With many homeowners currently opting to‘ improve rather than move’, internal remodelling is on the rise as a way to increase usable space within the home, without having to undertake major conversion work or extend. This is creating sales opportunities for integral blinds as Ian Short, Managing Director of Morley Glass, explains.

According to a survey commissioned by Compare the Market earlier this year, 52 % of homeowners said they are staying put and making improvements to their property rather than moving. This is a trend that we always see when mortgage rates are relatively high, and cost of living pressures squeeze household income.

Whilst this has led to a cooling of the market for new build homes, there are still strong opportunities for our sector amongst homeowners looking to upgrade their homes, not only through window and door replacements, but also by replacing standard IGUs with integral blinds. The latter enables homeowners to remodel their properties by making better use of the space available, and that means bringing new purpose to under-used rooms.

Remodelling is currently a popular route for many homeowners as the findings of another 2025 survey by Eurocell illustrates. It found that 43 % of homeowners say that they have unusable space that they want to convert, with up to 70 % saying they were actively planning to embark on an upgrade project.

Why switching an IGU for a slim integral blind unit makes a big difference

Where homeowners are looking to simply change the use of a room, replacing the existing IGU with a Uni-Blinds ® integral blind unit can be a smart move. They can enable a room to be used for a completely new purpose, such as a home office, games room, gym or additional bedroom, without the need to replace the complete window or door. And they can be particularly useful in smaller rooms where traditional wall mounted blinds and curtains may add excessive clutter.

The good news is that this option is feasible for most homeowners thanks to the slimline SL16 integral blind system exclusively available from Morley Glass. This is because it allows Venetian integral blinds to be incorporated into an IGU with a thickness of 24mm – the IGU size that many older generation PVCu windows and doors require, rather than the 28mm that is more common today.

The key to the SL16’ s compatibility and market opportunity is its reduced slat width. It features slats that are just 10mm wide, rather than 12mm used in standard units. It may only be a 2mm difference, but it offers massive potential

because it means that integral blinds can be incorporated into a 16mm cavity in a 4-16-4mm IGU format.

Couple this practicality with SL16’ s availability in nine colours, including contemporary options such as Agate Grey and Black, plus two control systems we believe it has great market potential for projects to rejuvenate specific rooms or even a whole property.

For homeowners looking for the sleekest internal appearance the cordless slider( SL16S) control system is the perfect choice. This features a slider device mounted on the face of the glass to raise and lower the Venetian blind, as well as tilt the slats. The pull cord version( SL16C) provides an alternative control system, using a more traditional cord, safely contained within a durable cord winder, to enable all the required blind movements with ease.

Integral blind plus security in a 28mm IGU

There is another important sales opportunity provided by the SL16 for homeowners whose windows and doors feature newer generation 28mm IGUs. This comes with how the slimline system allows security

to be upgraded in combination with the addition of the integral blind.

The specification of Secured by Design( SBD) and Part Q compliant windows often includes a 6.8mm laminated outer pane for additional resistance to break-ins. When this is combined with a 4mm inner pane to create a 28mm IGU, the 17.2mm cavity is insufficient for incorporating standard integral blinds.

However, this enhanced security 28mm IGU could feature the SL16. As a result, homeowners can upgrade their windows with a double glazed unit made to the latest security specification with the added wow-factor and convenience of an integral blind. We believe this could be extremely appealing to home improvers who already have newer windows and doors, or for homeowners looking to build an extension.

As with all the integral blind systems in our Uni-Blinds ® range, we bespoke manufacture SL16 units at our Yorkshire production facility using ScreenLine ® systems. Lead times are short too, with orders turned around with complementary delivery in as little as 10-12 working days.

www. morleyglass. co. uk