Motorized window treatments are no longer a smart-home novelty — they are the standard specification for any serious Los Angeles residence with high mounts, walls of glass, layered shading, or integrated lighting control. The studio specifies motorization as one discipline across drapery, roller shades, and Roman shades, coordinated with the home's keypad ecosystem so the entire window program reads as architecture rather than as gadgetry.
We specify motorization as an umbrella program, not as a per-window decision. Drapery, roller shades, and Roman shades are coordinated on a single control plan — Lutron, Somfy, or Crestron — so morning, afternoon, evening, and away scenes raise and lower the whole house from one keypad without thought.
Hardwired DC motors are our default for primary residences and new construction. Battery-powered motors are reserved for retrofits where wiring is not possible, and we are honest with clients about the maintenance cycle that decision implies.
Motorization is specified from the wiring stage forward, never after drywall is closed. The most expensive motorized window treatments we are asked to correct are the ones specified as an afterthought: visible motors, audible drives, mismatched remotes, and shading that hesitates or stalls.
Hardwired DC drapery motors — Lutron Sivoia, Somfy Sonesse, Crestron — concealed in ceiling pockets and integrated with the home's keypad ecosystem. Specified at 32–38 dB at one meter, the drapery opens with the speed and quiet of well-built millwork. The default for primary suites, great rooms, and any drapery mount above ten feet.
The most efficient way to control daytime glare, UV, and solar heat gain on a wall of glass. We specify European-milled solar fabrics in 1%, 3%, and 5% openness factors chosen for the orientation of the window — a coastal sheer, a canyon privacy, a city blackout. Hardwired tube motors, recessed in ceiling pockets, with fabric joins under one millimeter and hem bars that hang true across spans of twelve feet and more.
Flat, relaxed, or hobbled Roman shades on hardwired lift motors. The right answer for kitchens, breakfast rooms, baths, dressing rooms, and any window asking for a tailored inside-mount treatment without exposed cords. We specify motorized lift as the default in any home with children or pets and as the only acceptable solution for high or inaccessible mounts.
The motor is the easy part. Integration is the work. We coordinate every motorized window treatment with the home's existing Lutron, Crestron, Savant, or Control4 ecosystem — wired into morning, afternoon, evening, and away scenes, paired with the lighting and HVAC programs, and exposed to the homeowner through the same keypads they already use. A motorized window treatment that requires its own remote has failed at the specification stage.
Hardwired DC motors are quieter, faster, more reliable, and effectively maintenance-free for the life of the installation — we specify them in every project where low-voltage runs can be pulled. Battery-powered motors are honest only for retrofits where wiring is impossible, and even then we set the expectation: lithium packs in residential drapery and shade motors typically need replacement every three to five years. We will tell a client when battery is the wrong answer even if it is the easier sale.
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.
