The pleated shades of the 1990s earned this reputation fairly. Chalky pastel fabrics, visible cords, bulky headrails and a distinctly builder-grade look. Current cellular shades have very little in common with them, and one thing has not changed at all: nothing else insulates as well.
What actually changed
Cell sizes got finer. The 3/8-inch cell reads as a subtle texture rather than a row of visible tubes. From across a room a modern cellular shade looks like a flat fabric panel.
Fabrics got much better. Linen looks, textured weaves, natural fibre blends and genuine neutrals replaced the mauve and dusty-blue palette that dates the older product so badly.
Cords disappeared. Cordless lifts removed the hanging cords and cleats. Some designs have eliminated the through-cord pinholes entirely.
Headrails shrank. Modern headrails are slim and can be fabric-wrapped, so the top of the window no longer announces the mechanism.
Top-down bottom-up became common. This genuinely changed what the product can do, rather than just how it looks.
What has not changed
The physics. Trapped air is still the mechanism, and no other window treatment matches it for thermal performance.
That is why cellular shades remain the most-specified shade in cold climates regardless of fashion. In Colorado Springs, and especially at Monument, Palmer Lake or Woodland Park elevations, a room with a cold north-facing window is a room you avoid in January, and a double-cell shade meaningfully changes that.
A treatment that makes a room usable is not outdated. It is doing something the fashionable alternatives cannot.
Where they genuinely are the wrong choice
It is worth being fair about the limits.
View windows. A cellular shade is translucent or opaque, never transparent. When it is down you are not looking through it. For a window whose whole purpose is Pikes Peak, a solar screen is the better product.
Very contemporary interiors where a completely flat plane is the intent. A roller shade has no texture at all, and sometimes that is exactly right.
High-moisture rooms. Fabric cells and shower steam are not a good combination over years.
Rooms where the treatment is decorative. A cellular shade is a functional product. If the window is meant to be a furnished feature, Roman shades or drapery do that better.
How to make them look current
- Choose a fine cell size: 3/8 inch on most windows.
- Pick a textured neutral rather than a flat pastel.
- Specify cordless with a slim or fabric-wrapped headrail.
- Consider top-down bottom-up, which reads as considered rather than default.
- Layer drapery panels at the sides. This is the single most effective move, the cellular shade does the thermal work while the fabric provides the softness, and nobody looks at the shade.
Common questions
- Are cellular shades still popular?
- Yes, and they remain the best-selling shade type in cold climates specifically because of the insulation. What has changed is that they now look contemporary while doing it.
- What is more modern than honeycomb shades?
- Roller shades and dual banded shades read as more contemporary because they are flat rather than textured. Neither insulates anywhere near as well, so on a cold window the honest answer is that you would be trading performance for appearance.
- Do honeycomb shades collect dust?
- The cells can collect fine dust over years, though less than people expect. Vacuum gently with a brush attachment on low suction, or blow them out with a hair dryer on a cool setting. For genuinely grimy cells, ultrasonic cleaning is available.
