Motorized Privacy Shades & Blinds

Privacy is a timing problem as much as a fabric problem. In daylight most rooms are hard to see into, but once the lights come on at dusk a street-facing window turns into a lit display, and that is exactly the moment nobody remembers to lower the shade. A motorized shade takes the remembering out of it. Close it on a schedule, run every window in the room from one remote, or ask your smart speaker, and the shade is down before anyone outside can look in. This page gathers the shades and blinds we build with a motor that also do the job of a privacy shade.

Matching the shade to the privacy you need

Light filtering roller shades soften the view in by day and keep the room bright. Our roller fabric range runs from 45% light blocking on the sheerest goods to 100% on blackout, so you can choose how much glow comes through. Blackout roller shades sit at the far end of that range and give full privacy day and night.

Light filtering cellular shades come in a top down bottom up version. You can lower the top rail for daylight and sky while the bottom stays closed over the part of the window people can see into. Motorized, both rails move independently on a dual motor.

Zebra shades work with the motor's own angle adjustment, so you can fine-tune the angle they settle at and keep a favorite position. Woven wood shades are roughly half see-through unlined, so for privacy add a light filtering liner, or a blackout liner for full blackout. Light filtering roman shades bring a softer, tailored fold to a living room or dining room that needs privacy without going dark.

A design note: in a run of windows on one wall, use the same fabric and lift height on every shade. A motor makes that easy, because every shade stops at the same saved position.

Motor and size details that matter for privacy

Every motor stores six electronic limits: the upper and lower stops plus four intermediate positions. For privacy, that means a saved lower third or halfway setting is a single button press. Our six-channel remote supports time control, so shades can lower on a schedule. For voice control, the standard RF433 motor reaches Alexa or Google Home through a hub, the Zigbee motor connects directly to five specific Echo devices, and the Matter motor connects directly to Apple HomeKit and also works with Alexa, Google Home, SmartThings and Home Assistant.

Check width before you choose. A motorized roller needs 8 to 10 inches more minimum width than the same shade built manual, which puts most cassettes at about 20 inches minimum. Motorized cellular shades, including top down bottom up, need at least 23 inches of width and stop at 79 inches high. Motorized woven wood starts at 12 3/4 inches wide with the standard DC motor and reaches 96 inches wide and 118 inches high.

Measuring and installing it yourself

Measure each window on its own and decide on inside or outside mount first. For a cellular shade mounted outside the opening, adding 3 7/8 inches to the width and height lets it overlap the frame.

Roller, zebra and roman shades install on our cassette brackets with a 0.2 inch (6 mm) drill bit. Two kinds of anchor come in the box, so use the one that matches your wall. Each bracket has four holes: two screws on opposite sides hold a standard shade, and the extra two are there for a heavy or wide one. Hook the groove at the top of the valance onto the bracket latch, press back until it clicks, and check that both the top and the rear have locked.

Battery motors charge from a 5 V, 1 A charger in about four hours. Charge each motor for at least six hours every six months.

Every motorized shade and blind on this page is made to your measurements and shipped direct to your door. Tell us how many windows you are covering and we will set up the remote channels so one remote runs the room.