Shade Handles Do Two Things
First, cordless honeycomb shades have handles that allow you to easily move your rails up or down with very little effort. Secondly, they show you the quality of the overall construction of the product you have installed in your home.
Let’s break it down a little more. Please watch the video for a bit more information and a visual show of these cordless honeycomb shades by Hunter Douglas, called LiteRise.
So, as we laid out, these handles are both functional and add to the style of the shade. As far as the function goes, I will lay out this opinion. Handles that clip on to the rail, as many out there do, run a much higher risk of breakage. There are lots of curves and angles in the clip on type and this causes weak spots. I don’t have statistics on which ones break the most, but my experience tells me this. The Hunter Douglas LiteRise Handles for their cordless honeycomb shades are the strongest.
Reality Check For Durability
Even though the LiteRise handles are very durable, I just ran across my first handle that broke. I was able to replace it very easily for my Reno client, but it was surprising that it broke at all. The layout of the handle is this. There are two prongs that insert into the rail to make it stable, but the thing that holds the handle to the rail is an interior screw. What appears to have happened is that the original screw was potentially put into the handle at a bad angle or over tightened.
The result of this flaw was that the handle cracked and therefore became unstable. The replacement was easy, but keep this in mind: The Hunter Douglas LiteRise lifting mechanism does NOT use the handle as a key to its use. The cordless honeycomb shades have the handle attached, but the rail can be moved by grabbing the rail instead of the handle as well.
Where Durability Matters
Hunter Douglas LiteRise
If you are using a cordless honeycomb shade in a hard to reach area, you may be using a wand in order to maneuver your shades. If you are attaching one of these wands to your cordless handle, you want strength and durability. So, when doing a wand control, I suggest using strong handles. Here is a link to a video showing the wand in action. https://youtu.be/4rqsH5uu0ss
Kempler Design is located in Reno NV and serves the northern Nevada and Lake Tahoe regions with a mobile design showroom. Paul Kempler, its founder is considered a window fashions expert. Kempler Design has been featured in many prestigious projects, including the HGTV dream home in Lake Tahoe. Kempler Design works with homeowners as well as interior design firms looking for a local contact in the Reno/Tahoe area or is available for travel.