Incase you haven’t heard of cellular blinds before they are basically the same as pleated blinds, their design is perfect for that simple, crisp, yet versatile product. Cellular blinds or shades as they are sometimes named are also great for filtering out light and controlling the suns energy.

Another name that is given to cellular blinds is honeycomb blinds as they form a honeycomb pattern which aids in heat and light control. Not only do they create a stylist window covering but they also help save money on your energy bills. Although all blinds save money by restricting heat loss and minimising solar glare cellular blinds are able to do this better than the rest, the great thing about this is that you can lower your dependance on your air conditioning unit which should have a positive effect on the enviroment.

A feature that is often emphasised is that cellular shades don’t block out light, instead they filter it, which gives you a nice amount of light while protecting the items in your room from direct sunlight.

Selecting a Fabric

Many people are overwhelmed by the sheer ammount of options when choosing a cellular shade, not only do you have to choose fabric colour and size, but also the level of light you want to filter and how many ‘cells’ you want. The number of cells you choose has a direct impact on the level of light filtering which ranges all the way up to blackout, and also the level of insulation the blind offers, the more cells the better the insulation, triple cell usally offers the maximum.

The prices can range massively depending on your requirements, if you are just looking for a simple blind which looks nice then you can purchase that for a reasonable price, but if you are looking for something fancier such as motorised blinds or a triple cell fabric for maximum insulation then you can expect to spend quite a lot of money.

Choosing a Cellular Shade to suit your room

If finding a blind to suit your decor is one of your fears then fear no more, the range of cellular blinds is one of the most extensive of all the blind types. Not only is the colour choice huge, the range of fabrics with different properties is also quite extensive, such as specially treated fabrics.

Here is a quick tip, If you are shopping online sometimes your monitor can mis-represent the colours so always request a fabric sample first before you place an order, they are usually free.

Fabrics

The range of pleated blinds is absolutely huge. Want an orange pleated blind? No problem. Want a pink pleated blind? No problem either. No matter what your colour preference there should be a fabric to suit.

Fabric Types

Depending on which room you are installing blinds you may have a different fabric requirement, such as a blackout fabric in a loft bedroom or a dimout dimout in a living room. Luckily all these types are available in a pleated fabric, as well as others such as opaque and semi-opaque materials.

Sizes

In terms of pleat sizes the standard options are 20mm and 25mm. 25mm is the classic approach whereas 20mm is a more modern up to date contemporary look.

In terms of height and width it all depends on the supplier but you should expect the maximum to be around 2 meters wide by 3 meters drop.

Price

Due to their simple special fabrics pleated blinds are not the cheapest of blinds, verticals and roller blinds can easily be purchased cheap, but in the right situation pleated blinds are definitely worth the extra investment.

Shapes

One of the main advantages of pleated blinds is that they can be cut into all sorts of shapes and sizes. The main two applications of this feature is the use of pleated blinds in conservatories and the use of pleated blinds to create artistic window coverings.

Pleated Blinds in the Conservatory?

Yes, pleated conservatory blinds are very popular, not only because of the versatility of pleated blinds, but also the special treatment the pleated fabric undergoes.

The treatment used on pleated blinds gives them the ability to reflect light better than the average blind fabric, this makes them great for conservatories as they suffer quite badly to the effects of solar glare. The effects of solar glare include damaging effects to items inside your conservatory and also excessive heat which renders the conservatory useless.

Pleated Blinds and Curtains Together?

If you are looking for a cheap window covering option then this is not for you, if you are looking for something stylish and unique to set you apart from the crowd then this could be it. Out of all the house I have been to I have only ever seen this done once, but it looked amazing! Basically the curtains go over the blinds to offer the ultimate in light control. If you want to diffuse the light you can use the blind, then if that is not enough you can use the curtains.

Why are Pleated Blinds so popular in conservatories?

There could be hundreds of little variables that go into why a certain person purchases pleated blinds, but the majority of people choose pleated blinds for these five reasons:

1. Cost – Pleated blinds a pretty simple product, and for that reason you can get them relatively cheap. One thing it is important to check is the quality of the material, sometimes you think you are getting a bargain until you end up with a wafer thin blind which doesn’t fulfil your needs.
   
2. Shape – Conversatories often feature odd shaped windows such as triangular shapes, because of this it is hard to get to find blinds to suit as some blind types just simply don’t work unless they are rectangular shapes. Pleated blinds on the other hand function perfectly even when cut into intricate shapes. The quality of the fabric is also important at this stage as you don’t want a flimsy blind.
3. Light Diffusion – The light coming through the glass of the conservatory can be damaging to your furniture and other things stored in your conservatory, so it is important to restrict some of the light coming into the room. Pretty much all blind types are good for this but pleated blinds are especially effective due to the fabric treatment they recieve during the manufacturing process.
4. Versatility – Not only are pleated blinds perfect for conservatories, they are also great for most other rooms in the house because of the great range of fabric types. Pleated blinds are pretty fashionable option so they wouldn’t look out of place in for example your bedroom or bathroom.
5. Fabrics – There is a wide range of pleated blind fabrics ranging from opaque fabrics to blackout fabrics. For the conservatory you would probably be best with a light reflective fabric which reflects away the light and heat but still lets some into the room. Alternatively you could use a blackout fabric but it would be useless during the daytime.

Just to recap, pleated blinds are one of, if not, the best conservatory blind available. If you have someone come out and measure up your blinds ask to see their full pleated blinds collection, I’m sure there will be something you like.

Conservatories are constructed mainly from glass, although this looks great it poses a huge problem in the summer months. The problem is created on sunny days when too much light energy is directed through the glass it creates an overwhelming amount of heat on the inside of the conservatory, if the windows are left uncovered for too long this heat can become unbearable, rendering your brand new conservatory useless.

Blinds for conservatory windows are usually split into two catagories, conservatory window blinds and conservatory roof blinds. Purchasing blinds for conservatory windows is relatively easy as they are regular rectangular shapes, the real problem and expense is the roof windows. Often they perculier shapes such as triangles and trapeziums.

Pleated Blinds

Pleated blinds are often used in conservatories as they can be cut into different shapes while still keeping their functionality. Pleated blinds are especially useful as they also do a great job of reducing solar glare which is extremely important in conservatories. Pleated blinds can be used on either either windows or roof windows.

Roman Blinds

Roman blinds for conservatories are available, but with limitations. Roman blinds look fantastic on the roof of your conservatory, but because of how they are constructed you can only use them on rectangular windows, which is fine for conservatory windows, but your roof windows may be triangular in shape.

Perfect Fit Blinds

Perfect fit blinds are absolutely perfect for conservatories, aside from the fact they only fit rectangular windows. The great thing about perfect fit blinds is that unlike the other blind types you don’t need a proffesional to install ‘em! Another great thing about perfect fit blinds is that the ‘perfect fit’ section mainly refers to the frame, inside the frame you can have a venetian, pleated or roller blind! Don’t get any illusions though, they aren’t cheap!

Controls

I think you will agree when I say controlling a blind which is suspended 10 feet in the air can be quite difficult, unless you’re really tall of course! Luckily the great people behind the scenes have come up with a series of solutions. The first solution is quite basic, find a really long pole and use that! Okay, maybe it’s a bit more advanced than that, but you get the point.

The second option is to purchase electrically operated remote control blinds. Conservatory blinds are expensive right from the start, adding this extra feature is yet another premium. If you do want remote control blinds for your conservatory roof I suggest you have a large budget ready.