it away for winter sun. On exposed Parkhurst corners we fit a wind sensor so it retracts before a highveld storm does it for you.
Zip screens for stack doors
Mesh held drum-tight in zipped side channels. Stops the heat at the opening, keeps the garden view and the insects out, and survives wind that shreds an ordinary drop blind.
Motorisation & automation
Remote, wall switch, app or a schedule that closes the west side before the worst of the afternoon. The answer for high stairwell windows, wide spans and cord-free child safety — and many existing blinds can be motorised without replacing them.
Talk motorisation
Blind repairs
Snapped cord, stuck slats, a tilter that spins, or a blind that came down after painting or a move? We restring, refit and replace components on the blinds you already have. If a repair is not worth doing, we will tell you straight.
Book a repairAround the suburb
Front of the house, back of the house
Two different houses, one address
Almost every Parkhurst job is really two jobs. The street-facing rooms are small, characterful and full of original joinery that deserves a slim, quiet blind. The back is modern, glazed and hot, and needs shading that works outside before anything inside can help. We quote them as one project with two specifications — and we would rather explain that on your floor than sell you twelve identical blinds.
Book the free measureFree to read
The Parkhurst Three O’Clock Book
We wrote down what we look at when we walk a Parkhurst house, so you can make most of the decisions before anyone arrives with a tape measure.
Where the sun actually goes over your stand.
- The real sun angles — 87° overhead in December, 40° from the north in June — and what each one does to your walls.
- North, east, west, south and overhead, one at a time, with what we would fit at each and why.
- Every product’s honest catch, including the ones we would talk you out of.
- The sixty-year heritage question that catches Parkhurst owners out, and the five things only a site visit can settle.
No sign-up, no gate, sources listed at the foot of it. If you would rather skip straight to the expert, book the free measure — we do five or six a week across these streets.
How it works
Four steps, no surprises
01
Enquire
Tell us the suburb, the rooms and roughly how many openings. Chat, form or a call-back — whichever suits you.
02
Free in-home measure
A consultant measures every opening, brings fabric and slat samples, and says honestly what suits each room.
03
Written quote
Itemised per window, so you can keep, cut or phase any line of it. No obligation and no pressure.
04
Made & fitted
Built to your measurements, then installed and adjusted on site — including the openings that are not quite square.
Where we work
Parkhurst and the streets around it
Same team, same day-trip radius. If you are just outside these, ask anyway — we will tell you honestly whether we can get to you.
Good to know
Questions we get on 4th Avenue
Our back extension is unbearable by 3pm — blinds inside or shading outside?
If heat is the complaint, outside wins. An exterior zip screen or roller shutter stops most of the sun before it reaches the glass; an interior blind can only manage the light and heat that already got in. Interior blinds then handle glare and privacy beautifully. Often the honest answer is both, and we will tell you which one earns its money first for your orientation.
Can you fit blinds to original steel window frames?
Yes, and it is most of what we do here. Slim 25mm venetians and cellular blinds suit steel casements well, usually inside-mounted into the reveal so the frame itself is untouched. Where a frame is too delicate or too shallow we recommend an outside mount instead. Every opening is measured on its own because 1940s frames are rarely square.
What does it cost?
Every window is a different size, drop and fabric, so we do not guess. The free in-home measure ends in a written, itemised quote per window with no obligation, which means the number you see is the number you pay. If a room can be done more cheaply without wrecking the result, we will say so.
Are roller shutters a security product?
No — ours are shading shutters. They are rigid aluminium slats on the outside of the glass, built for sun, heat, glare and light control, with useful blackout and privacy when fully closed. Security-rated shutters are a separate product with a different specification, which we can quote on request. We will never imply a shading shutter secures your home.
How long does it take?
Everything is made to order, so the timing depends on the product and fabric you choose. Your written quote confirms the lead time for your specific order — we would rather be accurate than optimistic, especially where motors or wide spans are involved.
Do you repair blinds, or only sell new ones?
We repair. Restringing, tilters, brackets, chains and refitting after painting or a move are all normal work for us, and often far cheaper than replacement. If the mechanism is beyond economical repair we will tell you and quote the replacement instead — your choice either way.
Is motorisation worth it in a cottage?
It is worth it wherever a blind is hard to reach or used constantly — stairwell windows, wide stack doors, skylights and children's rooms. Cords disappear entirely, which is the safest option for a nursery. Plenty of existing blinds can be motorised without being replaced; we will check yours on the measure.
Ready when you are
Let's get the afternoon back
Tell us about your windows and one of our expert consultants will contact you shortly to arrange a free in-home measure with samples.
- No call-centre — a consultant who knows these houses
- Samples brought to you, in your own light
- Repairs and single windows are welcome, not just whole houses
Request your free measure
We reply to every enquiry, including the small ones.
Thank you — that's with us. One of our expert consultants will contact you shortly to arrange your free in-home measure.