The home interest magazines are awash (if you pardon the pun) with nautical themed lifestyle shots at the moment – so what better time to introduce a Swedish blind that draws inspiration from the marine world.

Swedish Blind using a patchwork of fabrics from Moghul’s cotton fabric range

What is a Swedish blind? It’s a simple style of blind that is raised and lowered by a cord and pulley system that hangs from the top of the blind. The cord is typically made fast around a cleat attached to the wall at the side of the blind. The only structure to the blind comes from the top batten that it is attached to, and the counterweight bar that is sewn into the bottom of the blind and runs horizontally across its width.

Why choose Swedish over the alternatives? The unique charm of the Swedish blind lies in it’s simplicity. There are no stacks of folds that so characterise roman blinds, and crucially, because the blind rolls up on itself, the fabric on the reverse of the blind is exposed, giving you the opportunity to blend the reverse and face fabric in a way that is not possible with some of the alternatives.

Variations of the Swedish Blind include roll-up blinds, which are formed in the same way, but are more suitable as dress blinds, because they are held in place at a fixed position by ribbons or other tape, rather than by a cord and pulley system.

A nautical twist: We’ve introduced a new innovation to this most traditional of blind by replacing the thonging and glass rings that most people use to hold the cords in place at the top of the blind – with nickle plated fixed eye pulleys, which make the blind ultra smooth to operate, and eliminate the rather untidy sideways drag that you usually get with the more traditional thonging and glass eyelet mechanisms.  They also give the blind a nautical flourish and make it the ultimate way to finish your seaside, shaker style kitchen.

Our nickel plated pulley replaces the traditional thonging and glass rings and introduces a smoothness of operation that you do not normally associate with this type of blind