The Kobe vertical range from Blinds By Post is a made-to-measure vertical blind offered in 6 colourways, starting from £11.21. A vertical blind hangs as a row of fabric louvres that tilt to angle the light and draw to one side to clear the window, which makes it a natural fit for wide openings where a single roller or roman would be unwieldy.
Who it suits
Vertical blinds are at their best on broad windows, patio doors and conservatories. The louvres tilt together to let you angle daylight in or shut it out, and the whole stack draws aside like a curtain when you want the glass clear - useful where you need to walk through a door behind the blind. The Kobe range sits in a quiet, mostly grey and neutral palette, which suits the kind of large, contemporary windows verticals are usually asked to dress.
The fabric is a standard, light-filtering weave rather than a blackout cloth, so it softens and diffuses daylight and gives daytime privacy without darkening the room completely. It is worth knowing that a vertical blind never blacks a room out fully - even with the louvres tilted closed, a little light leaks through the overlaps between them - so for a bedroom needing total darkness a blackout roller or pleated blind would serve better. For a living room, dining room or conservatory, the light control and the ability to clear the window are the main draws.
The colours
6 colours available
The palette is built around greys and neutrals - shades such as Fossil, Thunder, Graphite, Steel and Taupe alongside a plain White. That gives you a run from a soft, pale neutral through to a deeper, more architectural grey, so you can pitch the blind light and unobtrusive or darker and more defined against the window. These are restrained, scheme-friendly tones rather than bold colours. As ever, a shade on a screen and the same shade filling a large window can look quite different under your own light, so ordering samples before committing is sensible, particularly across a set of close greys like these.
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 down 3% since 17 Aug. (our checks since 12 Jun)
Vertical blinds are among the more affordable made-to-measure blind types, and this range starts at a low entry point. It is offered in a single standard fitting, so the price you pay depends mainly on the width and drop you measure - and because verticals suit wide windows, width tends to be the bigger factor in the final figure.
How it compares
Against a roller blind, a vertical gives you tilt control and draws to the side, which a roller cannot do - a real advantage on a wide window or a patio door, where a roller would be a single broad sheet. Against a venetian, a vertical is gentler on a tall window and easier to clear out of the way, though it trades the venetian's crisper horizontal slat look for hanging fabric louvres. One practical point in a vertical's favour over both: the louvres are individually replaceable, so a single damaged slat can be swapped rather than replacing the whole blind. For wide or full-height glazing the Kobe range covers the brief straightforwardly in a neutral palette.
A note on care
Vertical louvres are easy to keep tidy. Dust them with a soft brush or a vacuum on a low setting, working down each louvre, and unhook individual slats for a more thorough clean if needed. Marks on a standard fabric can usually be lifted with a damp cloth and a little mild detergent worked gently over the spot - test on a hidden louvre first and let it dry fully before rehanging. Keep the louvres tilted flat when you clean so you can reach the whole surface, and check the bottom chain or weights occasionally to keep the stack hanging evenly.
Likely the same fabric, at other retailers
Kobe 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:
- Blinds By Post this page from £11.21
- Blinds Direct from £45.58
- So Easy Blinds from £48.44
- Wilsons Blinds from £75.46
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.