Very few technology upgrades are as simple and rewarding as adding motorized shades to your home. Even just adding a few throughout the house will reduce your monthly energy bills, make your TV sessions more enjoyable and enhance your family’s privacy. Not only that, but motorized shades reduce clutter by eliminating the need for cords and wands to manage them.

If not installed correctly, though, motorized shades can bring some dangerous clutter of their own. Once you add the shades, you need to power them, which in a worst-case-scenario means messy wires running from the window to the nearest outlet. 

Wireless battery-operated shades offer one excellent alternative for a more streamlined installation. You can also go with professionally installed hard-wired solutions with wires hidden behind walls. Once you read this blog outlining the pros and cons of each option, you’ll be able to gauge which is the best one for your Atlanta, GA home. 

SEE MORE: Why Your Shades Need to Be About More Than Just Style

Should You Go with Battery-Powered Shades?  

If you’ve been following our blog, you know we’ve told you about how home lighting control can enhance your home security and make your home entertainment more functional. Now it’s time to break down how smart lighting can give your media and game room more personality. Automated lighting does more than simply make it easier to see in your spaces – it defines the tone and sets the scene for any situation. That goes for everything from October’s Halloween horror-movie marathons to Sunday afternoon football, to late-night gaming between your kids and their friends. Read on to find out how smart lighting can make your media room more fun and exciting.

Choose a Color

Over the past few years, LED lighting has begun to dominate the market. It’s a brilliant way to save energy and gain directionalcontrol over your lighting fixtures. But one feature has gotten us pretty excited: the ability to change the color of your lighting with the touch of a button.

In 2012, Philips launched a new line of light bulbs under the name Hue, giving homeowners the ability to change the colors of their lighting in any room was a hit, and it ended up spawning a whole new market for smart bulbs. But there’s one ability Hue bulbs have over the competition – they can be controlled by a Control4 home automation system.

That means simple, intuitive and integrated controls of your entire media room’s lighting with a single interface. When it’s time to begin the scary movie festivities, dim the lights around the screen and turn the ones in the back of the room blood red or ghoulish green. On game day, pick the lights that best represent team colors. With thousands of color options to choose from, there’s no limit to how you can customize your spaces.