There’s no denying the benefits of smart shades, like the improved privacy, security, and mastery of natural light. And while there are retrofit solutions you can add to your home later, there’s an option that requires fewer headaches — planning your smart shades along with your new home build!
Planning your window treatments is just as important as planning out your hardwood floors or special imported-kitchen countertops, so why wouldn’t you plan as early as possible? The best smart shade options are only available when you have the wiring in place, which is only possible when we can work together with your architect, contractor, and interior designer!
Let’s go over the benefits of planning your motorized window shades early and what your smart shades can look like!
Proper Planning = Proper Measurements
When you plan your smart shades along with your new home build, you have the unique benefit of customizing the size of your windows and their treatments. So, you can have any window shape you want, any design or size, and you’ll have the custom shades to fit it exactly right!
Most shade companies won’t take custom shades back, which is why it’s so vital for us and your architect to work together. Making all the measurements beforehand will reduce accidents, so you can have the best-motorized shades!
Hardwiring & Design
The biggest benefit of planning smart shades for a new home build is the hardwiring — without this, your options are limited to battery-powered or retrofitted shades that do the job but won’t necessarily match your home. By letting us and our team onto the project early, you’ll have more brand options, less costly mistakes, and more design options!
We will work with your architect to incorporate where shade pockets and fascia, which hide your shades when not in use, will go into your home’s design. And since these inside mounts and pockets won’t take up too much wall space, the overall effect is a clean, modern look that shows off your home’s design — the details around your windows remain pristine!
Pro Tip: Contact us as soon as you start planning your home’s build for the best options! Remember, some shade options are almost impossible to wire after the drywall and other bits go up!
What Customized Smart Shades Can Do
Once you have your wiring and measurements, the next part is deciding what your custom shades will look like. Knowing what you want ahead of time is especially beneficial because there’s plenty of time to build the soffits and custom pockets to hide your shades before the drywall comes up. But what options are there?
- You can have hidden shades above an aquarium in the bathroom or shower that only come down when you want privacy.
- You can have motorized Venetian shades in the study for stunning good looks that match your traditional design scheme.
- You can have recessed shade pockets with custom fascia to conceal the shades until they drop down to emphasize the architecture.
- You can have tensioned shades over your skylights, so they’re out of sight when you don’t want the extra light.
- You can have smart shades with laser alignment in the mullion over windows or doors that open outside and still come down seamlessly to block out the light (with hembar alignment, they all drop down simultaneously!).
- You can have giant blackout shades in the bedroom and choose which direction they open or close — like bottom-up shades!
- You can set up truly dark, blackout shades in your custom home theater for the perfect movie-watching ambiance!
No matter what you want your customized smart shades to look like, make sure you let your custom integrators know about it early!
More Style Options
Another benefit to planning your smart shades early is the endless style options. Since window treatments significantly contribute to your interior design, choosing the style that suits your décor is essential. You can choose between elegant roller shades, quiet honeycomb shades, traditional wood blinds, chic drapes, horizontal sheer blinds, Roman shades, tensioned shades, and more!
Whichever style fits your new home is yours! Our team will help develop the window treatments that match your overall vision, from the colors to fabric choice to type! We’ll even work with you to select the best color shades!
Pro Tip: Darker-colored shades provide a better view than light-colored shades because less light reflects on them!
Master the Light
Besides stellar good looks, customized smart shades offer another benefit: controlling how much light enters your home. And when you plan ahead, you’ll get the most out of this option by choosing shades with a specific openness factor, meaning how much of the covered area lets light through.
A 10-percent openness factor means that 10 percent of the area covered by the shades has holes to let in the light, while a 5-percent openness factor means you see less through the shades but gain more privacy. The amount of light you let in will help you save energy and keep your home interior pristine and safe from sun damage! Just let us know what your preference is, and we’ll set it up for you!
Pro Tip: You can also choose blinds that create specific environments, like horizontal blinds that you can have open for maximum viewing, see-through to reduce minimal glare, or fully closed for ultimate privacy!
Start Planning Today!
Planning your new home involves many steps, but thinking about your smart home tech at the same time will only benefit you, especially with your smart shades. So, don’t save the tech for last — our team of experts at PAVE knows exactly what to do!
Contact us today to set up your consultation appointment, and we’ll go over your vision and start planning right there!