If you are replacing blinds across a few rooms, you have two options: visit a showroom and work with a consultant, or measure up yourself and order online. Both can get you a good result. But they work very differently in terms of cost, convenience, and how long you will wait.
Here is a straightforward comparison so you can decide which approach suits your situation.
In-store blinds carry the overheads of a physical showroom: rent, staff, consultants, and sometimes an installation fee on top of the product price. Those costs get built into what you pay.
Buying online from a factory direct supplier removes most of that. There is no showroom to maintain and no middleman taking a cut. Blinds Deal supplies direct from the factory, which is how PVC venetians start from $88 and vertical blinds from $100 for a custom-made product. Free shipping is included on every order to any address in Australia, including regional and remote areas.
If budget is the main driver, online factory direct is going to come in lower almost every time.
Going in-store means finding a showroom, booking an appointment or waiting for a consultant, and then scheduling a measure-and-quote visit. For most people that is at least two trips before anything gets ordered.
Ordering online, you measure your own windows (once, at a time that suits you), enter the dimensions, choose your style and fabric, and place the order. The whole thing can be done in an evening.
The one trade-off is that you cannot see the product in person before you order. Most online suppliers offer fabric samples, so it is worth requesting those before committing if colour or texture matters to you.
In-store custom blinds typically involve a measure visit, a manufacturing lead time, and then a separate installation appointment. End to end, it is common to wait four to six weeks from first contact to having blinds on your windows.
Online ordering cuts out the back-and-forth. Once you place your order, manufacturing starts on your exact measurements. Delivery is direct to your door with no installation visit required unless you want one.
This is where people worry most about ordering online. The concern is usually: what if I measure wrong?
It is a fair question. But the measuring process for custom blinds is not complicated once you know what to do. The key points are use a steel tape measure (not a fabric tape), measure in millimetres, and measure the width at three points across the window taking the narrowest. That last one catches most mistakes before they happen.
For inside mount (fitting inside the recess), you provide the exact recess dimensions, and the manufacturer adjusts for mechanical clearance. For outside mount (fixed to the wall above the window), you specify how far you want the blind to extend beyond the frame, with 50mm overlap on each side being a common starting point.
Blinds Deal’s measuring guide covers both mount types step by step. Take your time with measurements, double-check them, and a wrong-sized blind is very unlikely.
In-store consultants do the measuring for you, which removes that step entirely. That is genuinely useful if you have awkward windows, very large openings, or just do not feel confident with a tape measure. For most standard windows though, it is a job most homeowners can handle themselves in under an hour.
One assumption worth challenging: that in-store means better quality. It does not, necessarily. What it means is more markup.
Blinds Deal products are backed by a 10-year manufacturer’s warranty against defects in materials and workmanship. Every blind is made from sustainable, eco-friendly materials and passes quality checks before it ships. That is the same level of backing you would expect from a mid-to-high-end showroom, without the showroom price.
In-store makes sense if you want someone else to handle the measuring, you need installation included, or you are dealing with unusually complex windows (heritage joinery, curved frames, commercial fit-outs).
Online is the better option for most people replacing standard windows. The cost is lower, the process is faster, and with a proper measuring guide you can get an accurate fit without needing a consultant to visit.
If you have a window that is giving you pause, get in touch before you order. It is a lot easier to sort out a question upfront than to deal with a blind that does not fit.
Browse the full Blinds Deal product range, check the measuring guide, and place your order online. Free shipping Australia-wide on every custom blind.