Cellular Shades
Tap into nature’s gift — Cellular Shades Save on Energy Bills
The cellular shade is a style of window covering that embraces an impressive design from nature and saves your energy bills.
Cellular Shade is energy efficient because of its cell or honeycomb design — cells trap air, and air pockets are natural insulators.
What detail nature reveals is uncertain; however,
nature unveils reality at each expose
Do you feel joyous bringing beautiful shades into your Calgary home?
By choosing cellular shades for your windows, you brace the nature’s ritual — Good for nature, good for you.
Watch the video below to see how this style of shade provides comfort throughout your home—no matter the season.
What this page covers:
- What is a Cellular or Honeycomb shade?
- Top-Down and Bottom-Up Cellular Shades
- What are your opacity choices — view-through and privacy?
- What are the fabric choices for Honeycomb Blinds?
- Vertical Cellular Shades for patio doors — a must-see style
- What is the R-Value for this style?
- How do you operate Cellular blinds?
- How do you clean Cellular blinds?
- Who install your blinds?
- How can I get Cellular Blinds?
What is a Cellular or Honeycomb shade?
Cellular shades or honeycomb shade is a window covering made of woven or spun-lace fabrics, fabric is formed into honeycomb-shaped cells.
The fabric shade offers unsurpassed beauty to your windows — diffuse light and provides comfort throughout your home.
Let me show you a closeup of the shade.
You can visualize the elegance of this style for your room or space.
I will also show you the side-view of the shade so you can see the cells.
You have three (3) choices for cell design.
Single Cell Design
- one row of cells that stack on top of each other
- Single cell shades range in cell and pleat widths from 3/8th of an inch to 2 inches
- provide a clean, less busy look
- a value price point option as it uses a single layer
Cell Within A Cell Design
- Unique Design — have an outer layer and an inner layer of fabric, hence the name cell-within-a-cell
- Shade fabric looks richer
- Superior energy efficiency and a softer look and feel.
- Exclusive to the premium window covering supplier — Hunter Douglas
Double Cell Design
- provides two layers of cells — slightly offset rows of cells
- Double cell shades usually come in smaller sizes — less than ½ inch
- design is more intricate and requires more fabric to make
- better energy efficiency and noise reduction
Top-Down and Bottom-Up Cellular Shades
The shape, overall aesthetic, energy-efficiency, and design of cellular shades are nothing short of spectacular.
And as if that wasn’t enough, this shade style enacted the Top-Down and Bottom-Up design feature and ordained it to be the most sought-after feature of the shade.
This feature allows you to operate the window shades both from top and bottom. So, you get to enjoy the natural light and privacy at the same time.
Let’s say your window faces the street. You can lower the shade down from the top to usher in the light and still not expose your room to a view from the street.
Look at the picture below and judge for yourself.
- Top-down/bottom-up shades enhance privacy without completely blocking light from entering the room
- Control light and privacy in one system – the best of both the worlds.
- Lower shades from the top, or raise from the bottom, or any combination in between.
- Offers a more versatile approach to light control.
What do I mean by a versatile approach? I will present this scenario to you:
The shades are in your master bedroom or ensuite area. You have the option to drop the top of the shade down in the early morning. As the room gets soaked in the morning sunlight, you are free to move about the room with no compromise to your privacy.
You decide on the level of exposure for your room from the outside world, while natural light makes way from the top — unobstructed views.
That is what I mean — a versatile display like our nature
Nature reveals and heals
What are your opacity choices — view-through and privacy?
Cellular Shades are available in a wide variety of fabrics and materials.
They come in a range of opacities from sheer to opaque — offering varying degrees of privacy and light control options.
Sheer Fabric
- for ultimate daylighting and view-through
- offers minimal to no privacy
- no resistance to view from outside
Semi-sheer Fabric
- for indistinct view-through
- offers moderate or barely perceptible privacy
- outsiders can make out vaguely what is happening inside though the finer details may not be visible
Semi-opaque Fabric
- for diffused soft light into your room
- offers excellent privacy
Opaque Fabric
- for room-darkening or light-blocking – ideal for bedrooms
- offers maximum privacy
Duolite® or Dual Fabric Option
- combines two fabrics — one light filtering, the other room darkening—into a single shade
- ideal option for controlling light and privacy in your home
The picture below compares the level of privacy you get going from sheer fabric to room darkening, judged from outside with the lights on during night time.
You will get to see these choices and more when we meet for our FREE in-home consultation and measurement.
What are the fabric choices for Honeycomb Blinds?
Thinking about fabrics, I stumbled across an article about Golden Spider Silk Cape — woven from the silk of 1.2 million gold-orb weaver spiders.
The story fascinated me mystically, and the words below struck a chord with me:
Good that humans learned to spin silk from silkworms, otherwise this silk would be webs in the wind.
See for yourself:
Ok, I digress. Time to get back to our cellular shade fabrics.
Our Cellular shades offer a splendid assortment of fabrics for you to choose from — an abundance of finely woven and thoughtfully curated fabric choices.
Get ready to witness contemporary colors, patterns, and textures in your room through this style.
I will highlight a few fabric themes:
Balance between rustic character and modern lines
- The fabric features rich natural hues, crisp, clean, and laid back for a stylish and casual look.
Luxurious woven fabric
- Silk fabric is a luxurious woven fabric that features a subtle texture
- This fabric offers a softened illumination to complement your decor.
Bring the beauty of nature’s imperfections
- The variance between the fibers gives each shade its character in your space.
- Embrace simplicity and natural materials — take into account where your windows are located
Whites and soft neutrals
- Colors span from whites and soft neutrals to mid-tones.
- You can also get more intense hues that lend unique finishes to the decor.
Vertical Cellular Shades for patio doors — a must-see style
A common question from homeowners is:
What are my modern-day window covering choices for the patio doors or sliding-door openings?
Yes, you know about Vertical blinds. But you desire something fresh, something that brings the vibe of the urban context.
Vertical Cellular Shade offers a stylish solution to cover patio doors and wide expanses of glass.
You judge the picture below and tell me what you think.
A consistent flow of style and fabric from your windows to the patio door gives your home decor a common intention — clearly articulated lines and geometry.
The emphasis is on visual and functional simplicity — a vertical shade traversing like your sliding door.
Since these shades are covering a large window opening, the cellular concept prevents air from entering or escaping — saving on your energy bill.
What is the R-Value for this style?
We talk about a shade being energy-efficient and not deliberate on R-Value – How can that be?
“The heart of science is measurement.” (Erik Brynjolfsson)
In the winter, the warm air inside your home moves out of your windows — Heat loss
In the summer, outdoor heat makes its way inside your cooler home — Heat gain
About 30% of a home’s heating energy is lost through windows. In cooling seasons, about 76% of the sunlight that falls on standard double-pane windows enters to become heat — U.S. Department of Energy’s – Energy Saver Resource (https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/about-us)
R-value is the measurement of a material’s capacity to resist heat flow from one side to the other.
A higher R-Value number represents more effective insulation — both for heat loss in winter and heat gain in the summer.
Also, R-value adds up with each extra layer. For instance, if you have two layers with respective R-values of 10 and 5, then both materials combined have an R-value of 15.
An effective way to insulate is by trapping air in layers. People wrap themselves in layers of clothes for the same reason — each layer adds up.
Windows, in today’s homes, are made with double or triple layers of glass, with a layer of air trapped between them. A typical window has an R-value ranging from 0.9 to 3.0 depending on layers.
What does a cellular shade add to that R-Value?
- Single Cell – Adds an R-Value of 1.6 to 2.5
- Cell-Within-A-Cell Design – Adds an R-Value of 5.0 to 6.0
- Double Cell — Adds an R-Value of 4.0 to 5.0
How cellular shades save you on heating and cooling energy bills?
10-30% of your heating costs are lost when heat escapes out of your windows. You pay on average about $1,500 to heat a typical Calgary home each year. So, $300 to $400 is lost through a hole in your windows!
In the summer, cellular shades minimize the heat gain through windows. So, your air conditioner doesn’t work as hard.
Can you plug that hole in your wall? Of course, not entirely. You need windows. What matters is how efficiently you manage the loss with the comforts you gain.
“Nature is not a place to visit. It is home.” (Gary Snyder)
How do you operate Cellular blinds?
You have four ways to operate your beautiful shades:
Motorized Cellular Shades
- You control shades using a smartphone, tablet, or remote control
- Use voice control — Alexa, Google Assistant
- Create personalized experience and schedules
- Reduced noise when the shade is in motion.
Cordless Shades
- Use a handle to raise and lower the shade. — No cords
- Simply pull up to raise or pull down to lower the shade
- Added benefit of enhanced child and pet safety.
- Widths 60″ and greater will be fabricated with two handles
- An optional extension pole that extends from 60″ to 120″, is an option for shades hard to reach.
Retractable system — Wand Operating System
- Use a self-lowering, retractable wand operation
- Pump the wand up and down in short strokes to raise the shade.
- To lower the shade, simply pull the wand toward the center of the shade at a 45-degree angle and release.
- The wand is soft-touch coated for a softened look with a teardrop-shaped handle.
- Wands are available from 12″ to 84″, in 6″ increments
Cord Loop Operating System
- Continuous cord loop — you can raise and lower your shades by simply pulling on the cord.
- Pulling down on the front of this continuous loop lowers your shade.
- Pulling down on the rear of the loop raises the shade.
- Standard cord drops are color-coordinated.
Cord Lock Control System
- Use a cord to move the shade.
- Top-Down and Bottom-Up shades will have two cords, one on each side
- Cord length is 1⁄3 of the shade height
- Will have one or more cord release devices — safety
How do you clean Cellular blinds?
Shades will need care and clean with time. The common cleaning methods are:
- Dusting: You do the regular dusting. This maintains a like-new appearance of Cellular Shades.
- Vacuuming: A gentle vacuuming once a month is all that you may need. Take your portable kitchen vacuum and put it on a low non-heat setting. Vacuum gently.
- Compressed air: Use a can of compressed air to dust off the shades once a year.
Who install your blinds?
One of our professional installers will install cellular shades on your windows.
Our installers have years of experience installing window coverings. They also get trained by the suppliers how to handle the specific nuances of a particular shade type.
No, they aren’t a superhero, but they strive to find the best solution without being given step-by-step instructions.
These shades come with Limited Lifetime Warranty. Your satisfaction with window coverings is important in this process.
Shop at home convenience
You need to see these shades in your home. Then, you can coordinate with your wall colors, flooring, and other furnishings.
Schedule our FREE In-Home consultation.
When you do that, we value your time and efforts by
- showing all that you need to see — working hand samples, fabrics, style books and more
- sharing expert advice — little details are vital
- measuring your windows for a perfect fit
- providing an EXCLUSIVE estimate
When we meet, I discuss these methods and more with you. What are you waiting for – Schedule our Free In-Home Consultation.