Case Study - Cell Shades vs Shutters I'll admit I'm a little biased against Cell Shades but this was a great example of why. Although they were the hot product 20 years ago I frequently take down cell shades to put up shutters. In this case the home owner had paid a lot of money for Duettes only about 2 years years earlier. For privacy they were forced to leave the shades down all the time. They felt trapped, contained, enclosed, claustrophobic. The shutters opened up the room letting the room look bigger and giving more light control.
Here are some lessons comparing shutters and cell shades
- The most expensive product is the one that gets replaced in a few years
- Shutters open up the room making it larger
- shutters provide more light control, privacy control
- shutters are more energy efficient
- shutters are much more attractive.
- shutters are easier to clean, don't collect dust, odors or microbial (cell shades are filters)
- Selling outdated products or poor applications can be costly to the client and to your reputation.
I have seen many more examples where shutters go in the front of a home with cell shades in other rooms where the consumers were instantly displeased. Usually the mistake is on the consumer's part. They think they want cell shades for energy benefits but those benefits are usually mis-sold or inaccurate. Regardless, the benefits are few and it can be an expensive mistake.
Ok, I'm biased. I don't like cell shades.
It was a great product 10 years ago but is clearly on the decline today due to the all the people that have had them in the past.
Top Down Bottom Up?
The Top Down feature on shades is expensive, doubles the cord wear, increases the child hazard, shortens the product life and leaves no control on the top or bottom. Divider rails provide much better function at no extra cost for the shutter and it has no cords!