The Marlow Blackout Stone is a made-to-measure blackout roller blind sold by Swift Direct Blinds, available in 3 finish and starting from £10.75. It is a straightforward proposition - a grey stone-toned polyester fabric intended to block light - without the colour variety of wider ranges.
Who it suits
The primary use case is the bedroom. Blackout roller blinds are the obvious choice when early summer mornings or street lighting make sleep difficult, and the Marlow's single neutral finish sits comfortably in most bedroom colour schemes without demanding a strong decorating decision. The stone grey tone is cool without being stark, which makes it work in rooms with white or off-white walls as readily as in more considered schemes.
It is also a reasonable fit for a young child's room where sleep-light separation is the priority and visual simplicity is welcome. If you do fit it in a child's room, use a cordless or wand-operated option in line with UK cord-safety practice - confirm the operation type available with Swift Direct Blinds at the time of ordering.
The Marlow is less suited to living rooms or home offices where a dimout or light-filtering fabric would give more daytime flexibility. In those rooms you typically want some daylight through the fabric when the blind is down - a blackout fabric simply closes off the window entirely. Bathrooms and kitchens are also a poor match: moisture-resistant PVC roller fabrics are the practical choice in those rooms, and the Marlow does not appear to be described as PVC or wipe-clean by the retailer. As with any roller blind, the blackout fabric itself blocks light through the material, but edge-leak around the sides and top is normal; for complete room darkness, a perfect-fit fitting or side channels are worth considering alongside the blind itself.
The colours
3 colours available
The Marlow Blackout Stone comes in one finish. The grey is described by the retailer as a stone tone - a neutral mid-grey that sits between warm taupe and cooler blue-grey. That neutrality is its main practical advantage: it rarely clashes and does not demand a decorating scheme to work around it. Grey-toned roller fabrics tend to recede visually when the blind is raised, which keeps the window looking clean.
The limitation is equally straightforward - if you need to match a specific colour or prefer a warm, earthy, or bold palette, this range does not offer alternatives. A range with a broader colour run would serve those requirements better. There is also nothing here for anyone wanting a patterned, textured, or printed fabric; the Marlow is a plain-weave roller intended to do a functional job neatly rather than to be a decorative focal point.
Price by your dimensions
Enter your window size. We round up to the next standard size, which matches how the retailer actually quotes you.
At from £10.75, the Marlow sits at the entry-level end of the made-to-measure roller blind market. Prices increase with width and drop, as with all made-to-measure blinds. The widget above shows pricing across a range of standard sizes, which gives a realistic picture of what a typical window will cost. For smaller windows - a bathroom or a narrow bedroom - the entry price is genuinely accessible.
How it compares
Within blackout rollers, the Marlow's main distinction is its price point and its simplicity. If you want a single neutral grey blackout roller and do not need a broad colour choice, it does that job without unnecessary complication. If you need a wider palette, a pattern, or a premium fabric weight, there are other ranges from Swift Direct Blinds and other retailers that offer those things. A heavier fabric will typically hang with less movement in a draught and may give a more finished look in a larger window. For rooms where insulation is as important as light blocking, a cellular blind is worth comparing - the air-pocket structure offers measurably better thermal performance than a standard roller fabric, at a higher price.
The single-finish limitation is the honest caveat to carry into your decision. For its intended purpose - an affordable, neutral blackout roller for a bedroom or similar room - the Marlow Blackout Stone is a competent, unpretentious choice.
Likely the same fabric, at other retailers
Marlow 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:
- Swift Direct Blinds this page from £10.75
- Blinds By Post from £31.00
- 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.