Cellular (honeycomb) blinds

Look at a cellular blind end-on and you can see exactly how it works: rows of hexagonal cells, each one holding still air between the room and the glass. Still air is a genuinely good insulator, which makes this the most thermally effective fabric blind we fit — double-cell versions more so than single.

It is also the quietest. The honeycomb structure absorbs a surprising amount of sound, which matters more than people expect in a big double-volume room with hard floors.

Where it makes a real difference

• West-facing studies and bedrooms that overheat from three o'clock and then go cold overnight.
• Nurseries, where you want a blackout cell fabric plus the sound damping.
• Double-volume additions and stairwell glass, where the temperature swing is worst.
• Rooms with air-conditioning, where the blind is quietly reducing what the unit has to fight.

Top-down, bottom-up

The option people are most pleased to discover. The blind is fitted so it can lower from the top as well as rise from the bottom — so you can drop the top half for light and sky while the lower half stays closed for privacy. On a street-facing bedroom or a bathroom it is close to perfect.

Fabrics

Translucent cell fabrics glow softly and keep a room bright while hiding everything behind them. Blockout cell fabrics have a foil layer inside the cell and go genuinely dark. Both come in single or double cell — double costs a little more and insulates noticeably better, which is the choice we usually recommend on the hot side of the house.

Honest limitations

Cellular is a fabric product with a visible pleat structure; if you want the completely flat look of a roller, this is not it. Very wide single blinds can also sag slightly over time, so on big openings we split them or specify a support rail rather than pretend otherwise.

What these cost

Guides, per square metre installed: R1,500 to R2,800 hand-operated and R3,000 to R4,800 motorised. Where a window falls inside that is mostly the cell construction — single-cell light-filtering at the modest end, double-cell blockout or a top-down-bottom-up head at the dearer.

It costs more per square metre than a flat roller because the honeycomb structure is the product: the still air trapped in the cells is what insulates. On a west room that bakes through a highveld February, or a bedroom that goes cold in July, that difference is usually worth paying. Small openings attract a minimum. Your figure per window follows the free measure, in writing.