Europa Blinds supplies and fits Durashade rigid PVC vertical blinds for offices, clinics, schools, and rental properties across Bristol, and Mirage day and night roller blinds for homes.
Commercial and day and night blinds
Durashade and Mirage are both specialist blinds, but that’s roughly where the similarity ends. Durashade is a commercial-grade rigid PVC vertical blind built for environments that demand durability, hygiene, and fire compliance above everything else. Mirage is a residential double-layer roller blind designed to give homeowners continuous, intuitive control over the balance between light and privacy in a living space. One product is specified by facilities managers and landlords; the other is chosen by people who want something more considered than a standard roller for their living room or bedroom.
We’ve included them on the same page because they’re both specialist products that tend to get underexplained – and because some of our customers are looking for both: a Durashade specification for a rental property or commercial fit-out, and a Mirage blind for their own home. If that describes you, this is the right place to start.
Standard vertical blinds use woven fabric louvres. They look acceptable on the day they’re installed, and then they start to age: the fabric absorbs airborne particles, the louvres begin to sag at the hem, the colour fades unevenly in direct sunlight, and cleaning them requires more effort than most commercial environments can realistically schedule. For a busy office or a medical waiting room, this is a maintenance problem. For a school or a clinical space, it’s a hygiene concern.
Durashade replaces the fabric entirely with a solid 89mm rigid PVC louvre. There is no weave to trap particles, no fabric to sag, and no surface that needs anything other than a wipe with a damp cloth. The result is a vertical blind that looks the same on its third year in service as it did on the day it was fitted – and that can be cleaned in minutes rather than hours.
Solid rigid PVC – not fabric-covered
89mm standard
Inherently flame retardant to BS5867 – no additional chemical treatment required
Anti-microbial as standard – suitable for healthcare, food preparation, and education environments
Chain-free wand operation – no hanging cords or chains at any point
Wipe clean in place with damp cloth and mild detergent
Individual louvres replaceable without removing the full track
Available – suitable for building management and access control integration
The flame retardancy point is worth dwelling on. BS5867 compliance is a requirement in many commercial buildings, schools, healthcare facilities, and HMOs with multiple occupancy. Most fabric blinds achieve this standard only through a chemical treatment applied after manufacture – a treatment that can degrade with cleaning and age. Durashade’s PVC composition is inherently flame retardant without any surface treatment, which means compliance doesn’t erode over the life of the product. For a facilities manager or landlord whose fire risk assessment is reviewed regularly, this is the difference between a blind that stays compliant and one that needs periodic re-certification or replacement.
Durable, low-maintenance, and inherently fire-compliant without additional treatment. Individual louvre replacement keeps ongoing costs low when individual panels are damaged.
Anti-microbial PVC meets clinical hygiene requirements. Wipe-clean surface is compatible with standard clinical cleaning products. Chain-free control removes ligature risks in patient areas.
BS5867 compliance as standard, child-safe chain-free operation, and a surface that handles daily heavy use without the degradation that fabric blinds show in high-traffic environments.
Professional appearance that lasts. Large window spans are common in commercial environments and Durashade handles them well. Motorisation available for integrated building control.
Anti-microbial properties, chain-free wand control for safety, and a surface that tolerates the cleaning regimes required in care environments without deteriorating.
If you have existing vertical blind tracks that are structurally sound but fitted with worn or non-compliant fabric louvres, it may be possible to replace the louvres with Durashade PVC panels without changing the headrail. This is significantly cheaper than a full replacement and brings an existing installation up to a compliant, durable standard. Get in touch and we’ll assess whether your current track is compatible.
A standard roller blind has two states: up or down. Down means privacy; up means light. Getting both at the same time requires either a separate sheer curtain, a separate blackout blind, or a constant compromise between the two. Mirage day and night blinds solve this with a different fabric construction – and once you understand how they work, the appeal is immediately obvious.
Mirage blinds are available in a wide range of fabric colourways, from neutral whites and linens through to warm creams, soft greys, and more distinctive tones. The alternating band structure is visible in the fabric itself – it’s part of the aesthetic, not something to be hidden – and the proportion of sheer to opaque bands varies by fabric, affecting both the visual character of the blind and the quality of the diffused light.
The operating mechanism is a standard side chain or cord that moves the two fabric layers relative to each other, plus a separate cord to raise and lower the whole blind. Motorisation is available and particularly worthwhile for larger windows or rooms where the blind is adjusted frequently – the continuous nature of the Mirage adjustment makes motorised control especially satisfying to use. Smart home integration is available via standard platforms.
Two layers of fabric hang together in the same casing: one layer carries alternating bands of sheer fabric, the other carries alternating bands of opaque fabric. Moving the layers relative to each other aligns sheer over sheer for an open, diffused effect, or opaque over opaque for privacy. Every point in between is available, continuously and smoothly, by adjusting a single control.
You can have soft morning light filtering through the sheer alignment while still having complete privacy from the street. You can watch television in the evening with the blind closed and no reflection from outside. And you can go from one state to the other in seconds, without raising or lowering the blind at all. For an open-plan living room or a bedroom where the light and privacy requirements change significantly across the day, this level of control has real day-to-day value.
Ground-floor rooms on residential streets get passing foot traffic and direct sun. Mirage handles both: sheer alignment for daylight without being overlooked, opaque for evenings.
Mirage suits the large windows and open-plan layouts of Bristol’s newer properties, where a standard roller looks unfinished and curtains would overwhelm the space.
The process is straightforward and entirely managed by our own team.
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We come to you, bring the sample range, take precise measurements of every window you are considering, and talk through fabric, finish, and control options. No charge, no obligation.
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You receive a clear, itemised quote. The price is fixed, with no hidden extras at installation.
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Once you confirm, your order goes into production. We confirm the lead time in writing with your quote, so you know the date before you commit.
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Our own fitting team installs everything cleanly and carefully, and clears up afterwards. We give you a realistic time estimate in advance rather than a vague window.
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If anything needs adjusting once you have lived with it for a few days, call us. We come back and sort it.
The louvre material. Standard vertical blinds use woven fabric louvres that absorb dust and particles over time, fade in direct sunlight, and eventually sag at the hem. Durashade louvres are solid 89mm rigid PVC panels – they don’t absorb anything, don’t fade unevenly, and wipe clean with a damp cloth in seconds. They’re also inherently flame retardant to BS5867 and anti-microbial without any additional treatment – neither of which standard fabric louvres can claim without a chemical post-treatment that degrades over time.
Yes – they’re one of the most commonly specified blind types for healthcare environments precisely because the rigid PVC surface is anti-microbial as standard and compatible with standard clinical cleaning products. The chain-free wand control removes the ligature risk associated with looped cords in patient areas. The BS5867 flame retardant rating meets the fire safety requirements of most healthcare building regulations. We’ve supplied Durashade for dental practices, GP waiting rooms, and clinical spaces across Bristol and the South West.
Durashade rigid PVC louvres are inherently flame retardant to BS5867 – the standard required for window furnishings in many commercial, educational, and healthcare buildings in the UK. This compliance is a property of the PVC material itself rather than a surface treatment: it doesn’t wash off, degrade with cleaning, or need periodic re-certification. For a fire risk assessment or a building compliance audit, this is a meaningfully more reliable standard than a fabric blind treated with a flame retardant coating.
Mirage blinds use two layers of fabric hanging together from the same cassette, each carrying alternating sheer and opaque horizontal bands. A control moves the two layers relative to each other: when sheer bands align with sheer bands, light passes through softly and the room feels open; when opaque bands align with opaque bands, the blind is closed for privacy. Adjusting the alignment to any point between these two positions gives every degree of light diffusion in between. The blind can also be raised and lowered independently of the band alignment.
When the opaque bands are fully aligned, Mirage blinds provide effective privacy and substantially reduce incoming light – significantly more so than a standard light-filtering roller. However, a fully aligned Mirage blind is not technically blackout in the same way a foam-backed blackout roller is: some light may pass through the fabric at the band edges and the cassette sides. For a bedroom where complete darkness is critical, a dedicated blackout roller or Roman blind with a blackout lining is the more reliable specification. For a living room or a bedroom where very low ambient light is sufficient, Mirage in the fully closed position performs well.
Yes. Motorisation is available for both product types. For Durashade, motorised track systems integrate with building management systems and are particularly useful for commercial spaces with large window spans or access control requirements. For Mirage, motorisation adds a significant quality-of-life improvement – the continuous adjustment between sheer and opaque alignments is particularly satisfying via a remote or smart home command rather than a manual cord. Both systems are compatible with most major smart home platforms. We’ll advise on the most appropriate motor specification during the home visit or site survey.
Yes. For Durashade and other commercial enquiries, we carry out a free site survey, check the window sizes and any compliance requirements, and give you a fixed-price quotation. Our own team does the fitting, and we can work around your opening hours.
Often, yes. If your existing vertical blind tracks are sound, we may be able to swap worn or non-compliant fabric louvres for Durashade PVC louvres without changing the headrail. It costs much less than a full replacement. Get in touch and we’ll check whether your track is compatible.
Tell us the environment and we will tell you which of the two fits it, or whether neither does.
