Venetian blinds built for salt air

A roller is open or closed by degrees; a venetian steers light direction — tilt up for glare-free daylight, tilt down for privacy from a neighbouring balcony, close flat for dark. On a coastline where the sun swings hard off open water through the day, that hour-by-hour adjustability is the whole selling point.

Aluminium venetians — the seaboard default

• 25mm slats — crisp, the most popular line profile.
• 50mm slats — bolder, fewer lines across a wide pane.
• Salt-air performance — powder-coated aluminium is the moisture and salt champion. It handles Camps Bay’s sea air far better than fabric or bare metal, though a rinse-wipe now and then still matters this close to the water.
• A huge colour range including woodlook finishes, at a budget-friendly price point relative to timber.

Timber & bamboo venetians

50mm basswood or bamboo slats bring warmth and an architectural, natural-material look — well suited to studies and character rooms set back from direct sea spray. Keep them out of steam-heavy bathrooms; quality lacquer handles normal humidity but not sustained salt exposure the way aluminium does. They’re also heavier, so very wide Camps Bay window walls usually need splitting or ladder-tape support.

Where they win

Kitchens, bathrooms and any room where fabric eventually fails to moisture — and any glass wall that swings from bright glare to soft evening light across a single afternoon. Motorised tilt is available on premium lines, useful on tall glazing you don’t want to reach by hand.

What a venetian costs, by material

Two different materials, two different bands, both per square metre installed. Aluminium — the seaboard default — comes in at R1,000 to R1,500 with a wand or cord, and R2,500 to R3,600 once tilt and lift are motorised. Timber runs dearer, at R1,600 to R2,600 manual and R3,000 to R4,500 motorised, with wide slats and stained finishes near the top of each.

Under a certain size a venetian is charged at a minimum rather than by area: a bathroom window absorbs the same headrail, the same brackets and the same hour on site as a wide one. Read those as a budget too. The binding figure per window follows the free measure, in writing.