Baker’s Bay, located in Great Guana Cay, Bahamas waters, offers beauty, tranquility, and leisure. Accessible only by two planes and a boat journey, the private island getaway offers an exclusive escape often enjoyed by A-list celebrities and affluent paradise seekers – in this case aided by an impressive installation by integrator Shade & Sound.

The island features real estate opportunities highlighted by breathtaking backdrops and serene surroundings for owners to create ambiance and functional simplicity for worry-free living.

But, given the geographical constraints of the island, designing for a relaxing lifestyle requires a team of designers, technology integrators, and a trustworthy product mix.

Precision Prioritized on Remote Island Project

Shade & Sound’s recent custom home project in Bakers Bay required planning and flawless execution. To create a calm, functional waterfront oasis, the homeowners and architects enlisted full-service design studio Carly Ahlman Design to bring their vision to life.

With years of experience designing spaces in the Bahamas and Caribbean region, Ahlman and her team developed a plan that incorporated architectural, furniture and palette selections.

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The home also presented a great opportunity for automated lighting and shading. However, installing automated shades can be a complex task, and the project had a tight schedule, leaving no room for error. Moreover, the smart shades needed to meet high expectations for aesthetics and functionality.

The Carly Ahlman Design team called on long-time partner and shade specialist Jazz Almanla of Miami-based Shade & Sound to guide the technology integration.

A Hunter Douglas dealer since the late 1980s, Almanla founded Shade & Sound in 2006. Since then, the business been transforming spaces with window treatments, including classic Roller Shades and specialty styles like Silhouette Window Shadings.

Complemented by a gradual expansion into additional AV and lighting product categories, Shade & Sound has become a trusted integrator for clients in Miami’s upscale neighborhoods and surrounding getaways. His team frequently delivers projects involving a dynamic mix of lighting, AV, and window treatments.

Due to the Baker’s Bay project’s seclusion, any delay could lead to incompletion. The automation system had to be reliable, simple, and customizable.

Ahlman had a vision for the window treatments that included timeless lines and neutral colors, complemented by appropriate control capabilities.

“There is no room for mishaps. All the materials are custom-measured, ordered, and shipped to the island beforehand,” Almanla explains.

“Custom smart shades can be intimidating for this reason. They demand precision, and getting them right can be very difficult.”

Shade & Sound, Carly Ahlman Design Deliver Perfect Window Treatments

The integrator worked closely with the designer to achieve all requirements, recommending the Hunter Douglas portfolio and PowerView Gen 3 Automation.

“Carly and the team had specific ideas about how the look and feel of the shade could complement the other design elements of the house. These products needed to look good and be highly functional for a vacation home, providing privacy, comfort, and light cpontrol for the powerful sun rays of the Bahamas,” says Almanla.

“Having the technology and comprehensive portfolio of colors, fabrics, and styles from Hunter Douglas helped us bring this plan to fruition.”

Shade and Sound recommended and ordered a range of Hunter Douglas Provenance Woven Wood Roller Shades, Roman Shades, and Palm Beach Polysatin Vinyl Shutters.

Offering dimension and artistic texture for the common areas and bedrooms, Provenance Woven Wood Shades in natural tones would complement the home’s aesthetic while enhancing privacy.

Meanwhile, the Roman Shades in a neutral white tone would also bring elegant, soft light filtering to some of the bedrooms. The bright white Palm Beach Polysatin Vinyl Shutters would suit the privacy and comfort demands of the bathroom and kitchen areas while standing up to UV and humidity exposure.

The Shade & Sound team automated all the shade styles using the advanced PowerView Gen 3 Automation solution from Hunter Douglas. This automation solution has been recently reimagined to ensure easy and reliable installations at any scale.

The system offers user-friendly App control and scheduled automation scenes to complement the other technologies of the home, including Sonos speakers for surround-sound entertainment and Lutron lighting for optimal luminance.

A Practical, Design-Forward Island Home Transformation

After ordering the shades and completing the process of bringing them to the site for installation, Almanla was pleasantly surprised with the seamless installation.

“The team installed it, we plugged in the Gateway, and it started communicating instantly. The app picked up the shades, and I could immediately rename them, program them, get them set up for the client to use immediately,” he reports.

Featuring at least 20-30 motorized shades, the technology was programmed and ready to be controlled through the PowerView App in just 30 minutes, consolidating the control of all the shades into one ecosystem.

“It’s like night and day compared to how shade integration used to be. It’s a lot easier now,” Almanla adds.

The custom fit of the shades contributed to the success of the installation. By accommodating the range of window sizes, light filtration, and aesthetic requirements, the designer and Amlanla were satisfied by an intelligent yet design-centric solution – all coming together to play an essential role in making the vacation home paradise a reality.

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