Motorized Top-Down Bottom-Up Honeycomb Shades for an Extra-Wide Window in White Plains, NY

Motorized top-down bottom-up honeycomb shades turned out to be the right answer for this White Plains living room, which sits close to street level, with one extra-wide window running nearly the full length of the sectional. The window brings in plenty of daylight and a view of the trees, but anyone walking or parking outside could see straight in. The homeowners wanted privacy without giving up that light, and without the room feeling closed in.

Westchester Window Fashions chose motorized top-down bottom-up honeycomb shades from Hunter Douglas, made to span the full width of the window. A top-down bottom-up shade can lower from the top as well as raise from the bottom. Here the fabric covers the lower half of the glass, where the street view is, while the upper panes stay completely open to the sky and the tree canopy.

Made for an Extra-Wide Window

Width changes everything about how a shade behaves. A wide manual shade is heavy to lift and tends to travel unevenly, so the bottom rail drifts out of level over time. On a window this size, motorized top-down bottom-up honeycomb shades move smoothly and evenly at the touch of a button, and they stop at the same position every time. The room can go from fully private to open light and back as the day goes on, without anyone wrestling a wide shade into place.

Fully lowered, the honeycomb fabric softens the daylight and fills the room with an even glow. With the top lowered, the room is private at eye level and full of natural, unobstructed light above. The shades are a quiet, clean line against the crown molding and let the room stay bright and calm.

One Window, Every Hour of the Day

The cellular construction earns its keep here too. A wide expanse of glass is where a living room gains heat in summer and loses it in winter, and the honeycomb cells add a layer of insulation across the full span. The homeowners get the light and the privacy they asked for, and the room holds its temperature more evenly through the seasons – a quiet benefit that shows up long after the project is done.

A street-facing living room works hardest of any room in the house. In the morning the shades can sit low and open to the sky; in the afternoon they can rise to meet the sun; in the evening they close the window completely. Because the shades are motorized, those adjustments actually happen – a wide manual shade tends to get left in one position all day.

For homes in White Plains and across Westchester County, top-down bottom-up honeycomb shades are a natural fit for street-facing windows. Westchester Window Fashions measured the full span and set the shades to travel together, so the whole window responds as one. To see more of our work or plan your own project, call Westchester Window Fashions at 914-685-9336.

Months later, the shades still get used the same way every day: the tops drop a little lower as the sun moves, the bottoms stay near the sill while the kids are home, and everything rises fully when the room is empty. That kind of quiet, daily adjustability is what top-down bottom-up control is for – privacy exactly where the street is, sky exactly where the light is, and no cords anywhere in reach. For a wide window in a lived-in room, it is hard to beat.