First I need to say that I've been caught out by old threads too so everybody, it's an OLD THREAD and the poster has already said what she ended up doing. But FWIW I thought your blinds looked good but I can understand wanting a colour change and grey would also be lovely from outside and a nice change inside. I hope you didn't give up on the vertical blind idea only because of the negativity from 'style experts'. We 'upgraded' our front room windows and although I like the appearance of what we have there now I am frequently conscious of the fact that I can't "filter the amount of light & privacy". Vertical blinds are very functional and how cheap or expensive they look is influenced by the choice of fabric, of course as with everything people's personal tastes vary, but the negativity toward vertical blinds sounds like a case of 'Emperor's New Clothes'.

Off the shelf blinds are usually mass produced imports hence being significantly cheaper. A custom made blind will fit exactly how you want it and like ours, Australian made! Also it depends on where you want it fitted, ours is between the timber reveals but they could be fitted to the architraves (wooden trim around the window).

Great advice!

Are you in Australia, if so, which city? Are you asking about what type of cabinets to install or are you asking for recommendations of joiners/cabinet makers. If it is the latter, then type in “joiner custom cabinets” into google, and it will list specialists in your area.