Tilt
Louvers on PerfectTilt™ shutters and vanes on PerfectSheer™ rotate from open to closed. This is the motion most people mean by motorized blinds.
Motorized Blinds
Motorized blinds: the slat look, without the ladder.
Norman® wood, faux wood, vertical, and aluminum blinds are cordless or wand-operated; a motor is not on their option list. When a customer asks us for motorized blinds, we install the motorized products that keep the look: PerfectTilt™ G4 shutters for tilting slats, PerfectSheer™ for soft horizontal vanes, SmartDrape™ in place of vertical blinds. PAPABLINDS, Greater Seattle Area.
What you want, and what motorizes.
Most people who ask for motorized blinds want one of four things. Each has a motorized answer.
| You want | The manual blind | The motorized answer |
|---|---|---|
| Tilting wood slats on a window | Normandy® wood or Ultimate™ faux wood, cordless or wand | PerfectTilt™ G4 on Woodlore® Plus or Normandy® shutters: louvers tilt from a remote, the app, or a schedule |
| Soft horizontal slats that also lift | No manual blind does this | PerfectSheer™: fabric vanes tilt open, closed, and anywhere between, then the shade lifts |
| Vertical vanes on a sliding door | Synchrony™ vertical blinds, wand | SmartDrape™ motorized: left, right, or center stack, walk-through by hand |
| Lift to clear the glass | Cordless blinds, by hand | Portrait™ honeycomb or Soluna™ roller, motorized bottom up |
| 1-inch aluminum slats in an office | CityLights™ aluminum, cordless | Soluna™ solar roller, motorized: glare control on a schedule |
Manual blinds and motorized shades or shutters can share a room. We match colors across lines at the visit.
What a motor can move.
Blinds do two things, tilt and lift. Motorized products split those jobs across shutters and shades.
Lift
Honeycomb, roller, Roman, and PerfectSheer™ shades raise to clear the glass and stop at a saved position.
Traverse
SmartDrape™ vanes slide along the track like vertical blinds, and stack left, right, or to the center.
The closest thing to a motorized wood blind is a motorized shutter.
A 3.5-inch shutter louver does what a wide wood slat does: it tilts to bounce light at the ceiling, closes for privacy, and opens for the view. PerfectTilt™ G4 puts a motor inside the panel, so the louvers move from a remote, from the Norman® app, on a schedule, or in a security mode that keeps the house looking lived in while you are away.
The motor runs on a rechargeable lithium-ion battery topped up by an integrated solar panel, so there is no wiring and no electrician. Woodlore® Plus composite carries it where you want a painted finish; Normandy® hardwood carries it where you want stain.
- Louver tilt from a remote, the app, or a schedule.
- Battery with integrated solar charging, no wiring.
- Same frames and colors as manual shutters in the rest of the house.
Details on the motorized shutters page.
© 2021 Norman®. All Rights Reserved.Where people ask for motorized blinds.
The window over the sink
Reaching over the faucet twice a day is the classic case. PerfectTilt™ in Woodlore® Plus, or a motorized Soluna™ roller in a wipeable fabric.
The landing window
Nobody adjusts it because nobody can. A motorized honeycomb shade on a schedule fixes the afternoon glare on the stairs.
A bank of windows behind the desk
PerfectSheer™ tilts all the vanes together from the chair; motorized solar shades drop at three.
The patio door
SmartDrape™ instead of vertical blinds: same vertical vanes, on a remote, and you still walk through them.
Motorized, or not.
- PerfectTilt™ G4 motorized shutters
- PerfectSheer™ motorized tilt and lift
- SmartDrape™ motorized traverse
- Motorized honeycomb, roller, solar, and Roman shades
- Normandy® wood and Ultimate™ faux wood blinds: cordless or wand only
- Synchrony™ vertical and CityLights™ aluminum blinds: no motor
- A motor added to blinds you already have: ask at the visit
Motorized blind questions.
Why not just motorize the wood blinds?
Because the lines we sell are not built for it. Norman® wood, faux wood, vertical, and aluminum blinds come cordless or with a wand, and there is no factory motor option. Rather than sell a retrofit we cannot stand behind, we show the motorized products that give the same look.
Will a shutter look like a blind from the street?
It looks like a shutter: a framed panel with louvers instead of a headrail with slats. From inside, the light control is the same idea, and most people who wanted motorized wood blinds prefer it once they see the sample.
Can the rest of the house stay on manual blinds?
Yes. A motorized shutter or shade in the room you cannot reach and cordless blinds everywhere else is a normal order. We match the whites and the wood tones across lines.
Do motorized shades have any cords?
No. Motorized shades have no lift cords, and AutoWand™ is certified Best for Kids. That makes them the answer for kids’ rooms where a corded blind is the worry.
What does it cost compared with blinds?
More per window, which is why we quote cordless and motorized side by side and suggest motorizing only the windows that need it. Ask for both numbers at the visit.
Motorized blinds in the Seattle area: what we actually install
Search for motorized blinds and most of what comes up is a motorized shade or a motorized shutter, because that is where the motors are. The blind lines PAPABLINDS sells, Norman® Ultimate™ faux wood, Normandy® wood, Synchrony™ vertical, and CityLights™ aluminum, are cordless or wand-operated, with SmartPrivacy® on the faux wood; none of them is offered with a motor. So when a homeowner in Seattle, Bellevue, Kirkland, or Redmond asks for motorized blinds, the honest answer is one of the motorized products that keep the look.
For tilting slats: motorized shutters
PerfectTilt™ G4 on Woodlore® Plus and Normandy® shutters tilts the louvers from a remote, the Norman® app, a schedule, or a security mode. A rechargeable lithium-ion battery with an integrated solar panel means no wiring. It is the product we show first to anyone who wanted motorized wood blinds.
For soft slats and for sliding doors: motorized shades
PerfectSheer™ layers fabric vanes between two sheers and motorizes both the tilt and the lift. SmartDrape™ replaces vertical blinds with individually hung fabric vanes that traverse from the remote and still let you walk through. Honeycomb and roller shades cover the lift-only case. All of them run on Norman® Smart Motorization: a five-channel remote, the ShadeAuto™ app, and Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant through the hub.
What to have ready for the visit
- The window or door you cannot reach, and whether you need tilt, lift, or both.
- The look you are after: wood tone, white, or fabric.
- Whether the rest of the room stays on manual blinds, so we can match colors across lines.
Request a free in-home visit and we will bring a motorized sample and a manual blind sample in the same color, so you can decide window by window.