A Few Pros And Cons Of Honeycomb Shades
Chances are, you’re probably familiar with honeycomb shades because they are a trusted and popular choice for window coverings. The honeycomb design is so widespread that you might even have them in your house – for many reasons that we’ll get into below, honeycomb shades represent a versatile and comprehensive option when it comes to your window covering needs. As you may have guessed, Arjay’s Window Fashions offers honeycomb shades to outfit your home in the Southern California area. Learn more about this ideal window covering by visiting this page.
If You Can Think It, Arjay’s Can Do It!
For all of your blinds, shades, draperies, exterior solar shades, and really any type of window treatment that you could possibly image, Arjay’s has it. Do you have any strangely shaped windows that you’re having trouble finding the right fit for? Our custom blinds services will have you taken care of. Shoot us any questions that you have by contacting us or even dropping by our Ventura store. Otherwise, let’s look at some of the pros and cons (although mostly pros) of these popular window coverings.
Pro: Insulating Abilities
If you’ve heard the name ‘cellular shades’ before, you should know that refers to the same thing as honeycomb shades. These shades are largely considered to be the ‘workhorse’ of window coverings because they offer privacy, temperature insulation, and light control all in one convenient package.
Due to the long, open channels in honeycomb shades, you’ll get quality insulation from the harsh elements outside. These channels trap air at the window on the exterior of your home and will insulate the room from the hot summer air and brittle winter winds. In fact, honeycomb shades are so great at insulating that switching to these efficient window treatments will nearly double its “R-value” – a measurement of the resistance of the shade to transfer heat. From simply adding the most energy efficient cellular shade to your window, you can experience an R-value increase from 3.5 to nearly 7.
Pro: Enhanced Privacy
We have our homes, apartments and so forth for many reasons including warmth when it’s cold out, air conditioning when it’s boiling out, and a place that we can return to and call home. Privacy is also an important factor of having your own space of living, and having something like cellular or honeycomb shades can significantly enhance the private qualities of your home.
Unless you select a sheer fabric option, honeycomb shades are generally completely private. Choosing the ever-versatile top-down and bottom-up feature will allow the shade to be either lifted up to the top of the window or lowered to the window sill at your convenience. So, you can still get light streaming into a given room above the shade while also enjoying complete privacy at the lower portion of the window. In other words, it’s one of the ultimate combinations of light control and blocking out the outside world. Speaking of light control….
Pro: Optimal Light Control
Light control is great for many reasons, and it is one of the defining features of honeycomb shades. You can choose from semi-opaque, light-filtering fabrics all the way to light-blocking opaque fabrics – with cellular shades, you’ll get an excellent selection of light control options that work for your needs as well as your budget.
Honeycomb shades are known for blocking out the most light compared to other types of window treatments, so if complete darkness in a room is your goal, consider looking into outside-mounted cellular shades. If you’re wanting to create a media room or home theater, a children’s bedroom or a place where people need to sleep soundly during the intense daylight, cellular and honeycomb shades are the ideal options for you.
Pro: Child Safety
We actually touched on childproofing your custom blinds and window treatments in a previous blog post, and for good reason – blinds represent a potential danger hazard for young children and infants, especially if they are corded. Thanks to the fact that there are no lifting cords for children or even your precious household pets to get all tangled in, shades yet again have a huge pro by creating a safe space for the curious wanderers in your house. It’s also worth noting that cellular shades are typically offered in vertical options which will easily slide across windows like patio doors, again without a dangling cord. Safety first!
(Potential) Con: Appearance
Now, before we dive into this one, we do want to mention that beauty and style are of course completely subjective. So this con really depends on what your taste and opinions are, but some people do find honeycomb shades to have the look of pleated paper as opposed to a nice, rich fabric. Naturally, this aspect of honeycomb shades can be objectionable for some folks, while others might even prefer the style.
Given how excellent these type of shades are in offering superior insulation, light control, and privacy, this is a minor drawback. If you’re drawn to the practicality of these shades but you can’t get past the look, consider using cellular shades in conjunction with a more decorative window treatment of your choice.
Con: No Tilting Abilities
When you have cellular or honeycomb shades, all you can really do to control them is make them go up or down – that’s about it. Conventional wood or aluminum blinds, on the other hand, offer the ability to tilt vanes to allow just a little bit of light in while maintaining privacy. In this respect, shades like these can be seen as less versatile window treatment options. However, if you use the top-down and bottom-up feature as we mentioned in light control further up in this blog post, you’ll still be able to simulate the otherwise superior tilting ability of standard window blinds.
While honeycomb shades are generally available in dozens of special shapes like arches, trapezoids, circles, and triangles, sometimes they must stay in a closed position. Another quick way to enhance privacy and light control with these shades is to double them up with other fabrics, especially when you’re dealing with large, specialty windows. For instance, using a sheer fabric above an opaque fabric, for example, allows you to preserve your view during the day but also create a good level of privacy during the night.
Visit Arjay’s Today To Get Honeycomb Shades Fitted To Your Windows
Overall, honeycomb shades or cellular shades provide a wide range of benefits for your home whether you’re mostly concerned about light control, privacy or insulation. While these shades might not work for every single room, there’s a good chance that Arjay’s Window Fashions can help you find the right fit! For quality window covering services in Ventura County, Santa Barbara County, and Los Angeles county, give us a call today!
