Motorized Shades

Planning Guide

How to Plan Motorized Shades

Motorized shades are less about gadgets than about shades actually getting used. When a shade moves at the touch of a button or on a schedule, it gets lowered against the afternoon sun and raised in the morning, which is when it earns its keep. Planning a system comes down to a few questions: which shades, how you want to control them, and how they'll be powered.

Which shades can be motorized

Motorization isn't a product of its own; it's an option on the shade you choose. We motorize roller shades, cellular shades, roman shades and sheer shades, among others, so you can pick the look and light control first and add motors where they help. A house can mix motorized and manual shades freely, with motors only on the windows where they make a real difference.

How you control them

Motorized shades can be controlled by remote, from an app on your phone, or by voice through Alexa, Google Home and Apple HomeKit. They also integrate with Lutron, Somfy and Hunter Douglas PowerView systems, so they can join a smart home you already have or form the start of a new one.

Think about who will use them. A handheld remote suits a single room, an app is better for controlling a whole floor at once, and voice control is handy when your hands are full or for anyone who finds cords and wands difficult.

Battery or hardwired

Many motorized shades run on rechargeable or replaceable batteries and need no wiring at all, which makes them easy to add to an existing home. Battery motors need recharging or new batteries from time to time, depending on the system and how often the shades move.

Hardwired motors connect to your home's electrical supply for a permanent installation with no batteries to maintain. They need power at the window, so they're easiest to plan during a new build or a remodel, before walls are closed up. We'll recommend the right option for each window during your free in-home consultation.

Schedules and scenes

Schedules are where motorized shades pay off in comfort. Set the bedroom shades to rise in the morning so you wake up to natural light, lower the west-facing shades before the afternoon sun heats the room, and close the street-facing shades at dusk for privacy. Many systems also let you group shades into scenes, such as 'movie' or 'good night', so one command sets several shades at once.

Schedules while you're away

Schedules keep working when nobody's home. Shades that open in the morning and close at dusk help a house look lived-in during a vacation, and closing the sun-facing shades through the hottest hours keeps rooms cooler for when you get back.

Where motorization pays off most

Motors make the biggest difference on windows that are hard to reach: two-story great rooms, windows above a tub, sink or stairs, and skylights. They're also worth it on wide windows, where a large shade is heavy to lift by hand, and in rooms with many windows, where adjusting each one by hand gets tedious. Rooms where the sun moves across several windows during the day, such as a corner living room, benefit too, because a schedule can follow the sun around the room. And because there are no exposed cords, motorized shades are a safer choice in homes with young children and pets.

Motorized shades for easier living

For anyone with limited reach or mobility, motorized shades turn a daily chore into a button press or a voice command. They're worth considering for a parent moving in, a main-floor bedroom, or anyone who struggles with cords and wands.

Choosing fabrics

Motorized shades come in solar, light-filtering and blackout fabrics. Solar fabrics cut glare and heat while keeping your view, which suits living rooms and offices. Light-filtering fabrics soften the light and give daytime privacy. Blackout fabrics are for bedrooms and media rooms. If a room needs both daytime glare control and nighttime darkness, ask about pairing a solar shade with a blackout one at your consultation.

Solar fabrics and openness

Solar fabrics are woven with small openings. The tighter the weave, the more glare and heat it blocks and the less view it leaves; a more open weave keeps more of the view but lets in more light. Darker solar fabrics usually give a clearer view out than light ones, because they cut the glare on the fabric itself. In a home office, a tighter weave keeps glare off screens; in a living room with a view, a more open weave keeps the view in focus.

Starting small or planning the whole house

You don't have to motorize everything at once. Many people start with the windows that are hardest to reach or the room they use most, then add more later. If you think you'll expand, say so at the start: choosing one control system for the first shades makes it simple to add others to it as you go.

Common mistakes to avoid

The most common is mixing control systems from room to room, so the shades can't be run together from one app. Another is choosing hardwired motors without planning where the power will come from, which is easy during a remodel and much harder after. Some people motorize the easy-to-reach windows and leave the high ones manual, which gets the priorities backward. And skipping schedules gives up much of the comfort benefit.

Installation and programming

Professional installation and programming are included. We fit each shade, pair the motors with your remotes, app and any smart home system you use, set up schedules if you'd like them, and show you how everything works, so your shades work from day one. If something stops working later, such as a stuck mechanism or a broken part, our repair team can diagnose and fix most problems, and can often source replacement parts.

Questions to think about before your consultation

Which windows are hard to reach, or get adjusted most often? Do you already use a smart home system, such as Alexa, Google Home, Apple HomeKit, Lutron or Hunter Douglas PowerView? Are you planning a remodel, which would make hardwired motors easy? And which rooms need glare control, which need privacy, and which need darkness? With those answers we can plan the right shades, motors and controls in one visit.

What to expect

At your free in-home consultation we bring samples, measure each window precisely, and give you a detailed quote, with no obligation. Everything is made to order; most custom products arrive in three to six weeks, and most installations are finished in a single visit. Before we leave, we'll show you how to operate and care for everything.

Serving Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky

We measure and install across Greater Cincinnati, including Hyde Park, Oakley, Mariemont, Madeira and Montgomery, and throughout Northern Kentucky from our showroom in Florence. Consultations are free, and we bring the samples to your home so you can judge colors and fabrics in your own light.