The Akita roller at Blinds By Post is a small, decisive range: 4 colourways from £13.98, offered as an open-roll blind, as a cassette version with an enclosed headrail, and as a cassette motorised version. It is a workhorse roller rather than a statement fabric, and its name is not unique to this shop - the same fabric name appears at other retailers we track, which makes it one of the rare blinds you can genuinely cross-shop before you buy.
Who it suits
Rollers are the default blind for a reason: the fabric rolls away to a bare tube, clears the glass entirely when raised, and asks for nothing more than the occasional wipe. A palette this quiet makes the Akita a background blind - the sort you fit in a kitchen, home office or rental refresh where the window needs dressing without a decorating debate.
The two upgraded fittings each solve a specific problem. The cassette encloses the rolled fabric in a headrail, tidying the top line and keeping dust off the roll - worth considering where the blind sits at eye level or in a room where a bare tube would jar. The motorised cassette removes the chain altogether, which suits windows above worktops and sinks, tall or awkward reaches, and households that would rather not have a looped cord within a child's reach at all.
Look elsewhere if you want colour or pattern - a handful of quiet neutrals is the entire card - or if you need certain darkness, since the range is listed in a standard opacity rather than as a blackout fabric. Light sleepers should start from a dedicated blackout roller range instead.
The colours
4 colours available
Dawn, Rise, Shine and Stone: most of the names read like a morning, and the palette comes across as soft, light-leaning neutrals with Stone as the earthier anchor. Names like these are atmospheric rather than descriptive - Dawn tells you a mood, not an undertone - so treat the swatches above as the real guide and order samples before choosing. Neutrals are the shades most likely to surprise in person: a colour that looks cool on a screen can turn warm on a sunlit wall, and any weave texture disappears entirely in a thumbnail.
Price by your dimensions
Enter your window size. We round up to the next standard size, which matches how the retailer actually quotes you.
Price around its usual level (checked since 12 Jun).
The from-price buys the smallest window in the open-roll version; expect the cassette to sit above it and the motorised cassette above that for the same pane, since headrails and motors add cost in any range. Beyond the fitting choice, the price scales with width and drop in the usual made-to-measure way, so use the table with your own measurements.
How it compares
The most useful comparison is not within Blinds By Post at all. The Akita name appears at three other UK retailers we track - Blinds Direct, Roller Blinds Direct and So Easy Blinds - and prices differ between shops for the same window. Most ranges are one-shop affairs, so this is one of the rare cases where a few minutes on our Akita roller comparison can pay for themselves: same name, different bills, and only your measurements decide which shop comes out ahead.
Within Blinds By Post itself, the real decision is the fitting. The open-roll blind is the budget route, the cassette buys a tidier top, and the motor buys convenience. If your actual need is darkness, a dedicated blackout roller serves a bedroom better than any standard-opacity fabric, and a very wide opening - patio doors, say - is a vertical blind's job rather than a roller's.
A note on care
Roller care is minimal. Dust the panel with the blind fully lowered, using a soft cloth or a vacuum on low suction, and lift marks by blotting with a barely damp cloth rather than soaking the fabric. Watch that it rolls up straight - a panel that wanders towards one end of the tube will catch eventually, and re-rolling it evenly usually puts things right. On the cassette versions, run a duster along the headrail when you do the sills; on the motorised blind, keep cleaning to a wipe around the mechanism rather than anything wet.
Likely the same fabric, at other retailers
Akita roller blinds are sold under the same name by more than one UK retailer, and the price scales identically across window sizes - a strong sign it is the same fabric from the same supplier:
- Blinds By Post this page from £13.98
- Roller Blinds Direct from £17.86
- Blinds Direct from £19.61
- Wilsons Blinds from £21.01
- So Easy Blinds from £68.15
We match these on the shared name and an identical price curve, not an independent inspection, so treat it as likely the same fabric rather than confirmed - and check the specification and colour at each retailer before buying.