Planned at drawing stage, the blind disappears completely — you see the glass and the garden, never the mechanism.
A concealed blind box is a recess formed in the ceiling or a bulkhead, deep enough to take the roll, the brackets and the motor. When the blind is up there is nothing to see but a slot and a shadow line. It is the detail that separates a considered renovation from a nicely furnished one, and it is a large part of what we do in Sandhurst.
Because the recess is built, not fitted, this is a conversation to have early. Bring us in at drawing stage and we will give your architect or builder the internal dimensions the system needs, where the power must land for the motor, how the slot should meet the ceiling cornice, and how to keep it clear of downlights, sprinklers and aircon diffusers. Those clashes are cheap to avoid on paper and expensive to fix on site.
If the ceilings are already closed, the retrofit answer is a slim cassette pelmet — a headbox that encloses the roll on three sides and can be colour-matched to the ceiling or the joinery. It is not invisible, but it is quiet, and it reads as part of the building rather than as hardware.
Practical notes
- Recess dimensions are system-specific — exact figures come with the quote.
- Coordinate the slot with downlights, sprinklers and aircon at design stage.
- Almost always motorised; plan a power point above the ceiling line.
- Retrofit alternative: slim colour-matched cassette pelmets.
Where we fit this
Concealed blind boxes are usually planned at drawing stage, which suits the renovation-led streets of Dunkeld and the double-volume glass of Hyde Park — and we fit them just as often in Atholl, Illovo and Inanda.
What a concealed blind costs in Sandhurst
A recessed system is partly a ceiling detail, and it is priced as one: R1,600 to R3,000 per square metre installed hand-operated, and R3,200 to R5,000 per square metre motorised, which is where most of these installations end up because the mechanism is hidden on purpose.
Narrow recesses attract a minimum charge and are often the fiddliest window in the house rather than the cheapest. The band is for planning; the per-window figure follows the free measure and arrives in writing.
Often specified together
