Motorized Shades & Blinds
Motorized shades and blinds from Exotic Shades & Draperies: custom roller, solar, blackout, honeycomb, sheer, zebra and Roman shades fabricated in our Fort Lauderdale workroom and motorized on Lutron, Somfy, Crestron or our Essential tier, plus Lutron motorized wood blinds and horizontal sheer blinds. A 72 by 84 inch motorized shade runs from about $733, installed and programmed by our own certified team across Fort Lauderdale, Miami Beach, Boca Raton and Palm Beach.
Shades and blinds that think for themselves
Motorized shades and blinds are the modern standard for South Florida glass: roller, solar, honeycomb, sheer and zebra shades, and wood and sheer horizontal blinds, that rise, tilt and fall on schedule, respond to your voice, and disappear at the touch of a keypad. We custom-fabricate every shade to the millimeter and motorize it with Lutron, Somfy, Crestron, or SDN - the four systems we are certified on. Whether you call them motorized blinds, electric blinds, automatic shades or smart shades, the engineering is the same: a quiet motor, the right power source, and a fabric chosen for your glass.
From a single nursery blackout shade to sixty windows in an oceanfront penthouse, design, fabrication, programming, and installation are all done by our own team.
Motorized shades and blinds by the numbers
Price by system
One 72 by 84 in motorized roller shade, fabric and motor included: about $733 (Essential), $793 (Somfy WireFree), $1,910 (wired Somfy with panel), $3,141 (Lutron). Eight shades on a main level: $6,687 to $16,566. See cost by system.
Somfy motor
Sonesse ULTRA 30 WireFree RTS: built-in rechargeable lithium-ion, 2 Nm of lift, rated 42 dB, 433.42 MHz RTS radio with 656 ft open-field range.
Lutron battery life
Triathlon shades run on easy-to-replace D batteries rated by Lutron at three to five years; Sivoia QS wired shades cover 20 in to 20 ft with coupling brackets, side channels and pockets.
Fabrics
Every motorized shade takes any fabric in the Lutron library of 921 colourways, plus Mermet and Phifer screens and our workroom's drapery fabrics for Roman shades.
Every shade style, motorized
Any fabric shade we make can carry a motor. The style decides light, view and darkness; the motor system decides power, size and what it answers to.
Motorized Roller Shades
Clean and minimal, in solar, light-filtering or blackout fabrics - the workhorse of smart shading. Roller shades.
Motorized Solar Shades
Mermet and Phifer screens that cut heat, glare and UV while keeping the view of the water, scheduled to track the Florida sun. Solar shades.
Motorized Blackout Shades
Side channels and precise hembars for true bedroom darkness, scheduled to your sleep, not the sunrise. Blackout shades.
Motorized Honeycomb Shades
Insulating cellular shades that ease the load on the AC, on Lutron or Somfy cord-lift WireFree motors. Honeycomb shades.
Motorized Sheer Shades
Soft, diffused light with one-touch privacy, a favourite for living rooms and condos. Sheer shades.
Motorized Zebra Shades
Sheer and solid bands that align or overlap on command, so the balance of light and privacy is a programmed position. Zebra shades.
Motorized Dual Roller Shades
Solar screen by day, blackout by night, two motors behind one 5 by 5 in fascia and run as scenes. Dual roller shades.
Motorized Roman Shades
Our workroom's Roman shades on Somfy Sonesse or Lutron Triathlon, folding up and down without a cord in sight. Roman shades.
Motorized Top-Down Bottom-Up Roman Shades
The top lowers, the bottom rises, both on a motor: privacy at eye level with daylight above, sewn in our workroom in hobbled folds. As far as we know, a South Florida first. Top-down bottom-up Roman shades.
Skylight & Hard-to-Reach
Overhead glass and double-height windows, exactly where motorization stops being a luxury and becomes the only option. Skylight shades.
Motorized blinds: wood, horizontal sheer and vertical
A blind tilts as well as lifts, so motorizing one means motorizing the slat angle too. These are the blinds we motorize, and the systems that run them.
Motorized Wood Blinds
Lutron Triathlon wood blinds motorize both the tilt and the lift, so a scene can set the slats to a precise angle at a given hour. Basswoods finishes in 18 colourways, all PVC-free, up to 108 in of usable width; wider openings take two blinds on one headrail moving together. Basswoods colours · Triathlon.
Motorized Horizontal Sheer Blinds
Lutron horizontal sheer blinds on Sivoia QS: 2 in fabric vanes in Palazzo, 15 colourways in light-filtering and room-darkening, that tilt open for the view and close for privacy. Palazzo colours · Sivoia QS.
Motorized Vertical & Allusion Blinds
Fabric vertical blinds and Allusion sheer verticals for sliding doors, with track motorization so a wall of vanes draws aside on one tap. Vertical blinds · Allusion blinds.
Motorizing Existing Blinds
Sometimes possible, sometimes not worth it. We assess what is on the window and put the retrofit or replacement path in writing. Existing Lutron or Somfy systems installed by others we take over, reprogram and service. Service and repair.
Battery, wired, or low-voltage - we design the right system
Battery motors retrofit beautifully into Miami and Fort Lauderdale condos - no electrician, no conduit, years between charges. Wired and low-voltage systems give new builds and full renovations maintenance-free silence. Either way, control is yours: remote, wall keypad, app, schedules, and voice via Alexa, Google Home, or Apple Home - or full integration with Lutron, Crestron, Control4, and Savant.
Wondering about budget? Try our Lutron price calculator, see the published typical-project pricing, or read what motorized shades really cost in South Florida.
Anatomy of a motorized blind or shade
Four decisions, made per window, before anything is cut: the motor, the power, the signal and the control. Get them right and the shade is invisible in daily life. Get one wrong and it is the shade nobody uses.
The motor
A tubular motor sits inside the roller tube; a wood blind carries its tilt-and-lift motor in the headrail. Somfy Sonesse ULTRA 30 WireFree: 2 Nm of lift, rated 42 dB, for standard residential glass. Wired Sonesse 50 for the oversized panes. Lutron Sivoia QS, Triathlon, Serena and Palladiom for Lutron homes.
The power
Rechargeable lithium-ion or D cells inside the tube, a 24 V low-voltage cable back to a panel, or 120 V at the window. Battery for finished condos and retrofits, 24 V when the walls are open, 120 V only where the torque is needed.
The signal
Radio: Lutron Clear Connect, Somfy RTS at 433.42 MHz with 656 ft open-field range, or Zigbee. Wired bus: Somfy SDN, the Lutron QS link, Crestron Cresnet. A wired bus is what large projects and integrators specify; radio is what makes a retrofit possible.
The control
A Pico, Situo or Telis remote, an engraved wall keypad, the Lutron or TaHoma app, schedules that follow the sun, voice through Alexa, Google Home or Apple Home, or the home's Crestron, Control4 or Savant system. We program rooms, groups, scenes and schedules on installation day.
Motorized shade and blind installations
Canal-View Solar Shades
Estate Rollers
Blackout Honeycomb
Shades that disappear completely
We install Blindspace® concealment systems - architectural pockets and recessed tracks that hide the entire shade in the ceiling or window reveal. Hardware-agnostic by design, they carry the Lutron, Crestron, and Somfy systems we're certified on, so the only thing you ever see is fabric - or nothing at all. Full details, specifications and model compatibility: recessed window treatments.
Concealed Shade Pockets
Purpose-built boxes recessed into the ceiling or reveal at framing stage - the shade, tube, and brackets vanish behind a flush cover plate with a patented safety hinge for service access. See recessed shade pockets.
Corner & Shaped Windows
Engineered pocket solutions for corner glazing, angled and shaped openings, and oversized sliders - the hard windows most shade installs give up on.
Skylights & Eaves
Concealment for overhead and eaves glazing, paired with our motorized skylight shades - light control where a ladder will never reach.
Recessed Curtain Tracks
Flush-mounted drapery tracks - straight or curved, manual or motorized - so ripplefold sheers emerge from a clean ceiling line. See our recessed curtain tracks.
Future-Proofing
Building now, deciding on shades later? We install empty Blindspace boxes during construction so any window can take a motorized shade years from now - without opening a single wall.
For Architects & GCs
We coordinate pocket dimensions and CAD details with your design team at the framing stage - see our Trade Program and pre-wire guide.
Woven in the USA. Specified by the numbers.
The motor gets the attention; the fabric does the work. Every motorized shade we build carries screen from Mermet, woven in South Carolina, or Phifer SheerWeave, woven in Alabama - best grades only, sourced directly, on Lutron, Somfy or our Essential tier alike.
Mermet
E Screen, M Screen, T Screen, Satiné and the GreenScreen weaves, with KOOLBLACK for dark screens that reflect heat - woven by Mermet USA in Cowpens, South Carolina and listed by the mill as Made in USA. Mermet fabrics
Phifer SheerWeave
The SheerWeave family, including PVC-free styles and Microban-protected weaves that resist mildew in Florida humidity - woven by Phifer in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where the mill has made fabric since 1952. Phifer fabrics
Best grade only
Fiberglass-core screens that stay flat on 10-foot glass, an openness woven to tolerance, and a published spec sheet for UV, heat and light in every colour, with GREENGUARD Gold and NFPA 701 listings behind it. Never anonymous screen.
On any system
The same fabric on a Lutron, Somfy or Crestron motor, or a manual chain. We source both mills directly and keep them in stock, so the fabric is chosen for the window and its exposure, not for the motor brand - and it is ready to cut when the measurements are. Our shade fabrics
Discerning homeowners, designers, and developers across South Florida trust Exotic with their most important spaces.
"I'm really happy with my new curtains! The team came to my place, helped me choose the right fabric, and guided me through the whole process. Great service and beautiful results. Highly recommend, A+."
"We were referred to Exotic Shades by our contractor. They understood exactly what we had in mind and delivered it. The whole process was simple, and the pricing was very good."
"I needed help adjusting the existing Lutron shades in my new home. Most companies would not touch a system installed by someone else, but Exotic sent a technician the same week."
Motorized shades and blinds: 27 questions, answered
The questions we hear at every consultation, answered with the figures we quote from. Sizes, power, batteries, cost, control and what happens when a remote goes missing.
How do motorized blinds and shades work?
A tubular motor hidden inside the roller tube, or a tilt-and-lift motor in a wood-blind headrail, moves the treatment. It takes commands by radio (Lutron Clear Connect, Somfy RTS or Zigbee) or over a wired bus (Somfy SDN, the Lutron QS link, Crestron Cresnet) from a remote, a wall keypad, a phone app, a schedule or a voice assistant. Power is a battery inside the tube, a 24 V low-voltage cable back to a panel, or 120 V house current. Our guide to how shade motors receive commands covers each radio and bus.
What is the difference between motorized blinds and motorized shades?
A shade is one piece of fabric that rolls, folds or stacks: roller, solar, blackout, honeycomb, sheer, zebra, dual and Roman shades. A blind has slats or vanes that tilt as well as lift or draw: wood blinds, horizontal sheer blinds and vertical blinds. Both motorize. We run shades on Lutron, Somfy and Crestron tubular motors, wood blinds on Lutron Triathlon (tilt and lift), horizontal sheer blinds on Lutron Sivoia QS, and vertical and Allusion sheer verticals with track motorization.
Are motorized blinds battery-powered or wired?
Both, and we choose window by window. Battery motors (Somfy WireFree lithium-ion inside the tube, Lutron Triathlon and Serena on D cells) install with no electrician and no opened walls, which is why they rule in finished condos. 24 V low-voltage motors run on thin cable back to a power panel and are what we specify in new construction and full renovations. 120 V hardwired motors take house current from a junction box at the window and are reserved for oversized or exterior treatments. Guide: battery vs 24 V vs 120 V.
How long do the batteries last in motorized blinds?
Lutron rates Triathlon and Serena shades at three to five years on easy-to-replace D batteries, assuming two up-and-down cycles a day. Somfy WireFree lithium-ion motors run months to a few years per charge depending on shade size and daily use; a large shade on the sunny side cycles more and charges more often. Pico remotes run about ten years on their coin cell.
How do you recharge or replace the battery?
Somfy WireFree: plug the Somfy charger into the port at the motor head and leave the shade on the window; nothing comes down. A Somfy WireFree solar panel on the glass can keep the pack topped up, which is how we ran the honeycomb shades behind 18-foot shutters in a Boca Raton golf-course home. Lutron Triathlon and Serena: swap the D cells at the headrail in minutes. On service visits we verify limits and alignment after every battery change.
Do motorized blinds need an outlet?
Battery motors need none. A 120 V motor needs an electrician to bring power to a junction box or outlet at the window head. A 24 V motor needs only a low-voltage cable run back to a power panel, usually in a closet, which is the cleanest plan while the walls are open. Our pre-wire guide gives the cable gauges and where each wire lands.
How wide can a motorized shade or blind be?
Lutron Sivoia QS wired shades cover 20 in to 20 ft with coupling brackets, side channels and pockets. On Somfy, the wired Sonesse 50 handles oversized glass and drives coupled shades: at Landmark Ranch Estates in Southwest Ranches, up to four tubes run on one motor across a 22-foot wall of glass. Lutron wood blinds in Basswoods run to 108 in of usable width; wider openings take two blinds on one headrail programmed to move together. Battery motors suit most residential glass; for very large spans we advise wired Sonesse. Very narrow windows are the other limit, since the motor and its battery must fit inside the tube; we confirm the minimum for the chosen motor at measurement.
How much do motorized blinds and shades cost in South Florida?
From our quote engine, one 72 by 84 in motorized roller shade with fabric and motor runs about $733 on our Essential tier, $793 on Somfy WireFree, $1,910 on a wired Somfy system with its power panel and $3,141 on Lutron. Eight shades on a main level come in around $6,687 to $16,566. Budgetary, before tax, published on our pricing page and broken down on cost by system. Every project gets a written quote after a free in-home measurement.
Are rechargeable motors cheaper than hardwired?
Yes. Somfy WireFree prices about $60 above our Essential tier on a single window and well below the wired Somfy column, because it needs no power panel and no electrician. The cost of a wired system is the panel and the rough-in, which is why it belongs in new construction and larger projects where the walls are already open.
Lutron or Somfy: which is better for motorized shades?
Neither is better everywhere. A finished condo or a retrofit usually lands on Somfy WireFree. New construction and larger homes lean to wired Somfy. Homes with Lutron lighting, or projects run by an integrator, are built on Lutron, which in our engine prices at roughly 1.6 times the wired Somfy figure and buys whisper-quiet motors, Palladiom and Sivoia hardware and native HomeWorks and RadioRA 3 integration. We quote them side by side. Full comparison: Lutron vs Somfy.
Which brands of motors do you carry?
Lutron (Sivoia QS, Triathlon, Serena and Palladiom), Somfy (Sonesse, Glydea, WireFree and SDN), Crestron shade motors and drapery tracks, Vertilux VTi motors on dual rollers, and our Essential tier. We are a certified Lutron dealer, Crestron certified, a Somfy Expert and an SDN Specialist, and we integrate with Control4 and Savant. Fabrics come from the Lutron library, Mermet and Phifer.
What motorized blinds work with Alexa, Google Home and Apple Home?
Every Lutron line, through the Lutron system it belongs to: Serena and Triathlon on a Caseta bridge, every line on RadioRA 3 or HomeWorks, with Amazon Alexa, Google Home and Apple Home. Somfy motors answer to Alexa and Google Home through the TaHoma hub, and to Control4, Crestron and Savant through the TaHoma integration. We program the voice link at handover.
Can I control motorized blinds from my phone?
Yes. Lutron shades use the Lutron app and Pico remotes; Somfy shades use the TaHoma app with Situo and Telis remotes. Both apps run schedules that follow sunrise and sunset, whole-home open and close, away simulations and scenes, and we set up the first scenes with you on installation day.
How quiet are motorized shades?
Somfy rates the Sonesse ULTRA 30 WireFree at 42 dB, down from 49 dB on the Sonesse 30 it replaced. Lutron Palladiom wired rollers ran under 35 dBA on every window of a 12,000 sq ft oceanfront estate we fitted in Fort Lauderdale. We bring a live motor to the consultation so you hear it in your own room.
Can I motorize my existing blinds or shades?
Sometimes. We assess what is on the window and recommend a retrofit or a replacement path, in writing. Existing Lutron or Somfy systems that another company installed are a different case: we take them over, reprogram them and become their service point. See shade service and repair.
Can motorized blinds be operated manually if the power fails?
There is no chain to pull, so they move only under power. Battery shades keep working through a power outage. Wired shades wait for the power to come back and keep their limits and pairing. If a remote goes missing, the app or a wall keypad still runs the shade, and a flat battery is a recharge or a D-cell swap, not a service call.
How do I program a Somfy remote or add a new one?
We pair every motor and set its upper and lower limits on installation day. The favourite position is yours: move the shade where you want it, hold the my button until the shade jogs, done. To add a remote, hold PROG on the back of a paired remote until the shade jogs, then tap PROG on the new one. Step by step: programming Somfy motors.
My motorized shade stopped responding. What is usually wrong?
In order of frequency: a depleted battery, a remote or keypad that lost its pairing, a hub that dropped off the network after an internet change, and, rarely, a motor or limit fault. Most are fixed in one visit. We service Lutron and Somfy shades across South Florida even when someone else installed them; call 954-881-9331 with the system type and the symptom.
Are motorized blinds safe for children and pets?
Yes. There are no lift cords, chains or wands to reach, and with battery motors there is no wiring at the window either. That is why nurseries and bedrooms are so often the first rooms clients motorize.
Do motorized shades help with Florida heat?
Significantly. Automated solar and honeycomb shades that close during peak sun cut glare and heat gain, protect furniture from UV fading, and reduce cooling costs - automatically, every day.
Do I need HOA or condo approval for motorized shades?
For battery shades, usually not: WireFree installs like any window treatment, with no construction, and we work in Miami and Fort Lauderdale buildings every week. Hardwired systems follow the building's electrical rules; at Salato in Pompano Beach the Sonesse 50 motors were hardwired through the building's conduit to a power panel in each unit. See our condo buildings page.
How long does it take to get motorized blinds installed?
Standard turnaround is about 3 to 4 weeks from approval, varying with fabric availability; Mermet and Phifer screens are in stock and ready to cut when the measurements are. Installation runs about 30 minutes per window, and programming, scenes and the app are done the same day.
What warranty comes with motorized shades?
Manufacturer warranties: Somfy 5 years on motors and controls, Lutron 8 years on its shade systems, Mermet and Phifer 10 years on interior fabrics, and 5 years on our own installation. The manufacturer terms do not cover on-site labour; our installation term does. Terms in writing with every quote: what each one covers.
Are motorized blinds worth it?
When the windows are tall, wide or out of reach, when there are more than a few of them, when the sun has a schedule you want to follow, or when the home already runs Lutron, Control4 or Crestron, yes: motorization is what gets shades used every day instead of left where they were. For one small window you can reach, a manual shade with the right fabric is the better spend. We quote both when it is close.
Which motorized treatment works on a sliding glass door?
A wide motorized roller or dual shade for openings to about ten feet, a coupled pair of shades or a motorized drapery track on Lutron Sivoia QS or Somfy Glydea beyond that, or Allusion sheer verticals with track motorization when you walk through the door all day. Compare them on our sliding glass door page.
Can zebra, dual and Roman shades be motorized?
Yes. Zebra shades move to programmed positions on Lutron and Somfy motors so your favourite balance of light and privacy is one tap away. Dual roller shades carry two motors behind one 5 by 5 in fascia, a solar screen by day and a blackout by night, programmed as scenes. Roman and woven shades run on Somfy Sonesse or Lutron Triathlon.
Where do you install motorized shades and blinds?
Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Miami Beach, Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, Hollywood, Pompano Beach, Sunny Isles and Aventura, from our workroom at 4539 Powerline Rd in Fort Lauderdale and our showroom at 500 South Pointe Dr in Miami Beach, where Lutron and Somfy shades are installed and running. See all areas.
Control systems these shades answer to
Every motorized system we install runs from a remote, an app or the home's control system. Which one depends on the motor family, so we settle it before the shade is made.
Lutron
Sivoia QS, Triathlon, Serena and Palladiom shades: Pico remotes and the Lutron app, with native integration to Crestron, Control4, Savant, Apple Home, Amazon Alexa and Google Home through Caseta, RadioRA 3 or HomeWorks. Lutron motorized shades.
Somfy
Sonesse, Glydea and WireFree motors on Somfy RTS or Zigbee: Telis and Situo remotes, the TaHoma app for scenes and schedules, Amazon Alexa and Google Home through TaHoma, and Control4, Crestron and Savant through the TaHoma integration. Somfy motorization.
Crestron
Crestron shade motors and drapery tracks commissioned into the home's Crestron processor and keypads with your integrator, with the fabric, hems and hembars still made in our workroom. Crestron shades.
Motorized shades and blinds in Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Boca Raton & Palm Beach
Roller, solar, blackout, honeycomb, sheer, zebra and Roman motorized shades on Lutron, Somfy, Crestron or SDN motors, and Lutron motorized wood and sheer horizontal blinds - wired into new builds, or battery-powered for finished condos - the shades fabricated to the millimeter in our Fort Lauderdale workroom. Our workroom and showroom are at 4539 Powerline Rd in Fort Lauderdale, our second showroom is South of Fifth in Miami Beach, and the same in-house team measures and installs from Miami to Palm Beach.
Ready for one-touch light control?
Book a complimentary in-home consultation - we bring fabrics, a live demo motor, and honest advice on the right shade or blind and the right system for your windows.