Guide 02 · Measuring · Easy
Reveal fit or face fit: which one, and why it changes the measure
Every blind order form opens with this question, and it changes every number that follows. Here's what each fit actually is, what each one costs you, and the honest tiebreakers.
The two fits, drawn
Reveal fit: inside the opening
The blind sits up in the window recess, flush and built-in looking. Architraves stay on show, curtains can still layer over the top later, and nothing pokes into the room. It's the trim, joinery-grade look, and on a square window with a deep reveal it's hard to beat.
What it costs you, honestly:
- A light gap each side. A roller's fabric is narrower than its fittings, so a reveal fit always shows a sliver of daylight down both edges. In a lounge you'll never notice; in a shift-worker's bedroom you will. There is no measuring trick that removes it; that's what face fit or a pelmet is for.
- A depth requirement. The bracket needs to sit fully inside the reveal, clear of winders, handles and flyscreens. Shallow reveal, no reveal fit.
- No forgiveness. The blind must pass the opening at its narrowest point, which is why the three-place measure exists. An out-of-square opening shows a wedge of light at one corner, and the blind can't hide it.
Face fit: on the wall or architrave above
The blind mounts proud of the window and hangs over the whole opening like a curtain that learned discipline. Overlap is yours to choose, at least 50 mm a side, and generous overlap is what makes a bedroom properly dark.
What it costs you:
- Presence. The blind stands into the room a few centimetres and covers the architraves. Some rooms carry it well, some look better with the trim showing.
- A wall that can hold it. Timber, brick or a lintel is happy; bare plasterboard needs the right anchors. The install guide covers this.
- Bigger fabric, bigger roll. More coverage means more blind. Not harder, just more of it.
The honest tiebreakers
| Your situation | The call | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Bedroom, sleep matters | Face fit | Overlap beats the reveal light gap. Blockout fabric plus 60–70 mm overlap each side is the difference between dim and dark. |
| Deep, square reveals (most new builds) | Reveal fit | The reveal was practically built for it. Trim look, easy measure, clean result. |
| Shallow reveal, or a winder/handle in the way | Face fit | You can't fit a bracket in depth that isn't there. Reverse roll can clear a small handle; it can't invent depth. |
| Diagonals disagree by more than about 5 mm | Face fit | Face fit hangs off the wall, not the opening, so the lean hides behind the fabric instead of showing as a wedge of light. |
| Diagonals disagree by a lot (a finger width or more) | Neither, yet | A visibly leaning opening usually has friends: sticking sashes, cracked reveals. Worth a professional eye before anything gets ordered. The honest list. |
| Renting | Ask first, then face fit into the architrave | Fewer, smaller holes in timber that's easy to fill. And the landlord conversation is shorter than the bond conversation. |
Deciding the fit after measuring. A reveal measure and a face measure are different numbers for the same window, and an order form filled with the wrong set produces a blind that is confidently, precisely wrong. Fit first, then tape.
