Until recently, motorized draperies and shades were a bit of a mystery to most designers. But as home automation has become more popular, clients want their window treatments and lights to act more like their appliances and music.
Fortunately, innovation has been in the works for decades and is accelerating, adding rich features and integrations to make smart homes even smarter. Even if you’re new to designing automation into your projects, we can help you understand the basics for specifying successful outcomes. Note: you don’t have to be an expert with L&A experts at your side — we’re always a call, text or email away from providing the help you need.
Today’s systems work wirelessly via switches, remotes, apps and voice commands.
Rather than cram an entire education on motorization into one page, let’s review some of the key considerations for specifying automation:
- Are you utilizing draperies, shades or a combination of both? – different configurations require specific type of motors, tracks and installations. It’s good to plan each room thoroughly.
- Is there easy access to wiring for motors? – In new construction you can specify wiring, in an existing home it’s more complicated. You may have to specify battery-operated systems.
- Are there curves, arches or bay windows to address? – They can all be motorized, but require some additional design/planning/fabrication to create flawless performance. Note these window types in your quote.
- How do the clients want to operate the window treatments? – Today, there are remotes (even your AppleWatch), wall switches and interfaces/apps for Siri, Alexa, etc. in addition to preconfigured timings for coordinating shades and draperies with room lighting.
- What manufacturer makes the best systems? – We make recommendations based upon configurations, budget and design preferences, and work in close partnerships with Lutron, Somfy, BTX and Busche.
For more on automation, see our guide. To plan with an expert, Call Us Today.
There are a lot of moving parts in an automation installation. Fortunately, we’ve been doing this for 40 years and can make your designs move flawlessly.
Whether it’s a residential or commercial space, seeing your designs automated is a thing of beauty, and always a source of pride for clients.
