Honeycomb cells trap a layer of air against the glass, so an old, single-glazed sash window loses less heat through a wet Cape winter — and gains less through a summer one. The insulating pick, not just the decorative one.
A cellular or honeycomb blind is a pleated fabric that folds into hexagonal cells — a genuine cross-section, not a printed pattern — which trap a layer of still air between the glass and the room. That trapped air is the entire point: it's the closest a blind gets to a thermal layer rather than just a light control.
It earns its place specifically on Tamboerskloof's older housing stock. A single-glazed Victorian sash window is a beautiful thing and a poor insulator by modern standards, and Cape winters bring cold fronts on average once every six days from May to August. A south-facing bedroom or a room above an unheated stairwell can run cold and faintly damp for months in a home like that — the case for trapped-air insulation over a purely decorative treatment.
Most cellular blinds can be operated from either end — lower the top for privacy while keeping the sky and light at the bottom, or raise from the bottom for privacy with light from above. On a street-facing sash window overlooked by a neighbour's balcony, that flexibility does real work.
Like a roller blind, a cellular blind mounts inside the window opening — a furnishing decision on the frame, not a change to the facade, so it sits outside heritage and body-corporate approval processes that apply to exterior fixings.
We measure and fit cellular blinds across Tamboerskloof and the rest of the City Bowl — Oranjezicht, Higgovale, Gardens and Vredehoek.
Guides, per square metre installed: R1,500 to R2,800 with a hand control, R3,000 to R4,800 motorised. Position inside those bands is largely a matter of 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 cell structure is the point: what you buy is the still air held against the glass. Behind an original single pane in a room that goes cold on a wet Cape winter evening, that is usually worth it; on a small, sheltered window it may not be, and the consultant will say which yours is. Small openings attract a minimum, and each figure is written down after the free measure.
Ready when you are
A free in-home measure, a written quote per window, and one of our expert consultants managing the rest.