Vertical blinds in Pakenham.

Nearly every home built in the Pakenham corridor in the last twenty years has at least one wide sliding or stacker door onto an alfresco or a courtyard, plus a couple of window spans over two metres wide. Those openings break most window furnishings. A roller blind wide enough to cover a three metre door needs a heavy tube, sags in the middle over time, and has to be rolled all the way up every time someone goes outside. A venetian at that width is heavier again and even more annoying to raise.

A vertical blind sidesteps all of it. The weight hangs from a head track rather than rolling onto a tube, so width costs you far less. The vanes rotate to control light without moving anywhere, and when you want the door clear they stack to one side or split to both sides, leaving the opening genuinely open. In practice that means people actually use them, which is the only real test of a window furnishing.

Where they suit in a Pakenham home

The obvious spot is the alfresco or courtyard sliding door, particularly a west-facing one. On a hot Pakenham afternoon you can rotate the vanes to knock down the low sun coming in flat under the eave, and still slide the door open and walk out to the barbecue. The second spot is the wide living-room or rumpus window on the same wall, where matching the door blind keeps that whole elevation looking deliberate.

They are also the sensible choice in tenanted properties, which make up a solid share of the housing around Pakenham and Officer. Vanes are individually replaceable, the fabrics are hard-wearing, and the whole product is cheap to bring back to new between tenancies compared with re-doing a set of rollers.

Vane and fabric options

• 89mm vanes: The traditional narrower vane. More vanes across the same width, a slightly busier look, and a tighter close. Suits smaller windows.
• 100mm and 127mm vanes: The modern default. Fewer, wider vanes read much cleaner across a big span and stack into less space at the side. This is what we quote for sliding doors unless you ask otherwise.
• Blockout fabric: Full light control when closed, for rooms that double as a media space or a bedroom with a courtyard door.
• Light-filter fabric: Softens light and gives daytime privacy while keeping the space bright. The common choice for living areas.
• Sunscreen fabric: An open weave that cuts glare and UV while you keep the view out to the yard. Best on a west-facing door where heat and glare are the real problem.
• PVC vanes: Wipeable and moisture-tolerant, for laundries, garages and anywhere splashes are likely.

Modern vanes use a weighted bottom pocket rather than the old bottom chain, so they hang straight, do not rattle in a breeze, and there is no chain loop for a child or a pet to catch. Ask for chainless when you order.

Control options

Standard control is a wand for rotating the vanes and a cord for drawing the stack open and closed, and better systems combine both into a single wand so there is no cord at all. You can specify which way the stack goes: left, right, or a centre split that opens both ways, which is usually right on a wide stacker door. Motorised tracks rotate and traverse from a remote or an app, which is worth the money on a door you open several times a day. See motorised blinds for what is involved.

Child safety

Corded internal blinds are covered by a mandatory ACCC consumer product safety standard. Every corded vertical we install gets the required cord guides, tension devices and labelling fitted properly. Where there are young children we recommend a single-wand system with a chainless weighted hem, or motorisation, which takes the cord out of the room entirely.

Looking after them

Rotate the vanes flat and run a vacuum brush head down them a few times a year, then do the other face. Marks come out with a damp cloth and mild soapy water on fabric vanes; PVC vanes take a proper wipe. If a vane gets torn or badly stained it unclips from its carrier and a replacement clips straight back in, so you are not replacing the whole blind. Check the carriers slide freely once a year and keep the head track clear of dust, which is the one thing that makes an old vertical feel stiff.

2026 price band

Vertical blinds run $150 to $380 per opening supplied and installed, GST included, priced mostly by width. Motorisation adds $150 to $350. Compare that against the other ranges on the pricing page.