07.30
Morning
Good morningThe blinds lift to the position you like, the heating is already up, and the kitchen lights fade in only if it is still dark outside.
- Blinds raise
- Heating on
- Lights fade in
Automated blinds
Automated blinds.
Shading that moves with the light, the day and the rest of your home.
We install automated blinds two ways. On their own, motorised blinds are a real convenience: quiet, controlled by app or remote, on a schedule or at the touch of a button. Tied into a Control4 or KNX smart home they go further, following the sun, dimming with the lights for a film, and joining in when you pull the house to bed. Either way, a standalone blind fitted today can be brought into the wider system later.
A day in a connected home
Watch where the blinds fit in.
This is what integrated shading actually looks like across a day. Choose a scene to see everything a single press sets.
13.00
Midday
Sun trackingSouth-facing rooms drop their blinds part way as the sun comes round, keeping the glare off the television and the heat out of the room. Nobody presses anything.
- Blinds track sun
- Glare controlled
- Room stays cool
20.00
Evening
MovieOne press. The blackout blinds close, the lights dim to a low warm level, and the room is ready for a film without anyone getting up.
- Blackout blinds close
- Lights dim
- Cinema on
23.00
Night and away
Good nightThe house goes to bed together. Blinds close, downstairs lights go off, the heating steps back and the alarm sets behind you.
- Blinds close
- Lights off
- Heating back
- Alarm sets
The difference
A blind that moves, or a home that thinks.
A standalone blind takes an instruction and moves. A blind on a Control4 or KNX system is in constant conversation with it, so the sun, the lights, the heating and the shades all work from the same information. Both are worth having. They are not the same thing.
One way
A blind on its own
- Moves on a remote, a wall keypad or its own app
- Runs to a simple schedule, or a favourite position at a touch
- Quiet, tidy and reliable, with no rewiring on a finished home
Two way
A blind in the system
- Run by a Control4 or KNX system that knows the blind's exact position
- Tracks the sun and the time of day by itself
- Shares one app and one keypad with lights, heating and security
- Joins whole-home scenes: morning, movie, away, good night
Run by Control4 or KNX, the systems we install and programme.
Many homes start standalone and integrate later. That is exactly why we choose blinds that allow it, rather than ones that lock you into whatever app came in the box.
The shading we specify
Led by Qmotion, controlled by the best.
You do not need to choose a brand before speaking to us. We advise at the consultation, and combining them is normal.
Qmotion
Our lead brand Motorisation and shadingQmotion is the shading we specify most, and for good reason. The motorised roller blinds and automated curtain tracks are quiet, smooth and dependable, with a hand-operated feel most motors cannot match. They run on battery or hard-wired power, retrofit cleanly into a finished home, and integrate fully with Control4, Lutron and KNX. That is exactly why they suit both a single automated blind and a whole-house system.
Lutron
Shading and controlThe reference name in lighting control, and a superb shading brand in its own right. On a Lutron home the shades and the lights run as one system rather than two that happen to coexist. The natural choice when control is the priority.
Luxaflex
Fabrics and stylesThe widest choice of fabrics, weaves, colours and blind types: rollers, romans, pleated, venetian and beyond, all available motorised. The choice when the look leads the decision.
The blinds themselves
What we fit, and where.
Electric roller and roman blinds
The everyday automated blind. Clean, quiet and unobtrusive, in the fabric and finish that suits the room. The most common thing we fit, and the easiest to retrofit.
Blackout blinds
Where light control actually matters: cinema rooms, bedrooms, media spaces. Fitted with side channels where a genuinely dark room is the point, rather than a blind that merely dims it.
Automated curtain tracks
For rooms where curtains are right and blinds are not. The track carries the weight and does the work, so heavy curtains draw smoothly and quietly on a schedule or a scene.
Large glazing and hard-to-reach windows
Tall glazing, roof lights, gables and anything you would need a ladder for. These are the windows automation earns its keep on, because nobody was ever going to operate them by hand.
Wired or wireless is a question of timing rather than quality. During a build or a renovation we run power to the blind and hard-wire it. In a finished home, battery-powered blinds give the same result with no chasing, no rewiring and no redecoration.
Control
Four ways in, and one of them is none.
A keypad on the wall
The one everybody actually uses. A single engraved button for the scene you want, in the place you would reach for a light switch.
The app
Useful when you are not in the room, or not in the house. Every blind, every group, every scene, in the same app as the lights and heating rather than one app per product.
Voice and remote
Handset control where a keypad does not suit, and voice where it does. Both are additions to the system rather than the only way in.
Nothing at all
The best control is usually none. Once the sun tracking and the schedules are set the blinds simply behave, and the controls are there for the exceptions.
Cost
There is no price list, and that is deliberate.
Blinds are made to the window. A published figure would be wrong for almost every room it was quoted against. Three things move the number.
How many windows, and how big
The count matters, and so does the size. A tall or wide window needs a larger motor and tube, and very large glazing sometimes needs more than one blind.
Fabric, finish and blind type
A plain roller and a blackout blind with side channels are different products. Fabric choice, cassette or open roll, and colour matching to the joinery all move the figure.
Standalone or part of the system
A blind on a remote is a simpler job than a blind that talks to Control4 or KNX and joins whole-home scenes. The integration work is real work, and it is where the value is.
We survey the property and give you a clear, itemised quote before anything is ordered, so you can see the cost of each window and decide where it is worth spending.
Quiet is difficult to judge on paper.
The difference between one motor and another is obvious in a room and invisible in a specification. Our showroom has automated blinds running in working rooms, so you can hear them and see them move before you decide.
Frequently asked
Automated blinds: quick answers.
- What are the best automated blinds?
- The blind that suits the window, the room and the way you want to control it. Qmotion is the shading we specify most: its motorised roller blinds and automated curtain tracks are notably quiet and smooth, run on battery or hard-wired power, retrofit cleanly into a finished home, and integrate fully with Control4, Lutron and KNX. Lutron is the natural choice where control is the priority and the shades should run as one system with the lighting. Luxaflex offers the widest choice of fabrics and blind types where the look leads. Combining them is normal, and we advise at the consultation rather than asking you to choose a brand first.
- Can automated blinds work on their own, or do they need a smart home?
- Both work. A standalone motorised blind runs on a remote, a wall keypad or its own app, on a schedule or at a favourite position, with no smart home behind it. Tied into a Control4 or KNX system the blind does more: it reports its exact position, tracks the sun by itself, and joins whole-home scenes alongside lighting, heating and security. Many homes start standalone and integrate later, which is why we choose blinds that allow it.
- What is the difference between Qmotion, Lutron and Luxaflex?
- They lead on different things. Qmotion is about the motor and the movement: quiet, smooth, battery or wired, and easy to retrofit. Lutron is about control: shading and lighting running as a single system on one platform. Luxaflex is about fabrics and styles: the widest choice of weaves, colours and blind types, all available motorised. A typical project uses Qmotion or Lutron for the movement and control, and Luxaflex where the look leads.
- How much do motorised blinds cost in the UK?
- There is no fixed list price, because the figure depends on three things: how many windows and how large they are, the fabric, finish and type of blind, and whether the blinds are standalone or integrated into a Control4 or KNX system. We survey the property and give a clear, itemised quote before anything is ordered, so you can see exactly what each window and each decision costs.
- Can I fit automated blinds in a finished home without rewiring?
- Yes. Battery-powered and wireless motorised blinds are designed for exactly this, and Qmotion in particular retrofits cleanly into a finished home with no chasing, no rewiring and no redecoration. Hard-wired power is the better choice during a build or a renovation, where the cable can be run before the walls close up.
- Are motorised blinds noisy?
- Modern motorised blinds are quiet, but the brand genuinely matters and this is one of the clearest differences between them. Qmotion is noticeably quieter than most, with a smooth hand-operated feel rather than the whirr people expect from a motor. If noise concerns you, it is worth hearing the difference in the showroom before deciding, because it is difficult to judge from a specification sheet.
- Can automated blinds work with my smart home?
- Yes. All three of the shading brands we work with integrate with the Control4 and KNX systems we install. Integrated blinds join whole-home scenes, so one press of a keypad can close the blackout blinds, dim the lights and start the film, and the good night scene can put the whole house to bed at once. The blinds also report their position back to the system, which is what allows sun tracking and automation to work reliably rather than approximately.
Start with the windows that annoy you.
Most projects begin with two or three windows: the one nobody can reach, the room the afternoon sun ruins, the cinema that is never quite dark enough. We survey, quote itemised, and build it so the rest of the house can follow later.
Related: lighting control, heating, home cinema and security.