Most homeowners begin the conversation by asking for “motorized curtains.” The studio listens for the intent — a residential panel that draws on its own — and answers with custom motorized drapery: hand-pleated fabric on a silent DC motor, commissioned on the home’s existing Lutron, Crestron, or Control4 program.
Our process begins with the room itself, not with the motor. We look at the architecture, the window proportions, the natural light, the privacy requirements, the fabric weight and hand, how often the curtains will move, and the hardware that will carry them. Those design decisions shape the right motorized curtain solution, which we plan and coordinate with the project’s architect, builder, electrician, or automation professional when the project requires it.
This page is the short version of how those two vocabularies meet. The full engineering practice lives on the Motorized Drapery page.
Most homeowners begin the conversation with the phrase “motorized curtains.” The intent is residential — a soft, drawable panel in a primary suite, a great room, or a child’s bedroom that opens and closes on a remote, a keypad, or a schedule rather than by hand.
The studio specifies the same craft under a different name: motorized custom drapery. The fabric, the heading (French pleat, ripple fold, Euro pleat), the fullness, and the workroom discipline are identical to a hand-drawn panel. What changes is the track, the motor, and how the home talks to the panel.
Off-the-shelf motorized curtain kits exist. They run on a single battery motor and a narrow rod, and they handle a single window well enough. A custom motorized drapery program is designed for an entire residence — recessed ceiling track, hardwired DC motors, sheer-and-blackout pairs, and drapery specified to integrate with the home’s Lutron, Crestron, or Control4 platform through the client’s automation professional.
Motorized curtains, smart curtains, electric curtains, automated curtain systems, remote-control curtains — the studio treats them as one brief. The vocabulary changes with the audience; the specification does not.
The most common motorized curtain brief in Los Angeles. Layered sheer-and-blackout on parallel tracks, side channels for theatrical darkness, and drapery designed to sit on a single keypad scene that moves the room from morning to night — commissioned by the client’s automation professional.
Where a panel is too high or too heavy to draw comfortably by hand — beam-mounted tracks, silent DC motors that disappear into the architecture, and drapery specified for scheduled UV cycles the automation professional configures to protect art and fabric.
Battery Somfy retrofits for guest rooms and a child’s bedroom — no wall-fishing, no construction, and a clean handoff to the homeowner with a single remote or a Lutron Pico keypad supplied through the client’s automation professional.
Motorized blackout drapery on dual tracks, designed to sit on a “Cinema” scene the client’s automation professional configures to close the room, dim the lights, and lower the screen in one move.
A private consultation at the residence — architecture, lifestyle, and the existing (or planned) smart-home program reviewed before any fabric is specified. By appointment, on-site or in the studio.
The canonical engineering practice — systems, integration, demonstration.
Drapery commissioned with lighting and AV from framing forward.
Palladiom, Sivoia QS, RA3, HomeWorks & Ketra integration.
Battery vs hardwired, ideal rooms, smart-home integration.
The studio applies the same House of Drapery Method to a motorized curtain that it applies to a hand-drawn panel. Architecture, lifestyle, and function are decided first; the motor, the track, and the scene are the closing moves.
Begin with a private consultation. We will follow with a tailored proposal, fabric direction, and an honest opinion on what your room is asking for.
