Shades for tall, vaulted and clerestory windows

The windows that need the most planning

Mountain architecture loves glass: two-story great rooms, gable-end walls facing the ski runs, wide sliders to the deck and rows of clerestory windows tucked under the roofline. They're also the windows that cause the most glare, the most heat in summer afternoons and the most early light in lofts and bedrooms. They're hard to shade because you can't reach them, and a manual shade that you can't reach isn't much use.

Motorization makes high glass practical

On tall windows, a battery-powered motor is usually the only sensible way to run a shade. Shades across a whole wall can move together from one remote or keypad, and schedules can lower the west-facing glass every afternoon. We plan groups so a two-story wall moves as one, with fabric lines that look even from inside and out. See motorized roller shades and smart shade control.

Plan battery charging before you order

A battery motor at the top of a twenty-foot window still needs charging or new batteries from time to time. Before we recommend a product for high glass, we plan how that will happen: a charging cable you can reach from the floor, a battery pack mounted where you can get to it, or a small charging panel where the product supports one. It's one of the most important parts of planning large-window shades, and it's covered in our battery vs. hardwired guide.

Wide windows and seams

Very wide openings may be too wide for one piece of fabric. We'll split them into several shades that line up, placing breaks at mullions where possible, and choose fabrics that look the same from shade to shade. The fabric's width, weight and the window's depth all matter.

Angled, arched and triangle windows

Gable-end trapezoids and triangles are common in mountain homes. Moving shades can't follow a sloped top, so these shapes are often left uncovered while the rectangular windows below get shades. Some shapes can take a fixed or specialty treatment. We'll tell you honestly which windows we can cover well and which we'd leave alone.

Our limits

We install battery-powered shades from ladders. Openings that need lifts or scaffolding, hardwired motors and new electrical wiring are outside what we offer. If a window is outside that scope, we'll say so at the consultation rather than leave you guessing.