Love Drapes? Motorize Them with Lutron

Enjoy the Classic Look of Drapes with Modern Automation

If you have an eye for design, you know that some rooms benefit highly from traditional drapes over other styles like roller shades. And you probably know that drapes are also "in," but maybe they never went out of style. The reasons are manifold. Drapes have timeless charm, adding elegance and sophistication to a room. With custom fabrics, they add color, texture, and pattern, as well.

Of course, drapes are also excellent for light control, whether it's blackout ones for a bedroom or sheer options for a living space. But, for all this classic elegance, do you have to give up the advantages of motorization and automation? Not when you go with Lutron drapes. Stay with us as we delve further into how you can have your classic drapes and automation too with Lutron.

Pick Your Style

Lutron has two types of drapery track systems. The first is the traditional type, which you see most often. It supports two traditional styles: pinch pleat and ripplefold. The pinch pleat is named for the "pinched" gathering of the fabric near the top of the drape. The ripplefold is the one that is most often used, as soft ripples are created as the drapery hangs from the rack.

Lutron gives you and your designer lots of flexibility with ripplefold, with three fullness factors—80, 100, or 120%—for the look you want with your fabric. They also offer flexible straight and curved tracks when covering custom curved windows. With drives that can move up to 145 pounds of drapes, you can enjoy a significant amount of design flexibility with the size of windows you can cover and the types of materials you can use.

The second style is a less common one, Lutron's innovative Kirbé vertical drapery system. It pulls the drapes up completely out of the way, opening windows to unobstructed views that bring the outside in. This system eliminates the stackback used with traditional drapery. Some of the innovative applications for this system include revealing a home theater screen or an expanse of sliding glass doors without getting in the way of door hardware or ingress and egress.

A New Drapery Twist from Lutron

Lutron motorized drapes have few limitations, but to install them, you had to consider a pocket or valance of the right size to be able to effectively hide the drive system. As Lutron is always innovating, they've devised a solution for that. They showed their new recessed track system at this year's CEDIA show, the premier show for the latest in custom AV and smart home technology. The drive system can hide in the ceiling with only a discreet track showing where the drapes are hung. While this installation takes a little more planning, the result is spectacular. If you have modern, more minimalist décor and windows, this system can incorporate draperies seamlessly.

Whether you go with the traditional, Kirbé, or the new recessed option, you get all the benefits of Lutron automation. Lutron motors are quiet and powerful, so opening and closing drapes is a smooth affair. You have a choice of control mechanisms, from elegant Lutron keypads to the Lutron Connect app or integration with a comprehensive smart home automation system like Control4.

If you’re looking for the convenience and luxury of motorized window treatments, Show and Tell has you covered, from roller shades to Romans and, yes, drapery systems. To get started, contact us here or start a chat below—we look forward to working with you!