The Hayden is a made-to-measure vertical blind sold by Swift Direct Blinds, available in 4 finishes and priced from £7.66. It sits at the accessible end of the Swift Direct Blinds range, with a quiet palette of cool neutrals and greens that will work across a wide range of interiors without demanding attention.

Who it suits

Vertical blinds are best matched to wide window openings and patio doors, where their sliding vanes make it easy to open across a large span without the effort of lifting a heavy fabric panel. The Hayden suits conservatories, living rooms with French doors, or any opening wider than about 150 cm where a roller or Roman blind would become unwieldy.

The range sits in the grey and shadow categories, which suggests a cool-toned, low-contrast palette. That makes it a reasonable choice for rooms where you want the blinds to recede rather than become a focal point - open-plan living areas, home offices, or rooms with busy furnishings that don't need more pattern competing with them.

Vertical blinds are less suited to bedrooms, where light leaks between vanes can disturb sleep, and where the commercial feel of the format tends to clash with softer furnishings. If bedroom use is a priority, a blackout roller or Roman blind will serve better. Similarly, while stiffened polyester vanes are reasonably wipe-clean, a dedicated moisture-resistant PVC vertical is a safer specification for bathrooms and kitchens where steam is persistent.

The colours

4 colours available

The Hayden offers three finishes - Fern, Whisper, and Shadow. These are variations on a cool, muted theme rather than genuinely different directions. Fern reads as a soft sage or grey-green, Whisper is a pale neutral (likely off-white or light grey), and Shadow leans into the darker end of the grey family. Together they form a coordinated palette for anyone decorating in the currently popular cool-neutral register.

There are no warm tones, no ochres or terracottas, and no bold contrasts in this range. If you are working with a warmer interior - oak furniture, warm white walls, or earthy accents - one of the other Swift Direct Blinds ranges is likely a better fit. For those already committed to a cool, contemporary scheme, the three finishes give enough variation to match walls, trim, or soft furnishings without straining.

Price by your dimensions

Enter your window size. We round up to the next standard size, which matches how the retailer actually quotes you.

With a from-price of £7.66, the Hayden sits at the entry level of the made-to-measure vertical blind market. As with all made-to-measure pricing, the figure you pay scales with your window dimensions - wider and longer windows cost more. The widget above shows how the price changes across common sizes, which is useful before committing to a measurement.

At this price point, the Hayden is not competing with premium vane fabrics in terms of weight or finish depth. For a conservatory or utility room where function takes priority over texture, that is entirely reasonable. For a main living space where the blind will be a prominent feature, it is worth looking at the wider Swift Direct Blinds range to see whether a mid-range option suits your brief better.

How it compares

Within the vertical blind category, the Hayden positions as an affordable, plain-fabric option for standard domestic use. The main alternatives at this level are other polyester vane verticals from Swift Direct Blinds and equivalent ranges at comparable retailers. Across the category, the meaningful differentiators are vane width (89 mm is standard; 127 mm gives a wider, fewer-vane look for very large openings), fabric weight, and whether the vanes have bottom weights and a linking chain to keep them settled in draughts.

If the primary need is blackout - for a bedroom or media room - a vertical blind in any fabric is unlikely to satisfy: light leaks between vanes regardless of fabric opacity, and side-return light from the track is difficult to eliminate. A roller with side channels or a blackout Roman blind is a more reliable specification for complete darkness.

For anyone covering patio doors or a wide glazed wall in a living room or conservatory and wanting a simple, low-fuss solution in a cool-neutral palette, the Hayden is a straightforward option worth considering.

Fitting and operation

Vertical blinds hang from a head rail that typically offers both inside-recess and face-fix mounting. For patio doors, face fitting to the wall above is more common, as it allows the vanes to stack fully clear of the opening. Check the Swift Direct Blinds fitting guide for minimum recess depths if an inside-recess fit is preferred.

Vane rotation and the draw cord or wand operation are standard across the vertical category. The bottom chain linking the vanes keeps them from separating in draughts and is a normal part of the specification.

Likely the same fabric, at other retailers

Hayden vertical 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:

  • Swift Direct Blinds this page from £7.66
  • Blinds By Post from £10.00
  • So Easy Blinds from £48.44

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.

Compare these retailers side by side →