Brightshine Blinds is one of three Brightshine ranges at Residium, alongside Brightshine Shutters and Brightshine Drapery. Brightshine began more than 40 years ago as a blind cleaning and repair company, spending its first decade learning what makes a blind good before making any, and every blind is still made to measure in its own Auckland factory, usually inside ten working days.

Roller blinds come in three fabric types, and your choice is really about how much light you want to keep. Blockout, also called blackout, is a solid fabric with a PVC backing for bedrooms and rooms you want dark. Sunfilter, sometimes called sunscreen, is rated by openness and protects floors and furniture from UV while keeping the view. Light filtering sits between the two, and Brightshine describes the effect as similar to frosted glass in a bathroom: light comes through, but nobody sees in. If you’re after privacy without losing the room’s daylight, that’s the one to look at. Fabrics are matched against Resene and Dulux charts so they sit correctly with common New Zealand wall colours, and blockouts are available with same-side colour backings where a body corporate requires it.

Venetians come three ways. Wooden venetians in 50mm and 63mm slats are hand sprayed in the Auckland factory, which lets the timber absorb the finish and resists the chipping you get from a dipped blind, and the paint copes with bathrooms, laundries and kitchens. Standard finishes are Resene White and Resene Alabaster, and if you want a slat matched to your architraves, that’s available too. Faux wood venetians in PVC give the same look for wet areas and households with pets and children, though Brightshine is candid that they’re heavier and the components wear faster. Aluminium venetians in 25mm slats are the durable classic, and tilting them open in summer and closed in winter gives you real control over how warm the room stays.

In Showroom 160 | Section B at Residium, easiest reached through the ABI Interiors showroom, a single and a dual roller run side by side, along with the 50mm and 63mm timber venetians in Resene Alabaster and Resene Nero. The single roller runs on a quiet wireless battery motor, so there’s no wiring to plan for, which is usually the thing that stops people. The dual roller puts a sunfilter and a blockout on one slimline double bracket: sunfilter down through the day, blockout down at night.

At a glance

• Roller blinds in blockout, sunfilter and light filtering fabrics
• Wooden, faux wood and aluminium venetians, hand sprayed in Auckland
• Fabrics matched against Resene and Dulux charts, with colour matching available
• Motorisation three ways: battery, hard wired with a remote, or home automation
• Made to measure in Brightshine’s Auckland factory, usually inside ten working days
• Three year warranty, and blind cleaning and repair on any brand
• Running on display in Showroom 160 | Section B at Residium