The Soma is a made-to-measure vertical blind sold by Swift Direct Blinds in 3 finishes, starting from £13.96. The palette sits entirely in the grey family - a deliberate, commercial-leaning set of neutrals that suits offices, conservatories, and wide-span windows where a clean, unfussy look is the priority.

Who it suits

Vertical blinds are the practical choice for large openings: patio doors, wide conservatory windows, and full-height glazing. The vanes slide along the track to open and rotate to control light, which makes them easier to operate across a wide span than a roller or venetian would be.

The Soma's grey palette makes it well suited to modern kitchens and living spaces with a neutral or monochrome scheme. Conservatories with aluminium or grey UPVC framing will find the finishes integrate naturally. It is less obviously suited to warm-toned interiors - if your room runs to terracotta, oak, or warm cream, a grey vertical may read as cold.

Vertical blinds are not typically recommended for bedrooms as a primary window treatment. They offer reasonable light control when the vanes are rotated closed, but the gap at the top track and any misalignment between vanes means they fall short of a blackout standard. For a bedroom requiring genuine darkness, a blackout roller with side channels would serve better.

The finishes

3 colours available

All three finishes in the Soma range are grey tones, differentiated by depth and warmth. Regal sits at the lighter end - a soft mid-grey that reads as close to neutral in most lighting conditions. Graphite moves darker and cooler, the kind of shade that anchors a room with dark frames or slate-effect flooring. Steel sits between the two, with a slightly warmer, more metallic character that picks up on brushed-aluminium hardware.

The palette is coherent rather than broad. If you need a warm neutral, a cream, or a colour with any yellow or brown in it, this range is not the right fit. What it does offer within its narrow register is genuine choice - the three shades are distinct enough that the wrong one will look off, so it is worth ordering samples before committing.

Price by your dimensions

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

Starting from £13.96, the Soma sits at the accessible end of the made-to-measure market. Vertical blind pricing typically scales with width more than drop, since a wider track requires more vanes. The grid above reflects standard made-to-measure sizing - unusually wide spans may push the price up noticeably from the entry point.

How it compares

Within the vertical blind category, the Soma is a straightforward grey-neutral option without premium pricing. If you are weighing it against other vertical ranges, the key differentiators to look for are vane width (typically 89mm for most residential verticals), fabric weight, and whether the vanes are weighted at the bottom to prevent swinging in a draught - the latter matters more in conservatories and rooms near frequently opened doors.

If the main driver is light control rather than coverage of a wide span, a venetian blind in a similar grey finish - aluminium at the budget end, faux wood for a softer look - would give finer-grained control via slat tilt. For rooms where insulation is the priority alongside coverage, a cellular or honeycomb blind would outperform any vertical on thermal grounds, though cellular blinds are typically more expensive and less suited to very wide single-panel openings.

The Soma makes sense where you need a no-fuss, mid-grey vertical with a low entry price and a choice of shade depth. It does not make sense where you need warmth, pattern, or genuine blackout performance.

Fitting and operation

Vertical blinds are fitted via a top track - either face-fixed to the wall above the window or ceiling-fixed to the underside of a lintel. Most tracks accept both fixing positions; check the Swift Direct Blinds fitting instructions for the Soma specifically, as track depth requirements can affect recess-fit viability for very shallow reveals.

The vanes rotate via a wand or cord on the carrier, and the stack (the gathered vanes when fully open) collects to one side of the track. For a patio door or walkthrough opening, note which side you want the stack to sit before ordering - most made-to-measure verticals let you specify left or right stack, or split-stack where the vanes open from the centre outward.

Likely the same fabric, at other retailers

Soma 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 from £11.00
  • Swift Direct Blinds this page from £13.96
  • So Easy Blinds from £51.57

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 →