Motorized Shading: The Smart Home Upgrade You Didn't Know You Needed
When people think about smart home upgrades, motorized shading rarely leads the list. But in our experience, it's the feature that clients talk about most — the one that surprises them, changes how they use their home, and that every visitor notices immediately.
There's something almost theatrical about motorized shades. You touch a button — or simply walk into a room — and the shades glide silently to exactly where you want them. Every window, every floor, every room, simultaneously. No cords, no reaching, no mismatched positions. Just clean, silent, perfect light control at the touch of a button or a voice command.
DLSAV has integrated motorized shading into hundreds of Atlanta homes and commercial spaces. We've watched clients go from skeptical to converted within a week of living with the system. Here's what makes the difference.
The fabric matters: DLSAV offers motorized shading in virtually any fabric, openness factor, and opacity — from sheer solar screens that diffuse glare while preserving views, to full blackout solutions for media rooms and bedrooms. Every installation is custom-measured and fitted.
What Types of Motorized Shading Do We Install?
Motorized window treatment has come a long way from simple roller blinds. Today's systems cover every window treatment category, all motorized and fully integrated into your Crestron smart home:
Roller Shades
The most popular choice for modern homes — clean lines, minimal valance profile, and available in hundreds of fabrics from sheer solar to blackout. Roller shades work beautifully in living rooms, offices, and bedrooms. For floor-to-ceiling windows in Buckhead and Sandy Springs homes, motorized rollers provide the only practical solution for daily operation.
Roman Shades
For a softer, more traditional aesthetic, motorized Romans bring the elegance of fabric folds without the frustration of manual cords. The motor is virtually invisible, hidden within the headrail, and the operation is whisper-quiet.
Drapery Tracks
Motorized drapery tracks are ideal for formal living rooms, dining rooms, and master bedrooms where full-panel curtains are part of the interior design. DLSAV integrates motorized tracks with your existing drapes or sources new custom drapery through our design partners.
Exterior Solar Screens and Awnings
Exterior solar screens stop heat before it enters your home — dramatically more effective than interior shades for thermal management. Motorized exterior screens can drop automatically when the sun angle hits a certain threshold, then retract when the sun moves. Paired with Crestron climate control, this is one of the most effective energy management tools in any home.
How Motorized Shading Integrates with Your Crestron System
Stand-alone motorized shades are nice. Integrated motorized shades are transformative. When your shading is part of a Crestron system, every window in your home becomes a programmed element in a larger automation story.
Scene Programming
Press "Good Morning" on your bedroom keypad and the blackout shades in your master rise slowly over five minutes — a natural, gradual sunrise effect. The living room shades open halfway, your kitchen shades drop to filter morning sun glare from the east. All of this happens automatically, silently, the moment you press one button.
Time and Sun Scheduling
Your shades can be programmed to respond to the sun's position throughout the day. West-facing windows drop their solar screens at 2pm when direct afternoon sun would cause glare and heat gain. They retract at 6pm when the angle shifts. Your HVAC doesn't have to work as hard, your furnishings don't fade, and your home stays at a comfortable temperature without you thinking about it.
Security and Occupancy Simulation
When you're traveling, your Crestron system can vary the shades throughout the day — raising some, lowering others — to simulate occupancy. Combined with automated lighting schedules, this is one of the most effective deterrents to burglary, far better than leaving a light on.
The Energy Savings Are Real
Georgia summers are relentless. South and west-facing windows in Atlanta homes can be responsible for 25–30% of a home's cooling load during peak summer months. Properly deployed exterior and interior shading can cut that load significantly — reducing both your energy bills and the demand on your HVAC system, which extends equipment life.
For homes with south-facing glass and significant solar exposure, we've seen motorized shading systems pay back their cost through energy savings within 5–8 years. Combined with smart HVAC integration through your Crestron system, the savings compound further.
Fabric openness factor: A 1% openness factor fabric blocks 99% of solar radiation while maintaining views. A 3% fabric is virtually transparent to the eye but still cuts significant heat and UV. We help you spec the right fabric for each exposure and aesthetic.
UV Protection for Your Furnishings
This one doesn't get enough attention. UV radiation from direct sunlight degrades furniture, flooring, artwork, and rugs over time — often irreversibly. A good quality wool rug in a sun-exposed room can lose measurable color within two years of direct exposure. Solar shading fabrics block 95%+ of UV radiation, extending the life of your interior finishes without sacrificing natural light.
For homes with significant art collections or high-end interior finishes, this alone justifies the investment in motorized shading.