Concealed blind boxes

This is the detail architects draw and builders forget to leave room for. A recess in the ceiling, bulkhead or drop-slab houses the roller tube completely, so all you ever see is a slim slot and, when it is down, a plane of fabric. Raised, the window looks as though it was never dressed at all.

It is the single biggest visual upgrade available on a modern Bryanston rebuild, and it costs the least when it is planned before the ceiling closes.

Plan it at design stage

• Allow a clear recess of roughly 120–180mm deep and wide, depending on the drop and the fabric.
• Bring power to the recess if the blind is motorised — a plug point in the ceiling void is far easier before boarding.
• Decide early whether the slot gets a shadow-line detail or a removable service panel. Getting a motor out later matters.
• Tell us the ceiling build-up. The bracket detail changes between a rhinoboard bulkhead and a concrete soffit.

Retrofitting into a finished room

If the ceiling is already closed, you have two honest options. A colour-matched cassette pelmet mounts on the face of the wall and encloses the tube in a slim aluminium box — not invisible, but very close, and it can be sprayed to the wall colour. Or, where there is a bulkhead or a deep curtain recess already, we sometimes get a true concealed install without opening anything. We will tell you which after looking at the ceiling, not before.

What goes in the box

Usually a roller: blockout for bedrooms, sunscreen for living glass, or a double bracket carrying both. Cellular blinds also recess well and add the insulation. Almost every concealed installation we do is motorised — once the hardware is hidden, so is any chain you might have pulled.