Made-to-measure blinds and shading for Forest Town — one of Johannesburg's first garden suburbs, where century-old cottages sit under a canopy that decides the light before any blind does. Measured free, at the actual window.
Why Forest Town specifies differently
Folded between Saxonwold and the Parktown ridge, right beside the zoo, Forest Town is small, quiet and older than most of the city around it — a suburb of early-1900s cottages and stone houses under some of Johannesburg's deepest street trees.
Under this much canopy, many rooms are short of light rather than drowning in it. The specification leans on blinds that manage glare without stealing daylight — tilting venetians, sheer day-night bands, sunscreen mesh — saving full blockout for the bedrooms that need it.
Early Joburg windows — steel cottage panes, slim timber casements, low sills — rarely leave room for a deep inside mount. We measure the actual recess and, where it is too shallow, run a neat outside mount that covers the frame without crowding the room.
Houses of this age deserve fixings planned before anything is drilled. Brackets go into sound wall or lintel, never into fragile original joinery — the free measure decides that window by window.
Cottage-scale rooms cannot spare a fat bundle of fabric at the head of every window. Cellular blinds raise to a stack a few centimetres tall, and venetians tilt instead of lifting — the room keeps its proportions.
What we'd specify here
Sheer for the canopy light, solid for the street — privacy at walking height without giving up what daylight the trees allow.
See day-night blinds →
Warm basswood slats that tilt with the moving leaf shadow — at home beside old floors and panelled doors.
Explore venetians →
Trapped-air insulation for single-glazed cottage rooms — a real difference in July, from a blind that stacks to almost nothing.
Explore cellular →
Blockout for bedrooms behind the trees, sunscreen for the few windows the sun still finds — made to the exact opening.
Explore roller blinds →Not sure what your cottage windows can take? Ask a consultant →
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Before you choose anything
Big modern glass behind an old timber-plantation tree canopy is a particular combination. The guide works through what the tree cover really does, and what it quietly stops doing in winter.
Get your quote
Tell us a little about the windows. A consultant calls you back, arranges a time that suits you, and arrives with samples to judge in your own canopy-filtered light.
Want a ballpark first? Pop rough sizes into the window list and we'll send a budget range by the next working day. Not sure how to measure? Leave it — our consultant measures for free and you'll get exact per-window pricing.