When James Geiger was leafing through the pages of Dwell in 2012, he made one interesting and illuminating observation. None of the stunning images he saw of beautiful modern homes included window shades or blinds. Seemingly a functional necessity, window coverings were conspicuously absent in every image. Wondering why this might be the case, Geiger realized it was undoubtedly because modern, minimal shades simply didn’t exist in the marketplace. Banking on this guess, he took a chance on promoting his budding motorized shading company, J Geiger, in the pages of Dwell. He took out one ad, and immediately got four hundred inquiries from new interested customers, who turned out to be mostly architects. The overwhelming response affirmed the void in the market, and drove Geiger to offer a product that would solve a problem and answer an unmet need.

With beginnings in Charleston, South Carolina, James Geiger, the company’s founder and president, got his start developing and installing audio/video systems in high-end residences. Seeing a hole in the market, Geiger pivoted to start developing innovative shading solutions in 2011, and those original clients became clients of his new business. “Necessity drives innovation,” says Geiger. With the idea that the shade would be round, Geiger used a lathe to make his first prototype. From that initial design, J Geiger was born – creating a product that simply didn’t exist before. Traditional shading products “had function, but no aesthetic,” says Geiger. Conversely, he wanted to create something with a ‘less is more’ approach that would be clean, minimal, and “become part of the architecture.”

Simple and elegant, J Geiger was the first to offer modern, motorized shading solutions. The innate composition of the shades, along with their exacting installation, all make J Geiger designs unparalleled among ‘next-best’ options. Aesthetic differentiators of the J Geiger brand include a fascia-free design that rejects ceilings pockets, wires, and screws – often eyesores in the context of an otherwise minimal, modern design. Instead, the shades have a compact profile, secured with small aluminum brackets from fabricators in California. The compact motor controls the shades wirelessly, making home automation streamlined and simple. Homeowners can control their shades with a customized J Geiger app or their own home control system of choice, a strategic redundancy that offers added security and peace of mind in the event of unexpected malfunction or outage.

J Geiger’s exacting and precise installation methods also set them apart in terms of finished appearance. The alignment of the shade with the glass is critical in each individualized application. “When there is a vertical divide in the glass, [we realized] the shade should be divided at that place,” explains Geiger. In addition, their two-step installation strategy removes all chance for error. First, they install the metal, then they install the fabric later to fit the metal. This approach ensures accuracy of fit, and a clean and symmetric finished appearance.

Continuing to innovate, J Geiger offers countless shading options – both aesthetically and functionally. All of the textiles for the shades are made in Charleston, and numerous color, fabric, opacity options are offered. Custom shapes can be designed to fit specialty or angled windows, with both bottom-down and top-up functionality. Their ‘P Series’ offers a pocket system that completely conceals the shade, getting rid of the visual transition between shade and wall. The quiet, compact motors are controlled wirelessly using a remote, tablet, or smartphone. A unique J Geiger feature is that a single motor is able to control a group of shades, not just one. A new offering, battery-controlled shades, provide a completely wire-free alternative that is efficient and long-lasting. Geiger believes all motorized shades will trend towards battery power in the future.

Through their pioneering design, and penchant for precision, J Geiger has been able to provide a unique, stylized shading system that is tailor-made to modern living. Emphasizing a minimal and understated aesthetic, J Geiger offers innovative and elegant shades that complement, not compete with, the surrounding architecture.