Skylight Window Shades

Castec roman shade. 5% open medium gray Sheerweave Basketweave 400.

Shades Of The Future now offers a new product for skylight shading: an automated, battery operated, remote controlled shade, fabricated with double cell honeycomb material. These shades have a frame on all four sides. These skylight shades are extremely versatile and may be up to 48″ x 96″. They range in price from $700 to about $800 each. For a double honeycomb, battery operated remote controlled system, this is a very reasonable price. And remember, you save on the electrician because no wiring is needed. Room darkening, cellular skylight shade fabric, is now available. The minimum manufacturable width for the motorized version is 22″. This same skylight shade is available manual. See photos 2-4 at right. skylightinstallationinstructions

Battery operated skylight shade installed and partly open

Top photo is a Castec roman shade on sloped glazing. The material is Sheerweave sun screening. It may be fabricated into a roman shade or as a roller shade with a beaded chain control loop. If the shade is too large for manual operation, motorization will handle the raising and lowering.

This project (top) is in Portland, Oregon, at the Wells Fargo Bank tower, formerly First Interstate Bank. There are 60 of these shades, which are 65″ wide x 221″ long. They are operated by the building’s automation system. This is a large commercial project, but we can handle the simplest manual shade for a residence.

The fabric shown in the top photo is medium gray. The darker the fabric, the better will be the through view from the interior. Lighter fabrics will create more glare and reduce the view to the outside.

Battery operated skylight shades installed with double cellular fabric fully covering the skylight openings. Battery pack in corner of upper right side of shade, but not visible at this distance.

There are many fabric colors to choose from as well as densities of weave. The tighter the weave (as tight as 3%) the more sun block will be achieved. More open fabrics (up to 30% openness) the more view is afforded to the exterior. Openness sacrifices sun block.

Battery operated skylight shade, assembled from factory and laying on floor ready to install. Framed with fabric stacked. Comes out of the box like this except larger ones will have the frame knocked down for shipping.

We can supply the Sheerweave sun screen roller shades, that meets the interior specifications for Subway Submarine sandwich shops.

Shades Of The Future™ supplies finished sun screen products to fit your application. Call us to discuss your project requirements.

If you are looking for manual or automated skylight shades, we have them! They may be fabricated from sun screen material, as described above, Duette, one of the pleated shade materials, or black out products.  Duette cellular is available in manual only as a skylight.

Skylight shade, motorized,  shown partial blackout and sheer mode
Skylight shade, motorized, all sheer mode
Skylight shade, motorized, all blackout mode

Travel Policy

Why would a client work with us, maybe all the way across the country? Because they find we have the product knowledge they can’t find locally, and we can provide better service at a distance than they can find in their own town!

The goal of Shades Of The Future on every project is to provide immediate, unexpected and unsurpassed service. The best way to fulfill that mission is to be on-site, to meet you, see your project, listen, take input from the job site and then recommend the best product to fit the job and your budget.

If you’re tired of talking with people that don’t understand your needs and don’t know what they are talking about…if you have a significant window coverings project, residential or commercial,…if your project demands our personal level of attention on-site, we will travel to your project. Please call Steve Walton, President of Shades Of The Future® to discuss your project.

Distant clients find that Steve has the expertise to guide them over the phone in their decision making and then supply products and services directly in their location. Call and describe your challenge.

Media Coverage

Editors and publishers are finding Shades Of The Future’s® projects to be newsworthy subjects. The following is a list of publications that have featured articles about the company, published articles written by the company president or photos of Shades Of The Future® projects:

We were pleased and honored to be the cover and feature story in Draperies and Window Coverings November 2003 magazine issue. There is no higher honor than to be recognized for your accomplishments by your peers.

A feature article in Draperies and Window Coverings magazine discussing the importance of a quality, supervised installation appeared in August, 2005. Steve Walton, president of Shades Of The Future was interviewed for the story.

National Publications:

• Home Magazine, September 1994, 1997: February, March, April
• Home Plan Ideas ( BH&G), Fall 1997
• Kitchen & Bath Planner, June 1998
• Professional Builder, December 1995
• Design/Build Business, April 1997
• Draperies & Window Coverings: April 1995, September 1997; 1998: June, August; 1999: August, September; 2000: January, June, October, November; 2003: November -Cover and Feature article; DWC installation 8/05. Sept. 06, Oct. 07
• Window Fashions, November 1996, February 2002, April 03, June 04.
• Hunter Douglas web site, Power Rise brochure, 2000 calendar: Duette Power Rise living room setting, 1997 Street of Dreams project house, Clackamas, Oregon

Regional Publications:

• Builder/Architect, June 1995
• Daily Journal of Commerce, October 1994
• The (Portland) Oregonian, Sunday Business Section May 4, 1997
• The (Portland) Oregonian, Homes & Gardens October 16, 1997
• The (Portland) Oregonian, Homes & Gardens May 2, 1999
• Street of Dreams magazine, 2000
• Beaverton Chamber of Commerce newsletter 7/01, 11/02

Motorization

Shades Of The Future® specializes in motorized blinds and shades. Motorized roller and roman shades are perfect for convenience as well as supremely practical for large, heavy shades. We have lots of experience with these products and you will be amazed at the possibilities and convenience. These precision, Somfy, 110 volt motors are built right into the roller tube.

Examining photos on this page and others on our Photos/Design page shows we are capable and experienced in a wide variety of jobs, most very unique. If you are looking for a vendor for motorization just contact us. We travel. See our Travel Policy.

We just finished installing a motorized, top/down, roman, solar shade system for Lake Oswego Presbyterian Church. See the write up on our Sun Screening page.

We will help you work out what product will meet your needs. We will put together a bid for your consideration. After a contract is in place we will design the wiring layout and work with your electrician. We will also work out the installation process.

PRICING: To add motorization to a roller or roman shade will run about $520 for a unit run by a wall switch. Radio remote controlled systems, Somfy Altus system, which include the radio receiver built into the roller tube motor are about $731 per shade. The advantage of this system is that the motor simply plugs into the wall without having to run a special wire to a wall switch. We can help guide you through all the many possibilities.

New! Platinum™ Technology Motorized

Here’s the Hunter Douglas motorization overview VIDEO:

http://www.hunterdouglas.com/our-products-detail.jsp?id=4&so=ft&sop=pd#/PV/

Hunter Douglas has just added Platinum™ Technology to its motorization line up, both battery systems and hard wired. This system puts infrared (IR) and Radio Frequency (RF) into one system. IR needs to be pointed at the receiver. RF can operate shades from a different room! IR and RF in one remote! There are also many options for group programming that can be changed by the owner after installation.

Most existing Hunter Douglas PowerRise IR systems can be upgraded to RF Platinum Technology by plugging in a new satellite receiver eye and buying at least 1 remote control. This upgrade is very desirable for systems that have a hard time receiving IR signals in bright sunlight. A homeowner can do this upgrade.

Duette Power Rise
Our 1997 St. of Dreams project. Hunter Douglas features this project extensively.

16' high scaffold
16' high scaffold set up built for electrian and shade installer. Scappose, Oregon project.

One of a kind!
Customer's $100 a yard silk fashioned into exquisite roman which retracts to reveal a mirror over bed.

Wiring in process
Club wiring in process. Devices in boxes are called Individual Group Controllers.

Realtor's Office
Portland realtor's office. 3% sheerweave, motorized roller shade retracts into its housing. 18' off floor.

Portland's Multnomah Athletic Club - part 1
Portland's Multnomah Athletic Club. Blackout roller shades shown partially closed. Motorized control at a touch of a button.

Portland's Multnomah Athletic Club - part 2
40' motorized lift used to install Club shades.

Portland's Multnomah Athletic Club - part 3
Scaffolding set up required to install sunscreen shade on left. Reception area (not shown) stayed in operation during week long installation by crews

Portland's Multnomah Athletic Club - part 4
Another motorized, blackout shade installation at Multnomah Athletic Club. These giant shades are about 14' x 14'.

Click Here for More Photos

Products

To see photo and design ideas, please click a subject button below. To return to this page later click “back” on your browser button, or use the expanded menu to your left.

Products/Terms/Warranty:

Shades Of The Future® attends the national window coverings trade shows to seek out the best products. We research the market place and do our homework. The goal is to offer products that have a high value to quality ratio. We are not trying to be the cheapest or most expensive, but offer products with excellent performance at affordable prices. If we can’t stand behind the product and put our name on it, we won’t offer it for sale.

You are probably an expert in your field and expect your suppliers to know their business and be experts as well. We consider it our duty to know the industry and recommend quality products that won’t be a disappointment in later years. Window coverings are a significant investment and the goal is that your expectations be exceeded and that your selections last a long time.

For blinds, shades and other core products in the “hard treatments” category, the industry leader is Hunter Douglas Window Fashions. They are the innovators. They spend millions per year on R&D and focus groups. Other manufacturers copy and build knock-off look-alikes. There is a difference and we offer top quality products for your project.

Because of the superior quality and industry leadership of Hunter Douglas, Shades Of The Future® has been offering its products since 1979. When it comes to window coverings we offer Hunter Douglas exclusively.

For interior plantation window shutters, our research shows real hardwood shutters are still the best choice. Our preferred vendor is Woodfold/Marco.

Primarily for areas of high humidity or moisture you may prefer a faux wood shutter. There is a small saving for faux over wood, about 15%. But you choose a faux shutter more for the application than savings. For faux shutters our preferred vendor is San Benito. Their Davenport line is PAINTED and most faux shutters are the color of the plastic from the extruder. Hope you like white and off-white! Also, if unpainted, you see the pull lines of the material as it left the extruder. We offer a large number of stock paints and also custom color for these faux shutters. We think shutters should feel solid, not hollow, and not look like plastic. That’s why when it comes to faux shutters we only offer San Benito’s Davenport line.

For roman shades, manually operated or motorized, our preferred vendor is: Castec Window Shading.

Terms: Our terms are standard for custom materials: 1/2 down and balance on delivery. For out of town projects, final payment is required before shipment. Freight will be included in the price quoted.

We accept checks, VISA, MasterCard and Discover. The minimum amount per charge card transaction is $500 or 100% of your purchase, whichever is lower. Shades Of The Future® is bonded for $15,000.

Warranty: Manufacturer’s warranties apply to the products. Most Hunter Douglas products offer a lifetime limited warranty for as long as you own the product. If you are in the local service area, we will come to the site to service this warranty free of charge for the first year (trip is billable thereafter). Carry in service offered free after the first year to fulfill the manufacturer’s warranty. You will find that service pretty unusual. Motorized equipment is warranted for 1 year.

The lifetime limited warranty means the components are replaced if they fail. The shade and blind cords are not guaranteed to last forever. Just like tires on your car, cords will eventually need to be replaced. Most cords on blinds last 10 years or more with new Ultra cord from Hunter Douglas. Today you can have a standard Duette or blind restrung for about $55.

If you have a premature cord failure you can expect it to be taken care of. But if your kitty decides to use the cords for dental floss…that’s another story!

Out of town customers will be responsible for freight to our office on warranty repairs, but we pay the return freight.

Vignette® Modern Folding Shades

Roman shades provide a soft elegant look to any room. The look is timeless and rich. The picture on this page shows the Hunter Douglas Vignette®. While a traditional roman gathers in soft folds below the window header, Vignette rolls into its headrail/valance system. Several stylish fabrics and fold sizes are available.

Four new fabrics and refreshed colors are now offered throughout the entire Vignette product line in a all new sample book.

New operating systems:

> Tiered top-Down/Bottom-Up with Ultraglide®

> Tiered PowerRise® 2.1 with Platinum™ Technology (battery lift system), and remote control

Hunter Douglas has now extended the Vignette offering to allow Vignette to be operated by the Vertiglide™ hardware, which means Vignette will be oriented vertically – perfect for sliding door applications.  Also available in ripplefold on decorative traversing hardware.

New to the Vignette line is Top Down/Bottom up, for those applications where you need low privacy and want to enjoy your view.

Folds: Vignette has offered their traditional 4″ contoured fold and now available is 6″ Tailored flat fold.

Vignette is now available in Evescape room darkening in all fabrics, colors and fold types. (Except Evescape is not available in top down/bottom up.)

Vignette window coverings, by Hunter Douglas, are only available in our local service area.

Sun Screening

Sun Screening

Shades Of The Future supplies finished sun screen products to fit your application. Call us to discuss your project requirements.

This photo is a solar fabric in roman shade format on sloped glazing. The material is Sheerweave in 5% openness. It may be fabricated into a roman shade or as a roller shade with a beaded chain control loop. If the shade is too large for manual operation, motorization will handle the raising and lowering.

This project is in Portland, Oregon, at the Wells Fargo Bank tower, formerly First Interstate Bank. There are 60 of these shades, which are 65″ wide x 221″ long. They are operated by the building’s automation system. This is a large commercial project, but we can handle the simplest manual shade for a residence.

The fabric shown is medium gray. The darker the fabric, the better will be the through view from the interior. Lighter fabrics will create more glare and reduce the view to the outside.

There are many fabric colors to choose from as well as densities of weave. The tighter the weave (as tight as 1-3%) the more sun block will be achieved. More open fabrics (up to 30% openness) the more view is afforded to the exterior. Openness sacrifices sun block. We recommend 5% openness factor to control glare.

We now offer a sun screen fabric that permits view through it, but looks like upholstery fabric. It is very attractive!

Lake Grove Presbyterian Church project:

We just finished a solar shading project at Lake Grove Presbyterian Church in Lake Oswego, Oregon. The congregation has just finished a major remodel of their church, including installation of a beautiful organ with 1500 pipes. One window, about 26 feet off the floor, is just behind the organ pipes. This window is hexagonal, about 11 feet wide and high. On occassion they needed solar shading for this window. The unusual requirement was that the shade needed to be motorized and lift from the bottom upward.

The finished solar shade is 108″ wide and 94″ high, roman shade style, with 3% openness in black. It was designed specifically for this application. It folds into its own box at the bottom of the window and is not visible to the congregation when lowered.

Shades Of The Future® was selected for this project because if its experience with lift systems like this and its ability to delivery totally unique products that solve individual problems. All of the strict size restrictions were met and the product works beautifully.

We can supply the Sheerweave sun screen roller shades, that meets the interior specifications for Subway Submarine sandwich shops.

If you are looking for manual or automated skylight shades, we have them! They may be fabricated from sun screen material, as described above, Duette, one of the pleated shade materials, or black out products.

Our newest product for skylight shading is an automated, battery operated, remote controlled! shade, fabricated with double cell honeycomb material. These shades have tracks on all four sides. They are extremely versatile and may be up to 48″ x 96″. These shades range in price from $700 to about $800 each. For a double honeycomb, battery operated remote controlled system, this is a very reasonable price. Room darkening, cellular skylight shade fabric, is now available.

Solar shades
Solar shades being installed in Portland Pearl Loft 26 feet off floor

Wood Blinds

Hunter Douglas Products:

Wood Blinds

Our primary vendor for wood blinds is Hunter Douglas. They have a very expansive wood blind offering at attractive prices. Their line includes Country Woods in 2″ slats in smooth or textured finish, as well as 2 5/8″ slats. There is even a 3 1/2″ wooden vertical product called Crosswinds.

Shades Of The Future® has searched the marketplace for wood blinds that offer the best price/value. Our recommendation is Hunter Douglas for wood blinds.

Reliable, consistent quality is the prime reason for this recommendation.

Hunter Douglas now offers TopShield II™ finishing process to further protect Country Woods real wood blinds. This includes further resistance to: fading, moisture, scratches and chemicals.

Wood Blind Key Benefits:

• Real wood product
• Additional mini wood slats offered in 1″ and 1 3/8″ vanes
• Lighter weight than vinyl products
• Fewer vertical ladders to interrupt your view than other window covering products
• Up to 8′ as a single width
• Moderately priced, US made
• Priced lower than Duette cellular products
• High quality operating system
• Many choices of paint and stain finished
• Stained finishes are beautiful

Everwood® Faux wood blinds (Our best selling horizontal slat blind):

For a man-made alternative to wood blinds we recommend Hunter Douglas’ premium faux wood blind: Everwood. Our research and experience with this product shows that Everwood will perform in harsh, high humidity environments and where moisture may be splashed on the slats. The extruded slat is a combination of wood fiber and polymers. It will fool anyone. It looks just like wood. Everwood is now available in 20 white and off-white finishes with new stained colors and etched finishes. Everwood will price out about 15% less than Country Woods. The Delight feature is NOW available on 2″ Everwood for a 20% up charge. The Everwood line has added a new 2 1/2″ beveled edge slat called Everwood Xtra. Delight on 2 1/2″ Everwood is available for 20% additional.

The standard valance is now 3 1/4″ Grandover and this profile is a little different than the standard valance offered before 9/4/07.

The Everwood collection now includes TruGrain™, Hunter Douglas’ faux wood grain slat. Before TruGrain™ if you wanted a slat that looked like real wood, you only had real wood to choose. Now TruGrain™ slats are available and they look just like real, stained wood. Hunter Douglas has developed a process that applies a grain print to the slat that is indistinguishable from the real thing.

Hunter Douglas now offers battery operated, remote control tilt on virtually ALL of their horizontal blind products.

Cellular Shades

Our project featured in Hunter Douglas brochures

The cellular honeycomb category of window coverings was invented by Hunter Douglas in 1985. The first product was called Duette®. Some years later competitors developed their own versions of cellular shades. Our understanding is that a licensing agreement is in place that allows others to market their cellular products, that were invented by Hunter Douglas.

Consumer rebates:

From now THRU  June 17, 2012, the following rebates are available to you!

Buy TWO or more of :

> Duette® Architella® Top-Down/Bottom-Up Honeycomb shades and receive $100, plus $50 for each additional

VIDEOS:

Here’s a video from Hunter Douglas about the Duette Architella and the UltraGlide lift system:

http://www.hunterdouglas.com/our-products-detail.jsp?id=62#/PV/

Here’s Hunter Douglas’ video about Architella’s energy efficiency:

http://www.hunterdouglas.com/our-products-detail.jsp?id=62#/PV/

Duette has added 4 new Architella® fabric lines:  Batiste Bamboo Opaque, Batiste Textured™ Opaque, Royale Textured™,  and Elan®.

Batiste Bamboo Opaque is a natural fabric that is created from sustainable and recycled materials and features a distinctive texture.  All 6 semi-opaque colors are now available on opaque fabric, 3/4″ pleat.

Batiste Textured™ Opaque fabric contains recycled materials and offers a subtle linen texture.   The Bamboo fabric is made of natures’s most renewable material.  All 6 semi-opaque colors are now available on opaque fabric, 3/4″ pleat.

Additional hardware colors are now available for the Vertiglide® hardware system

Duettes have been recommended by Shades Of The Future® since their introduction in 1985.

Hunter Douglas also offers a value price point line called Applause. It is one of our best sellers.  The warranty is the same. The updated hardware on Duette has rounded corners and a trim appearance.

Applause offers a scaled down line in comparison to the massive fabric and hardware options available in Duette.  But Applause now has a whole new book packed with great offerings.

The Hunter Douglas cellular line may be ultrasonically cleaned or immersed in a tub, except for the black out fabrics, which may only be vacuumed. Seldom is more than vacuuming necessary. The polyester fabric naturally repels dust.

Duette and Applause cellular make a very high performance skylight shade and are our recommendation for skylight shade material.

Duette Key Benefits:

• Huge selection of fabrics – completely resampled with beautiful fabrics and hardware!
• Automated systems, battery operated

Applause Cellular Key Benefits:

• Now available with PowerRise battery lift system.
• Lower price point than Duette
• Hunter Douglas brand name