Every made-to-measure catalogue needs a range that simply covers the neutrals, and at Blinds By Post that job falls to Sirocco: 10 colourways of plain roller fabric with prices starting from £12.37, running the ladder from White at one end to Pitch at the other. The same cloth is listed three ways - standard roller, cassette, and motorised cassette - so the fabric can stay constant while the hardware suits the window.
Who it suits
A plain neutral roller is the definition of a safe pick, and that is meant as a compliment. With no pattern to date and no colour to argue with the room, it suits rented flats, home offices, kitchens and any scheme where the blind's job is to manage light and then be ignored. If the curtains, cushions or splashback are already doing the talking, a roller in Stone or Haze is the supporting act that lets them get on with it.
The opacity across the range is standard: daylight is softened, daytime privacy is handled, and the room keeps its brightness. It is not a blackout cloth, and outlines can read through it after dark with the lights on - a bedroom or nursery chasing proper darkness should be looking at blackout ranges instead. The cassette version tidies the top of the blind into an enclosed headrail; the motorised version drops the chain entirely, which tall windows and small children both appreciate.
The colours
10 colours available
The card speaks two languages. Half of it is plain English - White, Cream, Grey, Charcoal, Stone - the staples every scheme eventually asks for. The other half is decorator's shorthand: Gesso reads chalky and pale, Haze and Pewter hold the middle ground, Pitch anchors the dark end of the run, and Sense keeps its meaning to itself. With 10 shades in a tight band of neutrals, the differences between neighbours are subtle - Cream against Gesso, Grey against Pewter - which is exactly where names mislead and samples earn their keep. Order two or three neighbouring shades and judge them against the wall they will live with, in morning and evening light.
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 7% since 11 Aug. (our checks since 6 Jun)
Pricing on a plain roller is as legible as the trade gets: a grid of width against drop, with nothing hidden in pattern repeats. The from-price of £12.37 buys the smallest size in the run, and the table above prices your actual window. Two habits serve you well here - measure in three places and work from the smallest figure, and price the exact version you mean to buy, since the cassette and motorised listings sit on their own grids.
How it compares
Within Blinds By Post, Sirocco is the neutrals workhorse - the range you shortlist when the window needs dressing and the scheme needs nothing added. Beyond the shop is where it gets interesting for your wallet: the Sirocco name appears at five other UK retailers we track - Blinds Direct, Roller Blinds Direct, Shade & Story, Vertical Blinds Direct and Wilsons Blinds - and the same fabric name, measured for the same window, is priced differently from shop to shop. The gaps are not constant either: whoever is keenest at a small kitchen window may not be keenest on a wall of glass. Our Sirocco comparison lines the six shops up at your measurements, and it is worth the minute before any order goes in.
If you want colour rather than composure, a card this disciplined will feel austere; and anyone whose first requirement is darkness should be reading about blackout ranges instead.
A note on care
Care is pleasingly dull. Dust the fabric little and often - a soft brush or the vacuum's upholstery head, top to bottom, blind fully down. Take marks off with a cloth that is damp rather than wet, blotting instead of scrubbing, and let the fabric dry completely before it is rolled away; a blind rolled up damp comes back down worse. In a kitchen, leave it lowered for a few minutes after a steamy session at the hob. Neutrals age slowly and gracefully, and this small routine keeps it that way.
Likely the same fabric, at other retailers
Sio 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 from £9.72
- Blinds By Post this page from £12.37
- Roller Blinds Direct from £16.70
- Blinds Direct from £18.35
- Wilsons Blinds from £18.99
- Shade & Story from £32.00
- So Easy Blinds from £60.29
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.