Blinds for Nar Nar Goon homes and farms.

Nar Nar Goon sits east of Pakenham on the highway, a compact township surrounded by paddocks and running out toward Tynong and Maryknoll. The housing is a mix of older weatherboard and brick homes on township blocks, farmhouses set well back from the road, and a scattering of newer builds on subdivided rural land. Very little of it is a standard estate floor plan, which means very little of it takes a standard-size blind. Almost every window we measure out here has its own dimensions.

Nothing shades a paddock.

In a Pakenham estate, the neighbour's roofline and a two metre side setback do at least something. On a Nar Nar Goon farmhouse there is often a kilometre of open ground to the west and nothing on it. The result is a west elevation that takes full, unbroken afternoon sun from about 2pm right through summer, plus wind that drives dust and grass seed at the glass all year. Fabric choice matters more here than anywhere else in the shire. A soft natural-fibre look that would be fine in a sheltered Beaconsfield lounge will chalk, fade and go brittle on that elevation inside a few seasons.

What we recommend on rural windows.

• UV-stable blockout roller blinds on the western and northern elevations, in a plain, wipeable fabric that handles dust.
• Aluminium venetians in kitchens, laundries, sleepouts and any converted shed space, because you can hose the slats down and they do not care about heat.
• Vertical blinds on wide sliding doors, where a single wide roller would be heavy and awkward and a vertical simply stacks out of the way.
• Splitting very wide openings into two blinds on one headrail, which keeps the roll diameter down and stops the fabric bowing in the middle after a couple of years.

Older weatherboard, older frames.

A lot of Nar Nar Goon houses are original weatherboard with timber double-hung windows and deep sills. Two things follow. First, the openings are almost never square, so we measure width at three heights and drop at both sides rather than assuming. Second, a face-fixed blind mounted on the architrave often looks better and works better than an inside mount, because it covers the taper and gives more usable glass. We walk through that choice at the measure, and it is explained in the measuring guide.

One visit, whole property.

Because we are driving out anyway, the efficient thing is to measure the lot in one go: the house, a granny flat or self-contained unit, and any shed or workshop window you want covered. One measure, one quote, one install day. Pricing is the same as everywhere else we service: rollers $120 to $320 per window, aluminium venetians $130 to $300, verticals $150 to $380. A three to four bedroom farmhouse done throughout typically lands in the $2,400 to $5,500 range. Full detail sits on the cost guide.

Getting to you.

The measure is free out here, exactly as it is in town. We do group rural jobs into the same run where we can, so a little flexibility on the day helps. If you are at the end of a long unsealed drive, or there are dogs or stock gates to work around, tell us when you book and it all goes smoothly. Get started on the quote page or ring (03) 9962 4150.

Frequently asked questions.