Oceanfront Condo, Boca Raton
A full condo done with the general contractor: cotton-linen sheers gliding on recessed Somfy Irismo 45 tracks, 100% linen drapery in the master, blackout rollers in side channels and 3% solar screens - every motor on Somfy RTS, TaHoma and Alexa.
Sheers, linen and true dark on the ocean
A minute through the condo: the Geneva sheers drawing across the ocean wall, the window-and-door room, the master's linen drapery closing with the blackouts behind it, the second bedroom rising from total dark, and the solar screens lifting to the beach.
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Linen where it matters, and nothing showing
An older oceanfront condo in Boca Raton, renovated top to bottom with a general contractor - which is exactly when we like to be called. With the GC on site we recess the drapery track into the ceiling, so the Somfy Irismo 45 RTS tracks disappear and the fabric simply falls from the ceiling line.
The living-room sheers are Villa Nova Geneva in Chalk, a 60% cotton, 40% linen plain: the owners wanted the natural look of linen - the softness and the slight irregularity that polyester never quite mimics.
In the master, 100% linen drapery in Kravet Basics 4843-1, a 118-inch wide-width woven in France and sewn in our own workroom, with Berlin Snow White blackout rollers running in side channels behind it. The second bedroom takes the same blackouts to complete dark, with its drapery in Alendel Toronto, Flax.
Where a window shares a wall with a door, the two motorized shades cannot finish at the same height, so we fitted an H-profile between them to close the light gap. In the living spaces, Paris 3% solar screens in Blanc keep the beach in view and the glare out.
The hard part was the geometry. The windows sit where they sit and a stack has to clear them, so we cut the fullness back to the least that still reads as a wave and gained the glass.
Floor and ceiling were not level either - on an old building they rarely are. So every panel was cut to the shortest measurement of its opening, then steamed in place to close the gap to the floor. Linen that kisses the floor looks right; linen that touches it breaks and goes back to the workroom.
When that happens it goes back at our cost - we do not charge for a length adjustment after install. The measuring risk on an out-of-level building is ours to carry, not the client’s.
And because a crooked window leaks light at every edge, we caulked the living room and both bedrooms before the blackouts went in. Two to three hours to hang the shades, five or six on the caulking - and the difference at night is the whole point.
Every motor speaks Somfy RTS: Telis 16 and Situo 5 remotes in the rooms, and a TaHoma switch that ties the whole condo to Amazon Alexa, so the owners run it by voice or from anywhere. Design guidance, fabrication and installation were all ours, in house.
Project at a glance
Location
Oceanfront condo · Boca Raton, FL · full renovation with the general contractor.
The brief
Renovated top to bottom with the general contractor on site. The owners wanted real linen at the windows, the ocean wall kept open, both bedrooms truly dark, nothing showing, and the whole condo on voice control.
Living & dining
Villa Nova Geneva Chalk cotton-linen sheers on recessed Somfy Irismo 45 RTS tracks, fullness trimmed so the stack clears the glass; Paris 3% solar screens in Blanc on the ocean windows.
Master bedroom
Kravet Basics 4843-1 - 100% linen, 118-inch wide-width - on a recessed Irismo track, with Berlin Snow White blackout rollers in side channels behind.
Second bedroom
Berlin Snow White blackout rollers in side channels, to complete dark; drapery in Alendel Toronto, Flax - a wide-width linen-look plain.
Motorization & control
Somfy RTS throughout - Sonesse 30 RTS motors in the roller shades, Irismo 45 RTS drapery motors with touch motion and soft start and stop; Telis 16 and Situo 5 remotes; TaHoma switch for the Somfy app, schedules and Amazon Alexa voice control.
The hard part
An old building with crooked windows, floors and ceilings: every panel cut to the shortest measurement and steamed to the floor, every window edge caulked, an H-profile where a window and a door share a wall. Design guidance, sewing and installation all in house.
The result
Tracks recessed into the ceiling with the fabric falling from the ceiling line, linen that kisses the floor on an out-of-level building, two bedrooms that go fully dark behind side-channel blackouts and caulked frames, and one TaHoma switch running every motor from the remotes, the app or Alexa. Design, sewing and installation in house.
Fabric schedule
Villa Nova · Geneva Chalk - Living & Dining Sheers
Kravet Basics · 4843-1 Linen - Master Drapery
Alendel · Toronto Flax - Second Bedroom Drapery
Berlin Blackout · Snow White - Bedroom Rollers
Paris 3% · Blanc - Solar Screens
Tap a fabric for its full specification - the Alendel cloth links to its page in our fabric library.
Villa Nova · Geneva Chalk - Living & Dining Sheers
| House | Villa Nova · Geneva collection |
| Pattern · Colour | Geneva · Chalk |
| Code | 2854/42 |
| Type | Washable plain weave with a soft, brushed finish |
| Width | 140 cm · approx. 55 in |
| Composition | 60% cotton, 40% linen |
| Certifications | Oeko-Tex Standard 100 · REACH compliant · PFAS free · Martindale 40,000 |
| In this project | Living and dining sheers on recessed Somfy Irismo 45 RTS tracks |
| More | Our sheer draperies · Curtain fabric types compared · Geneva Chalk at Villa Nova |
Kravet Basics · 4843-1 Linen - Master Drapery
| House | Kravet Basics |
| Code | 4843-1 |
| Type | Solid drapery linen, wide-width |
| Width | 118 in · approx. 300 cm |
| Composition | 100% linen |
| Origin · Care | Made in France · dry clean |
| In this project | Master bedroom drapery on a recessed Somfy Irismo 45 RTS track, blackout rollers behind |
| More | Our custom draperies · Linen drapery · Kravet Basics 4843-1 at Kravet |
Alendel · Toronto Flax - Second Bedroom Drapery
| House | Alendel |
| Pattern · Colour | Toronto · 0354 Flax |
| Type | Wide-width linen-look plain |
| Width | 122 in |
| Composition | 100% polyester |
| Certifications | NFPA 701 · CAN/ULC S109 · FMVSS 302 · Oeko-Tex |
| Care | Washable at 30°C, gentle cycle · low iron |
| In this project | Second bedroom drapery |
| More | Our Alendel Toronto page · Toronto 0354 Flax at Alendel |
Berlin Blackout · Snow White - Bedroom Rollers
| House | Coulisse · Berlin Blackout |
| Colour | Snow White |
| Type | Blackout roller fabric · 0% openness |
| Width | 98 in maximum fabric width |
| In this project | Master and second bedroom blackout rollers on Somfy Sonesse 30 RTS motors, running in side channels; H-profile light block where a window and a door share a wall |
| More | Our blackout shades · Berlin Blackout at Shade Innovations |
Paris 3% · Blanc - Solar Screens
| Pattern · Colour | Paris · Blanc |
| Type | Solar screen roller fabric |
| Openness | 3% |
| In this project | Living and dining solar screens on the ocean windows, on Somfy Sonesse 30 RTS motors |
| More | Our solar shades · Openness 1% vs 3% vs 5% vs 10% |
What a white 3% screen does on an ocean wall
On the ocean windows the screens are Paris 3% in Blanc. White is the reflective end of the scale: it bounces the sun's energy back out through the glass instead of absorbing it, so the fabric stays cool on an east wall that takes the morning straight on, and the room reads bright rather than dim. The trade is view. A white 3% weave hazes the horizon more than a charcoal one would, and the owners took the light. The bedrooms carry the same white logic to zero: Berlin Snow White blackout in side channels, nothing through, and caulked frames.
Figures: Openness as specified. Coulisse's optical figures are not quoted here; for scale, Lutron publishes 73% solar reflectance and 13% visible light for a white 3% Mermet E Screen and 10% and 5% for the same weave in Charcoal/Grey.
Read next: Openness 1% vs 3% vs 5% vs 10% · Dark or light solar shade fabric? · Blackout shades
Inside the condo
Sheers Drawn
Window and Door
The Master, Open
The Master, Drawn
Blackout in Side Channels
Second Bedroom
The components on this project
Somfy Irismo 45 RTS
Drapery track motor
Irismo 45 RTS motors on the recessed tracks in the living and dining room and the master bedroom - the Geneva cotton-linen sheers and the wide-width linen - with touch motion and soft start and stop.
| Type | Compact motor for Somfy drapery tracks - ripplefold and pinch pleat |
| Protocol | Radio Technology Somfy (RTS), 433.42 MHz |
| Motion | Touch motion - pull the fabric and the motor takes over; soft start and stop; manual override |
| Sound | 39 dB |
| Control | Telis and Situo RTS remotes; Somfy TaHoma for the app, schedules and voice |
| In this project | Three recessed tracks - living and dining, master bedroom |
Somfy Sonesse 30 RTS
The roller shade motor
Every roller in the condo - the Paris 3% solar screens on the ocean windows and the Berlin blackouts in both bedrooms - runs on a Sonesse 30 RTS, Somfy's quiet 24 V DC tube motor for interior shades, on the same remotes and TaHoma as the drapery tracks.
| Type | 24 V DC tube motor for roller shades - the slim Sonesse 30 body |
| Power | 24 V DC from a Somfy power supply - low-voltage wiring, no batteries |
| Sound | 47 dB - Somfy's figure for the Sonesse 30 RTS |
| Radio | Somfy RTS, 433.42 MHz |
| Control | Telis 16 and Situo 5 remotes; TaHoma for the app, schedules and Amazon Alexa |
| In this project | The solar screens in the living and dining room and the blackout rollers in both bedrooms |
More on the Somfy Sonesse 30 · The Sonesse family · Somfy power supplies
Recessed ceiling pocket for the track
Nothing showing
With the general contractor on site, the drapery track went into a pocket built into the ceiling during the renovation, so the Irismo track disappears and the fabric simply falls from the ceiling line - the reason we like to be called while the ceilings are still open.
| Type | Recessed ceiling pocket for a motorized drapery track |
| Built by | The general contractor, to our pocket dimensions, during the renovation |
| Result | No hardware showing; the fabric starts at the ceiling line |
| In this project | Living and dining, master bedroom |
More on recessed curtain tracks · Recessed window treatments
Blackout side channels and the H-profile
The parts that keep the light out
Every blackout roller runs in side channels that capture the fabric edge, every frame was caulked before the shades went in, and where a window and a door share a wall - so the two shades cannot finish at the same height - an H-profile between them closes the light gap.
| Type | Aluminum blackout side channels on every bedroom roller; an H-profile light block between adjoining shades |
| Fabric | Berlin Blackout, Snow White - 0% openness |
| Sealing | Every window edge caulked in the living room and both bedrooms - five or six hours of caulking for two or three of hanging |
| Motors | Somfy Sonesse 30 RTS roller motors, 24 V DC, on the same remotes and TaHoma as the tracks |
| In this project | Both bedrooms |
Somfy Telis 16 RTS and Situo 5 RTS
The remotes in the rooms
A Telis 16 with a screen that names each of its sixteen channels for the whole condo, and five-channel Situo 5 remotes for the rooms, so a drape, a shade or the whole wall moves without opening an app.
| Telis 16 RTS | 16 channels with an on-screen display, 2 AAA batteries |
| Situo 5 RTS | 5 channels, my favourite position, omni-directional RTS |
| Radio | Somfy RTS, 433.42 MHz |
| In this project | Hand remotes in the rooms, alongside the app and Alexa |
Somfy TaHoma switch
The hub - the app, schedules and Amazon Alexa
One TaHoma switch puts every track and roller in the Somfy app, with schedules and scenes, and ties the whole condo to Amazon Alexa - so the owners run it by voice at home or from anywhere.
| Type | Somfy TaHoma switch hub for RTS and Zigbee motors |
| Capacity | Up to 40 RTS channels and 60 Zigbee products |
| Voice | Amazon Alexa here - Google Home and Apple Home also supported |
| Integration | Control4, Crestron and Savant through the Somfy Synergy API, if a control system comes later |
| In this project | Every motor in the condo |
Frequently asked
Why sheers in a cotton-linen blend rather than polyester?
Linen has a natural, slightly irregular hand and a softness that polyester sheers imitate but never quite match. Villa Nova Geneva is 60% cotton and 40% linen, washable and Oeko-Tex certified, and it drapes beautifully on a wave heading. More on sheers · The linen drapery trend.
What is a recessed drapery track?
The Somfy track sits inside a pocket the general contractor builds into the ceiling during the renovation, so the fabric appears to fall straight from the ceiling line with no hardware showing. It is why we like to be brought in while the ceilings are still open. Recessed tracks · Somfy Irismo.
How dark do the bedrooms get?
Berlin Snow White is a full blackout fabric, and every roller runs in side channels. On an older building the window frames leak light, so we caulked every edge in the living room and both bedrooms before the shades went in. Where a window and a door sit together, an H-profile between the two shades closes the gap left by their different heights. How we build a blackout shade.
What if a panel is not the right length?
It comes back to our workroom and we adjust it at our cost - we do not charge for a length adjustment after install. In a building this far out of level that risk is real, and we would rather carry it than hand it to the client. How we measure.
How is everything controlled?
Somfy RTS throughout: Sonesse 30 RTS motors in the roller shades and Irismo 45 RTS motors on the tracks, Telis 16 and Situo 5 remotes in the rooms, plus a TaHoma switch that puts every shade and drape in the Somfy app and on Amazon Alexa - by voice at home, or from anywhere. Sonesse 30 · TaHoma switch · Telis 16 · Situo 5 · TaHoma and remotes.
Renovating on the ocean?
One free hour with our team routinely saves owners thousands in avoidable mistakes - wrong fabrics, bad mounts, missed motorization. Book a private, complimentary consultation - we bring the fabrics, the samples, and honest answers. Start with the free guide: 10 costly window treatment mistakes.