Amazon Hidden Gem: CUSTOM Motorized Shades
**Note that this blog post contains affiliate links. By purchasing through these links, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
If you’ve ever looked into getting customized window coverings for your home - to replace those ugly, annoying (and even dangerous) slat blinds - you know how incredibly expensive they can be. Shopping online through some of the “big names”, I’ve abandoned shopping carts totalling thousands of dollars. Having something like what you see above in our home never seemed like it would be in the cards for me with our minimal budget - UNTIL I found Yoolax Blinds on Amazon!
Here are just a few of the bullet points about these blinds - you can read more about each below!
Easy Installation
If you’re not much of a DIYer, it might seem daunting to face the idea of installing your own window coverings. But I PROMISE - these are SO easy to install. You will need a drill simply to drill a pilot hole in the window frame (or outside it, if you opt for an exterior mount), but beyond that, everything you need is included.
Pictured below are the brackets that you install for these blinds. You simply drill pilot holes, insert some plastic plugs, and use a screwdriver to screw the brackets into place. Once the brackets are installed, you easily push the blinds into place until you hear a “CLICK” and they’re done!
Another beautiful thing is that the each set of blinds come with a remote which is pre-programmed to control them. It’s as easy as taking them out of the box, popping them up on the brackets, and you’re ready to go with your remote - you don’t need to worry about “pairing” anything unless you’re wanting to connect them with your Smart Home device like Alexa or Google.
If you order multiple sets of blinds and want your remote to control all of them at once, simple-to-follow instructions are included to create a “group” so that you can control them all with one click.
Wireless and Rechargeable
Many motorized shades which are installed in customized homes are hard-wired into the home’s electrical grid, so you might be wondering how you can have motorized shades without getting an electrician in to install them. Yoolax Blinds have a few customization options when it comes to power (including hard-wired if that’s the way you want to go, or solar powered for an extra charge) but I opted for the wireless USB rechargeable option.
The blinds have a discreet micro USB plug on one side and you can add on an extra-long charging cord so that you never have to take your blinds down. You can choose which side this plug is on to ensure it’s close to an outlet. The bonus is that the blinds rarely need to be charged - the Yoolax instructions indicate they should be charged about once every six months. I’ve had my first set for four months now, and I open & close them multiple times a day, and I haven’t had to recharge yet.
The Micro USB is on the right side of this shade - betcha couldn’t see it even if you tried!
Completely Customizable
If you take a look at the customization options for these beauties on Amazon, you will see that there’s TONS of options available! I’m going to give you a quick run-down of each of them and let you know exactly how I customized mine to make them perfect for my space & easy to use.
First, you will be asked to customize the MEASUREMENT with a few key questions:
Inside Mount or Outside Mount - I’ve chosen inside mount for all of my blinds (see above - they are sitting inside the window frame). An outside mount would mean they’re mounted outside the window frame and would cover both the entire window & the surrounding trim when closed.
Valance - the valance is the top part of the blind where the material is “rolled” when closed. You can opt to have no valance (meaning you see the roll exposed), aluminum valance (a white metal cover for the roll), or a fabric-wrapped valance (a plastic valance which is wrapped in fabric to match your blind). I opted for the fabric-wrapped valance for a high-end look.
Measurements - there are specific yet straightforward instructions for measuring inside your window frame. Use a tape measure and measure to an accuracy of 1/8“ both width-wide and height-wise for your window. Better to be 1/8” short than an 1/8” too long. The blinds do not mount right into the corners, so there’s a tiny bit of wiggle room.
There is a maximum height of 120” (10 ft) and a maximum width of 93.5” (~7 ft 8 in). If your window is wider than this, you can order two blinds to hang side by side - which is what we did in both our primary bedroom and our living room.
Next, you will be asked to customize your POWER AND REMOTE. This is the part that can be a little confusing, but I’ll tell you the simplest options to chooose.
Power Type - there are two options here. The “Remote Battery Motor” which is basically what you’re going to pick if you only want to control your blinds using the remote OR if you want to control your blinds with an Alexa/Google Home that is not supported by the other motor - see the list below. The “Zigbee Battery Motor” is the *smart* motor, meaning it can wirelessly connect itself to your Alexa if you have one of the compatible versions shown below. Get this if you are hoping to control your blinds by saying “Alexa, close the blinds.”
To keep it as simple as possible, what I did was order the Zigbee Battery Motor and I also ordered
one of the Alexa versions that were compatible. This is what I did downstairs - I did something else
upstairs which I’ll talk about below. Honestly, though, I often just end up using the remote.
2. Remote - you’re going to want a remote, and you kind of need one considering it’s the only way
to control your blinds - haha. Pick the one which matches with the type of motor you chose. The
remote is super easy to use and comes with a little wall mount if you want to attach it somewhere
so that you never lose it.
3. Solar Panel - I can’t speak to the effectiveness of the solar panel because I didn’t personally add
one, but it looks as though it’s a simple little bar you attach to the window behind the blind so it
can charge - if you try it out, let me know! It’s a nice option to have.
4. Smart Bridge - this add-on essentially allows you to connect your blinds wirelessly to non-
compatible Smart Home devices like other versions of Alexa, Google Home, or Yoolax’s own app.
I added one on when I got our bedroom blinds because I didn’t want to purchase another Alexa. I
had an old Echo Dot and was able to use the Smart Bridge to connect my blinds to it. Again, this is
not an option you need to worry about if you just plan on using the remote to control your blinds.
To summarize, the EASIEST thing to do is select the Remote Battery Motor and choose the corresponding remote. Then you don‘t have to worry about the Smart Device aspect.
But - if you want to be extra and say “Alexa, good morning” and see all the blinds in your home open at once, you can get the Zigbee Motor & make sure you have a compatible version of Alexa OR add on the Smart Bridge. It is pretty cool, not going to lie.
Lastly, there are a few more customizations you can make under OTHER OPTIONS.
Roll Position - You can either choose for your blinds to roll *back* (toward the window) or *front* (towards you). I just went with what is standard which is for them to roll back. I honestly don’t really know the benefits either way - lol. Let me know if you can educate me.
Motor Side - As I mentioned earlier, you can choose which side of your blind the micro-USB plug will be located on. Take a look at your window and decide whether the left side or right side is closer to an electrical outlet or is less obvious. My choice varied depending on the space where I was putting the blind. For my blinds that are mounted side-by-side, I opted to put them on the *outsides* (so one on the left, one on the right).
Weighted Bottom Rod - Like the fabric-wrapped valance, this is an option that adds a more high-end look to your shade. You can opt to have a standard white bottom rod at the bottom of your shade, a silver weighted rod, or a fabric-wrapped weighted rod. The weighted bottom rod helps prevent your shade from blowing in the wind, or being moved by the air conditioning. I went with the fabric wrap, again, to opt for a more customized look.
USB Charging Extension Wire - For only $2, you can add on a 6.5 foot USB charging cable which will definitely come in handy so you don’t have to take your shade off the wall to charge it. I’d definitely recommend adding this on!
Two other important customization options I haven’t discussed are the FABRIC and the COLOUR of your motorized shades. The fabric options are either half-shading or blackout and you have to choose the correct listing from this list here. You can see the half shading option above - in our kitchen, dining room, and living room. You can see the blackout option below - in our bedroom.
Next is the colour - once you choose either half-shading or blackout, you’ll be taken to the main page where you can select your colour. There are a range of options, and you can even order swatches in advance if you’re unsure. All my half-shading blinds are in LINEN BEIGE and I can highly recommend this colour. It’s like a beautiful oatmeal linen, thick and very high quality. I love it. My bedroom blackout shade is in DARK GREY and they are also a very very nice quality and extremely blackout (see below).
In our upcoming nursery project, I’m hoping to try the Linen Beige in blackout - stay tuned!
To summarize the options I went with for majority of my blinds:
Fabric: Half-Shading
Colour: Linen Beige
Mount Type: Inside Mount
Valance: Fabric-Wrapped Valance
Power Type: Zigbee Battery Motor
Remote: Z561 16-Channels
Solar Panel: None
Smart Bridge: None
Roll Position: Standard Roll (Back)
Motor Side: Left or Right, depending
Weighted Bottom Rod: Fabric-Wrapped Hem
USB Charging Extension Wire: Yes
Smart Home Compatible
I’ve quite comprehensively covered this in the Options section above, but I’ll just wax on a little longer about how cool this feature is. We’ve connected our blinds to our Alexa Echo 4. They are incredibly easy to pair - you just push a button on the blinds, then open your Alexa app to begin the pairing process. Once you’ve added them to your home, you can create all kinds of custom settings.
We have all our downstairs blinds connected on one setting, so I can say “Alexa, close the downstairs blinds” (which is what I do before bed). We also have them all set up separately, so if I’m watching some spicy TV (hello, Bridgerton & Outlander), I can say “Alexa, close the living room blinds”. I can also set up custom timing so that all of our blinds open & close at a certain time.
Upstairs, I have our bedroom blinds set up on a separate Alexa Echo Dot (which I had to use the Smart Bridge to connect). Again, pretty simple. I often will say “Alexa, open the bedroom blinds halfway” when I want just a bit of light to get dressed. It’s very convenient and makes me feel like I’m a Jetson.
But to reiterate, if you’re NOT a ”Smart Home” person - you DO NOT have to use this feature at all. You can simply use your trusty remote! You will receive a remote with each individual set of blinds, but you could program them ALL onto the same remote if you wanted.
Stylish & Functional
I cannot say enough about how good these shades look in our home. Every single person who comes over asks about them - and I vibrate with glee a little bit every time I can tell them they’re from Amazon. They look incredible - dare I say, they look expensive - and they’ve really elevated our home. Buh-Bye, janky old slat blinds. See ya never.
Not only do they look great, but these shades have also had a functional impact on our home. The ease of opening & closing them means that I am more meaningfully using them and actually opening the blinds every day. UNLESS it is super hot out - and this is why they’re really changing the game. We do not have Air Conditioning in our home, and our summers lately are HOT. I‘m talking 30-35 degrees Celsius for weeks at a time. Even with only the half-shading option, I am finding that leaving the shades closed all day is truly helping to regulate the temperature in our home. Last summer, we spend several evenings hanging out in our undeveloped basement as it was above 30 degrees in our home. Not so this summer!
Another functional perk of these shades which you can see very well illustrated above is the quality of the blackout fabric. I am sincerely sleeping better since getting these blackout shades in our bedroom. We have street lights essentially right outside our window, and these shades completely block them out. If I get a migraine, I can go to bed mid-day and close the blinds to completely thrive in darkness. It’s glorious.
Alright - I think that about covers it. This is genuinely a recommendation I wholeheartedly stand behind. I love these blinds and I have a few more windows left in my home and plan on getting them ALL done. When you price them out, they may seem a little steep - but I promise, if you go on any other site and put in the same options, you’ll be quoted triple or MORE. I don’t know who decided that window coverings needed to be so expensive, but these really are such high quality for a budget-friendly price, comparatively.
Please don‘t hesitate to ask me any questions. I feel pretty well-versed in all the options after ordering & installing six sets of these bad boys and I’m happy to help!
You can also visit the brand’s website directly at https://www.yoolax.com/ for more information.
Until next time!
Xoxo Bailey
