Rivonia Blinds / What we fit / Verticals & panels
Verticals & panels
Vertical and panel blinds
What you fit when the glass gets wide: vanes and panels that tilt for light and then clear the doorway completely.
Sliding doors defeat most blinds. They are wide, they are used constantly, and whatever covers them has to get completely out of the way when somebody wants to carry a tray outside. That is the job verticals were invented for, and half a century later nothing has really replaced them.
Vertical blinds hang as separate fabric vanes from a top track. Twist the wand and they tilt together, steering the light and closing off the view without losing the daylight; pull the cord and the whole set draws aside into a slim stack against one jamb. They also age gracefully in a practical sense — if one vane is damaged, that vane gets replaced, not the whole blind.
Panel blinds are the newer, calmer relative: wide fabric panels that glide on a multi-track and stack behind one another like a screen. On a big span they read as architecture rather than window covering, and in a modern cluster with a long glass wall they look considered in a way verticals do not always manage.
Both work with the same fabrics you would put on a roller — from sheer filtering weaves to near-blockout — so a patio door can be treated to match the rest of the room rather than being an obvious afterthought.
The practical detail
How we specify it here
Small decisions that decide whether you like the blind in two years’ time, not just on installation day.
- Stack side — chosen on site so the vanes park on the side you never walk through
- Floor clearance — vanes hang a few millimetres clear of the floor or the door track so they do not drag or catch
- Weighted hems and chain — keeps the vanes hanging straight and moving together, and stops them lifting in a draught
- Bottom chain removed on request — a common ask in homes with toddlers or a determined dog
- Single vane replacement — damaged vanes are replaced individually — keep the specification and it matches years later
Not sure which fabric or which room? That is exactly the conversation the free measure is for — samples held against your own light beat any swatch on a screen.
Questions
Asked most often
Straight answers, including where the answer is “it depends on the room”.
Do verticals still look dated?
The 1990s ones did. Current fabrics, weighted hems and a slim headrail look nothing like an office in Braamfontein — and on a working patio door they remain the most practical thing you can hang.
Vertical or panel for a big glass wall?
Panels usually look better on a long uninterrupted span; verticals handle a busy, constantly-used door better because they tilt as well as draw. If the door is your main way into the garden, verticals. If it is mostly a window, panels.
Can they cope with the wind through an open door?
A weighted hem and a bottom chain keep them under control in a breeze. In a properly windy spot — a corner unit that funnels the afternoon southerly — we would rather talk about a zip screen outside the glass.
Keep looking
You might also want
The rest of the range, and where each one earns its place.
Where we fit them
Vertical & panel blinds across our patch
Wide sliding doors call for verticals or panels — we measure and fit them across Sunninghill, Morningside, Woodmead, Sandown and Gallo Manor.
Let’s get it measured
Tell us about
your windows.
Which rooms, which way they face, and what is actually bothering you about the light. One of our expert consultants will contact you shortly to arrange the free in-home measure.
- Free in-home measure with fabric and slat samples
- Written quote, itemised per window, no obligation
- Made to order — nothing cut down to fit
- Repairs and restringing on existing blinds too
Our consultant does five to six measures a week across this area, so the diary fills early.
Want a ballpark first? The Window Schedule carries a two-minute window list — pop in rough sizes 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 get exact per-window pricing either way.
Would rather type than fill in a form? Open the chat and the assistant will take it from there.
Request your free measure
We answer enquiries seven days a week.
Thank you — that is with us.
One of our expert consultants will contact you shortly to arrange your free in-home measure.