Smart Blinds and Shades Make Life Simply Easier
BWS Design • Aug 22, 2019

The Smart Home Evolution is Happening

Advanced artificial intelligence (AI) is quickly revolutionizing how we live our lives. For the most part, life keeps getting easier with less time out of our day to do simple tasks, such as opening and closing our blinds or shades. If you don’t have automated blinds or shades, you probably will in the not so distant future, because smart home technology is picking up speed. 

If you haven’t put much thought into the smart home technology evolution, TIME gives you an idea how close so many of us are to live in a home designed for convenience, comfort, and total relaxation. “Swedish research firm Berg Insight says 63 million American homes will qualify as “smart” by 2022, -”

In approximately ten years, the term smart home will be more than we can imagine. Because of advanced AI, many American homes “will be able to truly learn about their owners or occupants, eventually anticipating their needs.” You may already know about all the sensory technology that is currently being used and continually advancing in intelligence. “New sensors will keep tabs on our well-being.”

It’s quite fun to think about what life will be like in just ten years. Your blinds are set to open up as part of your wake up routine, but one morning you’re feeling just awful. Your smart home, equipped with AI sensory technology knows you need your rest. The alarm doesn’t go off, the blinds stay closed, and your phone sends a message to work that you’re sick with a high fever. And, the doctor is notified. Your medicine soon shows up at your door.

Oh, don’t worry about getting up to cook. “Development in robotics will give us machines that offer a helping hand with cleaning, cooking, and more. Total relaxation when you’re home under the weather. You can stay in your “puffy pants,” and keep the world out with your blinds or shades closed. But, if you want to see what it’s like outside, just give the command, and there will be light!

Enjoy the Benefits of Window Treatment Automation

At Just Blinds, we’re excited to offer smart technology to add another step towards living the easy life. We can automate your blinds or shades by using Siri, Alexa, and all kinds of smart home devices and automation. And it’s not just to make life easier, there are other reasons that automated blinds or shades make your home smarter.

No Cords: Safer with a Better Look

If you have curious and explorative young children, you may have already had to hide the cords. With automated blinds and shades, there are no cords. Our cordless, automated blinds and shades will give you the peace of mind to know your children cannot get in harm’s way playing with window treatment cords. For those of us who have four-legged children, hanging cords can also be a tempting toy for a cat of dog.

It’s time to do away with the dangling cords. Automated blinds and shades just look better. How could they not? They have technology’s intelligence built into them. No pull cords necessary!

Better Privacy and Added Security

At night, it’s easy for neighbors to see into our windows when rooms are lighted. With automated blinds or shades, you can push a button before you even walk into a room. Even better, you can have them on a timer to close as the sun is gone for the evening. You no longer need to think about it.

Automated blinds and shades are great for adding another layer of security throughout your home when you’re away. Many of us use timers to turn on and off lights to make it look like someone is home whenever we’re not. Now your blinds or shades can do the same thing.

Life is Simply Easier with the Convenience of Automation

Why not enjoy the convenience of the future now? Let automation technology let the daylight into your home, and shut out the darkness of night. Not to mention, you have an easy way to keep the summer heat out. You can time your blinds or shades to close on those windows where the sun heats up rooms facing east or west.

Just Blinds Excited to Offer Smart Home Technology

Serving our Alabama neighbors in Montgomery, Birmingham, Tuscaloosa, Lake Martin, and Auburn for over 30 years, we’re excited to bring our customers the luxury of smart blinds and shades. Call to learn how easy life is with automated window treatments. It’s simply wonderful.

By Autumn Hooper 07 Feb, 2024
Each year, styles in window treatments come and go. Trends that were hot last year may carry over to the new interior decor season or may be replaced by something new. In 2024, we are looking at a delightful set of trends in blinds, shades, and curtains that embrace the developing attitudes and popular colors that are already giving the year a unique stylistic personality. At Just Blinds, we are delighted to keep up with the trends, helping homeowners, designers, and property managers to create stunning spaces that align with the latest in window treatment trends. The Hot Trends of 2023 Blinds and Shades Last year in 2023, we saw a great collection of trends, many of which have evolved and strengthened with the new year. 2023 explored the innovations of cell shades and honeycomb shades for the benefits of insulation and light control. Motorization gained a prominant place in both home and office design, and decorators discovered the dynamic possibilities of shades that operate from both the bottom and the top on floor-to-ceiling tracks. Texture saw a real debut with natural colors like wood finishes, linen, dusty rose, and moss green. Though bold patterns also had their day in the sun. The Trending 2024 Window Treatments In 2024, you may recognize a few trends still going strong from the year before, which is good news for those who decorated last year because your style is likely still right on-trend. But we are also seeing new trends developing with elegant enthusiasm. Smart Home Blinds The trend for motorized shades has naturally evolved to favor smart home controls. With a simple voice command, you can take control of all the motorized shades in a room, in your entire home, or set each shade to exactly the height and opacity you desire. Warm Neutrals and Bold Natural Colors Color trends favor a more natural palette. Neutral colors are warmer, even the grays and charcoals have a honey undertone, while natural colors like mossy and forest green are growing stronger in hue paired with a jewelbox of flower petal colors. If you're following the Colors of the Year, you may have also noticed an adoration of ocean blues, and you can match those blues with slightly darker or lighter blinds for beautiful effect. Eco-Friendly and Sustainable Materials Natural materials and textures were popular in 2023, and 2024 takes this trend even further. Blinds made out of recycled materials are now on the rise alongside the growing popularity of blinds made from super-sustainable plants like bamboo, hemp, jute, and grass cloth. These offer natural colors, dynamic textures, and the delight of eco-friendly design. Gauzy Sheer Elegance Sheer curtains and semi-sheer blinds are also in fashion; a classic style that has been floating near the top of popularity for literal centuries. Sheer curtains and blinds maintain privacy while allowing sunlight into the room in a gently diffused glow. They also layer excellently with more robust window treatments. Creative Window Treatment Layering Speaking of layering, we are seeing an enthusiastic embrace of creatively layered styles. Wooden shutters, gauzy curtains, and black-out blinds are among the most popular layers, but decorators are getting creative with how they choose to to layer their window treatments, using both multiple fabrics and structures at the same time. Find the Blinds that Best Suit Your Needs How can you choose fantastic and on-trend blinds that perfectly suit your design needs? Fortunately, the diversity of this year's trends leave room for almost any personal sense of style and the individual needs of each room's windows. Start with the size of your windows and your room's existing color palette. Decide if you want to match, accent, or contrast the colors of the room. Then choose the opacity, privacy, and level of motorized control you desire. This should guide you toward a specific selection that will work well for your room. From there, it's a matter of specific features and your personal sense of style. Reach Out for Expert and On-Trend Advice If you are getting ready to decorate a room and want the perfect window treatments for 2024, we are only a phonecall or a visit away. Give us a call for expert advice in the right blinds or shades for each window in your home. Our on-trend window treatment experts will be glad to help tailor your window treatment design to your personal tastes, the latest trends, and the style of each of your rooms.
20 Jul, 2023
Is your AC bill keeping you down this summer? Is your home too hot? Window treatments can help cool your home, but you need to choose the right ones and use them correctly. Not all window coverings are made equal. Here are some of the best options to help keep your home comfortable and reduce costs this summer: Cellular or honeycomb shades. These are specifically designed to provide a high level of insulation that keeps the heat out of your home. They also don't block the view when completely drawn. As a bonus, you can get them in a wide variety of colors and patterns to match your home and in both top-down and bottom-up configurations. Drapery. Old-fashioned curtains can be surprisingly effective. Choose a medium color and have us add a white plastic backing to reflect heat out of your home. You can also use drapes to block some of the heat without excluding much light, allowing you to enjoy natural light flowing through your drapes. Fabric Roman shades. These are a distinctive option that really dresses up a room, and if you choose the kind with several layers they will definitely help keep the heat out. We have light filtering and blackout options and everything in between. Why Should You Use These Types of Shades or Blinds? The two reasons are to save money and help protect the environment. Good shades keep your home cooler and this means your air conditioning systems don't have to work as hard and use as much energy. In the northern hemisphere, it's most important to have heat-reducing treatments on your southern windows and you can allow more light in through windows that face north. Both cellular and Roman shades can also be motorized and even put on timers to close the shades when you are not there and then let light in when you return. The small amount of energy used by motorized shades is much less than that lost through naked windows. All of these shades can also add to the aesthetics of your room. Cellular shades are great to add a pop of color or a subtle pattern. Both drapery and Roman shades give a soft feel to your windows that then spreads to the rest of your room. What is the Best Choice? The best choice of the three depends on your personal aesthetics. Our designers can help you make the right choice. If you want motorized shades, cellular shades are the lightest and thus use the least energy, and can roll all the way up and down, leaving your windows completely unrestricted. Roman shades are more visible, but can be used to add fabric and color to a room. Many people still love the look of traditional window drapes. Note that you can also combine shades and drapes for the effect you want, both in terms of reducing heat loss and in terms of aesthetics. How Much Can I Actually Save? The amount you save depends on the kind of window covering you use and how much thermal gain your house typically experiences. The larger your windows, in general, the larger the benefit, especially south-facing windows. For example, medium-colored draperies with a white plastic backing can reduce heat gain by as much as 33% for that window. Most window treatments, though, reduce overall heat gain by about 10%. This can significantly reduce your bills, by $100 to $200 a month during the summer. Using the right window treatment can make your home more comfortable in the summer and save money while preserving the environment. For advise on which window treatments to choose for your home and to see our selection of blinds and shades, contact Just Blinds today.
Share by: