we're very happy with our honeycomb blinds for thermal comfort summer and winter with a similar climate to Canberra ..the best thing about these blinds is that they still allow maximum light penetration so we don't have to have dark rooms to insulate

Thanks Louise. One concern I gave is the width across a sliding window space. How wide are yours and do you need to access in and out of the area that’s covered (ie sliding door)

our honeycomb blinds are restricted to windows as insulated curtains would be easier for access to the sliding doors

Blinds are sort of limited to around 1800 -2400 wide or they get too heavy. They can be annoying over a door

Nothing really beats external shading, stopping the air between the glass and the window furnishings from heating up so much in the first place. The glazing of course also matters. Do you have double glazing and/or low-e glass? The internal window coverings are the last line of defence and in my experience there's always some hot air coming around the edges.

Hi Macy
Have double glazing and had poly roofing on my pergola until hail smashed it: I will be trying to finalise the external shading next year but that is a whole other project ! I’ll be adding a commercial grade shade sail in next week or so
It is certainly the priority but I need to decide on window coverings ASAP as part of my build