Is Motorized Drapery Worth It?
An honest answer from a designer who has specified motorization in roughly half the projects the studio has accepted in the last five years.
Motorized drapery is the single most asked-about specification in the studio, and the answer depends entirely on the room. In some rooms it is the only correct answer. In others it is an expensive convenience. The discipline is in knowing which room is which.
The rooms where motorization is the only correct answer
Any drapery mount above ten feet, any two-story volume, any clerestory or inaccessible window, and any primary suite where the homeowner expects bedside control. In these rooms a manual specification is a daily friction the homeowner stops using inside of three months.
Placeholder for Olga's project examples: the studio's Pacific Palisades and Beverly Hills installations where motorization made the drapery usable.
The rooms where motorization is a convenience, not a necessity
Single-story guest rooms, studies, and dining rooms with accessible mounts can be specified manually without compromise. We are honest with clients about the rooms where motorization is buying convenience rather than function.
What changes about daily life
The most common report from clients in the year after installation is that they stopped thinking about the windows. The drapery becomes part of the home's morning, afternoon, evening, and away scenes — and the room is lit correctly all day without a single conscious decision.
Questions homeowners ask us
- Does motorization add resale value?
- Specified well — integrated with the home's keypad ecosystem and concealed cleanly — yes. Specified badly, it is a liability the next owner will pay to remove.
- Is motorized drapery worth it for a single-story home?
- In primary suites and great rooms with layered shading, yes. In guest rooms and dining rooms with accessible mounts, it is a preference rather than a requirement.