The ridge gives you the whole city. It gives you the whole sun as well.

That is a large part of our work here. Every blind is made to the opening we measure, not to a size chart, so a deep reveal gets an inside fit that leaves the timber frame and its proportion untouched. Where a frame is out of square — and in houses of this age it usually is by a few millimetres — we face-fit to the moulding line instead so the eye reads a straight edge. Nothing is screwed into a sash that has to keep sliding.

Layers, in this order. Stop what you can outside the glass: external venetians, roller shutters, a zip screen or an awning — because once the sun is through the pane the heat is already in the room. Then control what is left inside with a sunscreen fabric that keeps the view, or a blockout where the room has to go dark. Most ridge specifications end up as an external product plus an internal one, and the consultant reads the actual aspect at the measure before recommending either.

Not the ones we fit, and we would rather be plain about it. Our roller shutters are shading shutters: aluminium slats outside the glass that stop sun, heat, glare and light, and give you a dark, quiet, cool room. Security-rated shutters are a different product with a different frame, fixing and specification. They are available on request, but we will never let you assume a shading shutter secures a home.

Almost everything, and retrofitting is easier than most people expect. Rechargeable lithium tube motors need no wiring at all, which means an existing window can be motorised without opening a wall. Wired motors are better in a renovation, where power can reach the head of the window while the ceiling is open. We would normally motorise the high glass, the sun-side windows and anything external, and leave the guest bathroom on a chain.

We repair. Snapped cords, jammed mechanisms, tired chains and sagging slat stacks can usually be restrung or refurbished for a fraction of the cost of replacement, and we re-hang blinds after painting or a move. If a blind is genuinely past worth repairing we will say so rather than take the job either way.

The in-home measure is free and carries no obligation. A consultant comes to you with samples, measures every opening properly and reads the light in the room at the hour that matters. You then get a written quote itemised per window, so you can see what each one costs and remove any of them. Because everything is made to measure, that is the only way to price it honestly — there is no price list that would tell you the truth.