Best Designer Blinds in the UK: Heritage and Modern Prints

"Designer blinds" usually means a blind carrying a licensed pattern from a recognised design house, rather than a plain or generic fabric. In the UK that field is dominated by three names, each with a distinct character: William Morris for heritage botanicals, Orla Kiely for graphic modernism, and Laura Ashley for country-classic florals. They are not really competitors so much as three different looks, and which suits you is a question of style. This guide sets them side by side and offers one pick from each, all in roman format, so the comparison is like for like.

What "designer" actually buys you

A designer blind costs more than a plain one, and it is worth being clear about what the premium is for. You are paying for a licensed pattern - a design from an established house, reproduced under licence - rather than for a technically better blind. The fabric, the mechanism and the made-to-measure fitting are much the same as a non-designer blind of the same type; the difference is the print.

That is not a criticism. A recognised pattern is a real thing to want: it carries a room, it signals a particular taste, and the best of these designs have lasted decades because they work. But it does mean the decision is aesthetic, not functional. You are choosing a look, and the question is which house's look fits your room.

All three picks here are roman blinds, deliberately. A roman's soft fold flatters a pattern - the gathered pleats read as a textile rather than a flat panel - and choosing the same format for all three makes the comparison about the design rather than the blind. Each is also available in other formats (rollers, no-drill fittings) if a roman doesn't suit your window; the range pages cover those.

What to look for

Which design house fits the room. This is the main decision. Heritage botanical (Morris), graphic modern (Orla Kiely), or country-classic floral (Laura Ashley) are three quite different moods. Match the house to the room's existing character rather than trying to make a pattern carry a room it doesn't suit.

Pattern scale and window size. Designer prints tend to be large-repeat, so they need a window wide enough to show a full motif. On a narrow window, choose a smaller-scale design within a range or accept the pattern will read partially.

Colourway. Each house offers its designs in several colourways - heritage-muted or contemporary-bright. The same print can anchor a period room or lift a modern one depending on the colour, so decide the room's direction first.

Format and fitting. All three picks are romans, but each range offers other formats. If you rent or have UPVC windows you'd rather not drill, look for the no-drill versions on the range pages. If you want a flatter, more modern hang, a roller version may suit.

Room. Designer fabrics are furnishing cloths for dry rooms. None of these suits a kitchen or bathroom; for those, a plain wipe-clean blind is the right choice.

Our picks

Best heritage print

William Morris Roman

at Blinds 2go

William Morris archive patterns, the benchmark for UK heritage design.

from £24.62 in 144 colours

Read review →

Best modern print

Orla Kiely Roman

at Swift Direct Blinds

Orla Kiely's graphic stems for a contemporary scheme.

from £21.10 in 59 colours

Read review →

Best classic florals

Laura Ashley No Drill

at Blinds By Post

Laura Ashley's florals and stripes, a mainstream design house.

from £20.57 in 387 colours

Read review →

Pick details

Best heritage print

William Morris Roman

at Blinds 2go

William Morris archive patterns, the benchmark for UK heritage design.

from £24.62 in 144 colours

Read review →

For heritage design, the William Morris roman from Blinds 2go is the benchmark. The archive prints - Acanthus, Willow Bough, Strawberry Thief, Pimpernel - are endlessly reproduced in British interiors for good reason: dense, detailed botanicals that have held their appeal for well over a century. The roman's soft fold suits their period character, and the range spans both the muted original colourways for traditional rooms and lighter recolours for contemporary ones.

This is the pick for a room with period or classic leanings - a Victorian sitting room, a traditional bedroom, anywhere the heritage feel is wanted. It is the most ornate of the three looks here; if your room is minimal or mid-century, one of the others will sit more comfortably.

Best modern print

Orla Kiely Roman

at Swift Direct Blinds

Orla Kiely's graphic stems for a contemporary scheme.

from £21.10 in 59 colours

Read review →

For a contemporary scheme, the Orla Kiely roman from Swift Direct Blinds is the strongest modern counterpoint. The Stem motif is clean, geometric and confident - flat colour and repeating leaves rather than dense botanical detail - which suits mid-century, retro and contemporary rooms in a way the heritage ranges don't. The range offers the Stem at several scales and in colourways from soft seagrass to bold tomato.

Choose it where the room is modern and you want a single graphic pattern to lead. It is the cleanest, most current of the three; in a traditional room it would feel out of place, where the Morris print would belong.

Best classic florals

Laura Ashley No Drill

at Blinds By Post

Laura Ashley's florals and stripes, a mainstream design house.

from £20.57 in 387 colours

Read review →

For country-classic style, the Laura Ashley roman from Blinds By Post is the mainstream choice. Its florals, stripes and ginghams sit in softer, more domestic territory than the Morris botanicals - less ornate, more homely - and the range is enormous, covering printed and embroidered versions across a wide palette. It suits a country-leaning or softly traditional room, and the no-drill fitting makes it practical for UPVC windows.

It is the gentlest of the three looks: where Morris is grand and Orla Kiely is graphic, Laura Ashley is comfortable and familiar. Choose it for a relaxed, traditional room rather than a formal or a modern one.

What we didn't include

We have kept this to one pick per design house, all in roman format. A note on the choices behind that.

We have not included every designer the retailers carry - there are other licensed names in the market - but these three dominate UK designer blinds and between them cover the three main moods: heritage, modern and classic. A longer list would add names without adding a genuinely different style.

We have also stayed with romans for comparability, which means we have not featured the roller or no-drill versions here even though each range offers them. Those formats are real options - covered on the individual range pages - but mixing formats would have made this a comparison of blinds rather than of designs, which is the comparison that actually matters for a designer blind.

And we have not ranked the three houses against each other on quality, because they don't differ on it - the choice is purely which look suits your room.

Price by your window

The from-prices shown are starting points; the made-to-measure price depends on your window's width and drop, and on construction - the embroidered Laura Ashley designs, for instance, cost more than the printed ones. Each pick's page carries a price-by-dimensions tool; enter your measurements for the price at your size. Across the three, expect designer prints to sit above plain blinds of the same format - that premium is the licensed design, which is what you came for.