Picture it: you’ve spent months redecorating your home, your living room, family room, or bedroom and the project is nearing completion. The room looks just about perfect; it embodies your style down to the smallest detail and will be a highly functional space capable of meeting your family’s needs. There’s just one thing missing: window treatments. Though it may seem like an easy choice undeserving of much consideration, the fact is that choosing the wrong window treatments for your newly-renovated space can create a great deal of visual confusion and provide you with less privacy and UV protection than you’d like. With so much on the line, you may want some help in deciding between two of the more popular styles of shades: roman and cellular.
Roman Shades
Though you may not know them well enough to put a name to them, Roman shades are used everywhere - but why are they so desirable? The simple answer is that
Roman Shades Offer a Classic Timeless Aesthetic
They tend to have a subtle presence in a room, complementing the style of the space rather than detracting from it.
When it comes to these types of shades, there are two primary designs: a teardrop design and a classic flat design. If you aren’t particularly concerned about knowing the differences between the two types to a high level of granularity, it should suffice to know that the classic flat design contains no folds when in the lowered position, whereas the teardrop design secures the fold into place when the shade is lowered. Functionally, neither style of Roman shade holds an advantage, and choosing one over the other should be done as your personal preference dictates.
When in the open position, Roman shades collapse neatly at the top of the window. This fabric stack itself creates an element of visual interest, meaning that you needn’t worry about installing a valance to complete a chosen look. In terms of fabric, Roman shades come in a wide variety of different materials that may appeal to your style. While it is a simple task to find something you like that meets your aesthetic, the sheer number of options available can make narrowing down the field an arduous task in and of itself.
Roman shades, like all other types of window treatments, do come with their own unique set of pros and cons.
The Pros:
Roman shades often lend a distinct softness to the windows around which they are installed.
With edge-to-edge coverage, they make excellent blackout shades with minimal light gaps along the sides.
They are available in a vast selection of materials, fabrics, patterns, and opacities.
They work well with other window design elements already in place in your home.
The Cons:
These types of shades are generally operated by pulling a length of cord to adjust the position. These cords have been identified as potentially posing a choking hazard to children and pets, and as such new safety guidelines governing the length of these cords will go into effect in Canada on May 1, 2021.
Cellular Shades
Known to many homeowners as honeycomb shades, Cellular Shades- like Roman shades - come in a wide variety of different fabrics. Unlike Roman shades however, the fabric used to make cellular shades is folded in such a way as to create a large number of honeycomb-like cells.
While any window treatment will prevent heat from dissipating through the windows, the design of cellular shades allows them to trap pockets of air, thereby allowing cellular shades to perform much better as an insulator than other designs. When raised, cellular shades collapse neatly at the top of the window, creating a low-profile that minimally obstructs the view of the outside world.
In addition to being designed to fit windows of any size, the thing that many homeowners like about honeycomb shades is that there are different designs available from which to choose based on the amount of natural light desired and how much insulation is required. These designs are known as single cell, double cell, and triple cell shades. As you might expect, single cell shades diffuse less light and perform less admirably as an insulator than one of the multi-cell designs.
When it comes to operating cellular shades, pull cords are not the only option out there. Motorized and cord-free options are quickly gaining popularity and it’s not simply due to the safety they provide. Aesthetically, the absence of cords means no unsightly material to hide. It also means that the days of navigating behind furniture, or hard-to-reach places, in order to operate the shades are essentially in the past.
Like Roman shades, there are pros and cons to selecting cellular shades for your home.
The Pros:
Cellular shades come with a top-down or bottom-up feature that allows you to adjust the amount of privacy they provide.
Cellular shades can be purchased based on where they fall on the light filtering spectrum. For example, choosing between a light-filtering fabric and a light-blocking opaque fabric depending on the amount of natural light you would like to allow in the room.
The cordless option is both stylish and function, as it ensures the safety of small children and pets.
The Cons:
Cellular shades are sometimes viewed as more functional than they are stylish and it can be difficult to dress them up.
The aesthetic of cellular shades may not fit within all spaces so that is something to be aware of.
You can’t tilt the individual vanes, or slats, of cellular shades.
Choosing the right window treatment, regardless of whether you’re completely re-modelling your home or simply giving it a refresh, is paramount to maintaining the style and functionality of your space. While making a choice between cellular and Roman shades make sure you weigh the pros and cons of each. If you’re looking for more privacy and better control over light, cellular shades may be a better option for you. However, if you are looking for a simple design that can be easily integrated with your own personal style, Roman shades would be a good option for your home. There are a large number of wholesalers offering cellular and roman colors for your home.
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