Karen, Author at Blinds are Beautiful

Duette® by Hunter Douglas

Duette® Honeycomb Shades – Energy-Efficient, Stylish, and Smart for Manitoba Homes

Duette® Honeycomb Shades are the perfect window treatment for Winnipeg homeowners seeking a combination of style, comfort, and energy efficiency. Designed with Architella® “cell-within-a-cell” technology, these shades offer exceptional insulation, helping your home stay warm in winter and cool in summer.

When paired with PowerView® Motorization, Duette® Honeycomb Shades provide effortless control, allowing you to schedule, adjust, and operate your shades with a smartphone or smart home system. Whether you are renovating or building new, these shades bring together modern style, energy savings, and smart home convenience in one elegant solution.

Why Choose Duette® Honeycomb Shades

Unmatched Energy Efficiency

The innovative cellular design traps air to create a powerful insulating barrier. The Architella® “cell-within-a-cell” design further elevates energy performance, helping you:

Retain heat in the winter
Block heat in the summer
Lower energy bills year-round

This combination makes Duette® Honeycomb Shades the top-recommended shades for Winnipeg’s climate.

Beautiful Light & Comfortable Ambiance

Control natural light while maintaining privacy. Duette® Shades provide a refined, inviting atmosphere in every room.

Premium, Eco-Friendly Fabrics

Choose from luxurious fabrics, including options with over 50% recycled content, combining style and sustainability.

Sound Absorption

The cellular design also dampens outside noise, making your home quieter and more peaceful.

Duette Honeycomb Custom Pleat Sizes

Available in ¾″ and 1¼″ sizes

Optional Enhancements for Maximum Control

Top-Down or Top-Down/Bottom-Up Designs – Flexibility for light and privacy control
Duolite® Dual-Shade System – Combines two fabrics in one shade
Vertiglide^™ – An ideal choice for vertical side-to-side openings, sliding-glass doors or as room dividers.
TrackGlide^™ – No drill tracks which run along the window frame, perfect for tilt and turn windows and garden doors.
ClearView® Sheers – Superior view-through without sacrificing light
PowerView® Motorization – Schedule, adjust, and control shades via smartphone or smart home system

Control Options

Hunter Douglas PowerView remote in a pebble

Smart Automated

Enjoy convenient control with PowerView^®Automation, via an app, remote or smart-home system

Retractable Wand

Gently pull on the UltraGlide^® wand

Push/Pull

Push up or pull down with the LiteRise^® system

Specialty Shapes

Arches

Gothic arches, half-circles, half-moons and more

Angles

Right angles, isosceles triangles and sloped windows

Bay and Corner Windows

Curved and angled windows

Patio and Sliding Glass Doors

Large, vertical expanses of glass

French Doors and Garden Doors

Blog – The Most Overlooked Design Decision in a Home | Winnipeg Window Coverings

20 February 2026

The Most Overlooked Design Decision in a Home

(Hint: It’s Not Paint)

When you walk into a beautifully designed Winnipeg home, your eyes are drawn to the obvious: the color on the walls, the flooring, the carefully curated furniture. But there’s one element that often goes unnoticed—until it’s done wrong. The one decision that quietly shapes every room’s light, comfort, and atmosphere: window coverings.

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Blog – Colour Trends 2026

5 January 2026

Discover how 2026 paint colour trends affect mood in Winnipeg homes and how custom window coverings help manage Manitoba’s light year-round.

Colour Trends for 2026

How Colour and Light Affect Mood in Winnipeg Homes

(more…)

Blog – Good Design, Happiness & Window Coverings

29 December 2025

Automation in window coverings is good design!

How Good Design Can Make You a Happier Person

(And Why Automated Window Coverings Matter More Than You Think)

(more…)

PowerView® Automation by Hunter Douglas

Smart, Motorized Shades

PowerView^® Automation moves your beautiful shades to your schedule. It’s your home and your light to control.

Remote Control

Simple and easy. Remote control shades offer a no-fuss solution to light control.

Hunter Douglas Powerview App on your phone

Smart Device

Smart control. Use your phone or tablet to set room scenes and schedule movement.

Smart Home

We’re compatible. Use your Smart Shades with Alexa, Siri, Google Home & more.

What PowerView^® Smart Shades Can Do For You.

PowerView^® Smart Shades do so much more than just adjust open and closed. All the special features you love can be easily accessed with a tap or a voice command. Adjust top down shades from the bottom AND the top. These motorized blinds can even open and close specialty vanes. It’s more than convenience. It’s life changing smart home tech.

The beauty of smart shades is the ability to have them exactly where they need to be throughout the course of the day, thanks to Bluetooth technology, which features real-time, two-way communication between your shades and the PowerView system.

Take a look below at the Hunter Douglas PowerView video that explains just how easy this process is!

Here’s a list of automated shades, blinds & shutters from Hunter Douglas:

Designer Roller Shades
Designer Screen Shades
Duette® Honeycomb Shades
Applause® Honeycomb Shades
Pirouette® Window Shadings
Vignette® Modern Roman Shades
Provenance® Woven Woods Shades
Silhouette® Shades
Nantucket® Shades

Sonnette® Shades
Designer Banded Shades
Alustra® Woven Textures
Parkland® Wood Blinds
Everwood® Composite Blinds
Modern Precious Metals® Blinds
Luminette® Privacy Sheers
Skyline® Gliding Window Panels
Duette® with Vertiglide™
Palm Beach™ Polysatin™ Shutters

Vertiglide™ by Hunter Douglas

Vertiglide™ by Hunter Douglas is a great choice for vertical side-to-side openings, sliding-glass doors or as room dividers. It is available as a child-safe, cordless operating system on our Duette® and Applause® Honeycomb Shades.

Available with manual operation or with PowerView® Automation. For your convenience, the Vertiglide™ system features Dual Operation which allows you to activate the shade with any PowerView® control device such as the remote or app, or simply operate the shade manually by hand. This convenient feature is ideal for lost remotes, entering the home from outside and for guests without knowledge that the shade is motorized. Please note that PowerView® Automation is not available with Applause® Honeycomb Shades.

Meet with one of our Blinds are Beautiful window covering experts to learn more.

The Vertiglide™ system has stacking options to suit your window.

Go back to Window treatment options

Creative uses for Custom Drapery

Turning Design Challenges into Beautiful Drapery Features

Custom drapery solves design challenges that standard coverings often cannot. It works for large windows, unusual shapes, and layered light control, but it’s especially valuable for tricky or unconventional spaces. Curved windows, cornered windows, narrow side lites by doors, and windows on short walls can all be difficult to cover with off-the-shelf treatments.

Similarly, rooms that require complete darkness for media viewing or walls where drapery is used to create a striking feature wall often demand wall-to-wall solutions.

With the right fabrics, hardware, and design approach, drapery can transform these challenging spaces into functional, beautiful focal points while maintaining style, proportion, and flow throughout the room.

Why Expert Design Guidance Matters

For many homeowners, this is where working with a design expert makes all the difference. Our Blinds Are Beautiful specialists guide clients through creative possibilities they may not have considered, turning challenging windows into exciting design opportunities.

Real Custom Drapery Projects in Winnipeg Homes

Explore the examples below to see how thoughtful custom drapery solutions have helped homeowners in Winnipeg and the surrounding areas achieve both function and stunning design.

Solution for a Curved Set of Windows

This space features a beautiful set of windows with an elegant curve. Custom sheers installed on a curved track were the ideal solution. They follow the natural shape of the window, creating visual continuity while highlighting the architecture and enhancing the overall appeal of the space.

Creating a Media Space

This homeowner had a set of windows in the lower area of the house in which they wanted to create a luxurious media space. Blackout lined crushed velvet drapery panels were the answer!

Working with Narrow Windows

Front door with a creative drapery solution

Windows on either side of a door can be a challenge to cover at times because of their narrow width. This creative solution of custom sheer drapery on a rod that extends over the door addressed the need for privacy and also gave the front door an added wow factor.

Creating a Focal Point

This Primary bedroom was looking for an ultra luxe approach to covering two small windows and creating a focal point to showcase the bed. Custom drapery in a rich fabric and colour was the perfect solution!

Creating More Visual Space

The space between the windows and the corner of the wall was very tight, but this homeowner wanted drapery to customize the room. Drapery hung to extend around the corner created a beautiful statement which matched the scale the space demanded.

Covering a Corner Set of Window

What could have been an awkward corner to cover with blinds or shades was a custom drapery dream when combined with a specialty track that neatly covers both windows to create a seamless look.

Adding Character & Privacy

Some Winnipeg homes have windows which open into the room creating challenges when privacy is required. This creative approach not only provided a great solution but also added to the existing charm of the home.

Do you have a room that is in need of a creative solution that custom drapery may be able to solve? We have the expertise to help!

Let’s connect!

Imagin X

With Altex’s Imagin X service, the only limit is your imagination! It’s a way for you to personalize your window coverings and add unique flair to your interior design.

Whether you’re looking to find a creative way to display some of your best photography, personalize your space with unique copies of art or maximize your advertising opportunity, your product will be crafted by experts, using only the highest quality fabrics. The process couldn’t be easier!

So, don’t wait. Find out more. And make your home or business as unique as you are!

Exceptional print quality

A wide selection of fabrics

Printing width up to 126 inches and unlimited length

Odour-free. UV resistant ink

Shades printed and produced in Canada

Customized to reflect your style Imagin X

Imagin X Dog

Our Blinds are Beautiful Imagin X specialist helped make some amazing artwork come to life here in one of our Winnipeg schools.

Imagin X - a students art in a school room window in Winnipeg

School with Imagin X screens showcasing a students artwork in Winnipeg

Do you have a project in mind that a Imagin X screen print from Altex, might be the perfect solution for? Let us know how we can help!

Let’s get Started!

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Skylift™ Manual Operation

SkyLift™ Manual Operation for Hard-to-Reach Skylight Shades

Operate Hunter Douglas SkyLift™ shades manually with a hand crank or telescoping pole. Turn the hand crank to raise or lower the shade. For hard-to-reach skylights, use a telescoping pole for convenient control from the floor.

SkyLift™ is available with both Hunter Douglas Duette® and Applause® Honeycomb Shades, making it an excellent solution for skylights and other hard-to-reach windows. These energy-efficient honeycomb shades help insulate your home while providing light control, privacy, and a clean, streamlined appearance. Whether you choose the premium performance of Duette® or the value-driven design of Applause®, SkyLift™ allows you to enjoy the benefits of honeycomb shades in challenging window locations.

Learn more about the features, styles, and energy-saving advantages of our Honeycomb Shades.

Luminette® Privacy Sheers by Hunter Douglas

Luminette® Privacy Sheers offer the perfect balance of soft light and refined privacy for large windows and patio doors. Designed by Hunter Douglas, these drapery-like sheers feature rotating fabric vanes that provide precise control over light and privacy.

At Blinds are Beautiful, in Winnipeg, we help homeowners customize Luminette® Privacy Sheers to suit their space, style, and lighting needs.

Features

Luminette^® Privacy Sheers combine sheers and blinds, for doors and large windows.

Light Control and Privacy—from rotating fabric vanes.
UV Protection—provides a buffer between interiors and the sun.
Beautiful Fabrics—luxurious, high-quality selection.
Vane Size—3 ½”.
A Coordinated Look—with our Whole House Solution^™ for horizontal and vertical window treatments.