Tilt for the light. Close for the dark.
The blind our slat-rail logo is drawn from — horizontal slats you angle by the hour, in crisp aluminium for the wet rooms and warm basswood for the rooms with books in them.
Two slats, three jobs
Aluminium, basswood — or outside the glass entirely.
Same idea, different rooms. The slat material decides where a venetian belongs in a period house.
Aluminium — 25mm
Slim, wipe-clean slats that shrug off steam and splashes. The working answer for kitchens, sculleries, bathrooms and laundries.
Ask about aluminium →
Basswood — 50mm
Wide timber slats with real warmth — the study-and-living-room venetian that sits naturally beside old floors and panelled doors.
Ask about basswood →
External venetians
Mounted outside the window, tilted from inside — heat stopped at the glass before it ever reaches the room. The premium fix for the worst western gables.
Ask about externals →The Saxonwold fit
Why tilt control earns its keep here.
Under a canopy of oaks and gums, the light in this suburb moves all day — a venetian is the one blind that moves with it.
Dappled light, managed by the degree
The leaf shadow softens glare but not heat. A few degrees of tilt keeps the green view at eye level while cutting the low afternoon sun off the parquet.
Privacy without closing the room
Rooms facing the street or the park hold their privacy with slats angled up — light in, sightlines out, nobody seeing in at walking height.
Cut to out-of-square openings
Slatted blinds show a crooked recess quickly. We measure each opening on site and size the headrail to the actual window, not a catalogue width.
Child-safe as standard
Cord tilters get tensioners on every venetian; wand tilt or motorised tilt is the recommendation wherever small hands reach.
The money
What a venetian costs here.
The slat decides most of it. Guides, per square metre installed: 25mm or 50mm aluminium at R1,000 to R1,500 on a wand or cord, R2,500 to R3,600 motorised. Timber, wider and finished by hand, at R1,600 to R2,600 hand-operated, R3,000 to R4,500 with a motorised tilt.
In a period house timber usually wins beside old joinery, and aluminium wins wherever there is steam — a bathroom or scullery is no place for timber whatever it costs. Deciding that on the day is cheaper than reversing it. Below roughly a square metre a minimum applies, since headrail, tilt gear and ladder tapes barely shrink with the opening. Every window is priced in writing after the free measure.
Questions
Asked at almost every venetian measure.
Aluminium or basswood — how do I choose?+
By room. Steam and splash rooms take aluminium; living spaces take timber's warmth. Weight matters too — very wide timber venetians get heavy to raise, which is where splitting one opening into two blinds (or motorising) comes in.
Can venetians go in a heritage sash recess?+
Usually, yes — inside-mount venetians sit neatly in a deep sash recess. Where the timber is fragile we fix to the surrounding wall instead of the sash itself; the free measure confirms which your frames need.
What makes external venetians worth it?+
They intercept solar heat outside the glass, which no interior blind can. On a hard west-facing room the difference by late afternoon is dramatic — and the slats still tilt from inside, so you keep light and view.
Where we fit them
Tilt control, fitted street by street.
Aluminium for wet rooms, basswood for the rooms with books in them — the same slat logic answering the same dappled, moving light in every suburb on our measuring route.
Where venetians fit in
The Saxonwold Light & Shade Field Guide
Tilt is what a venetian is for, and low afternoon sun is what it is best at. The field guide explains why, and where a timber slat stack quietly loses to something else.
- The sun path over the parks belt, December and June
- Nine shading answers, each with its honest catch
- The sixty-year heritage rule, and where it bites
Get your quote
Free measure.
Written quote.
Zero pressure.
Tell us about the windows. A consultant calls you back, arranges a time that suits you, and arrives with slat samples in both materials.
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.