Cellular Shades for Homes in Rehoboth, MA

Old Farmhouse Windows, Open Fields

Drive along Winthrop Street or Route 44 and the antique colonials and farmhouses sit well back on big lots, some with fields and barns on every side and no near neighbour to break the wind. Their windows are small, set deep into thick walls, with wide sills that hold plants, books and the family cat. They are lovely windows. In February, they are also where the cold comes through, which is why cellular shades in Rehoboth, MA so often go into these older houses first.

A honeycomb shade holds air. Each cell is a closed pocket, and when the shade is lowered those pockets form a still layer between the old glass and the room, slowing the warmth that would otherwise drain out. In a deep-set window the shade can sit right back against the sash, which is exactly where it works best.

• Single and double cell shades, made to each small opening
• Measured in your home, fitted by our own installers
• Fabrics to compare in Swansea, south down the road from Rehoboth

What We Offer for Rehoboth Windows

Single cell

A single row of cells with a very small stack, which keeps a little antique window as bright as possible when raised.

Double cell

Two rows of trapped air for the windiest side of the house and the rooms that never quite warm up, such as a bedroom tucked under the eaves.

Set deep in the frame

Deep old walls let a shade sit close to the glass inside the frame, leaving the wide sill free.

Room-darkening fabric

Holds back the early summer sunrise over open fields in east-facing bedrooms.

Cordless lift

Raised and lowered by hand from the bottom rail, with no cords trailing across the sill.

Paired with curtains

A honeycomb shade behind a linen curtain suits the simple rooms of an old farmhouse.

Custom drapes in Rehoboth

Antique Colonials and Their Deep-Set Windows

The antique houses along Winthrop Street and Route 44 were built with heavy timber frames and thick walls. The result is windows recessed well back from the room, with a deep reveal on each side and a sill wide enough to sit on. Many still hold old sash, some with original glass that ripples when you look through it.

Those deep reveals are ideal for an inside mount. The headrail sits within the opening, the shade drops close to the sash, and the wide sill stays clear for whatever you keep on it. Because the honeycomb folds into a very small stack, a raised shade almost disappears at the head of the window, which matters on a small opening where every bit of glass lets in welcome light.

Old frames are rarely square, though. After generations of settling, a window can be slightly wider at the top than the bottom, or the head may slope. We measure each opening at several points and make the shade to suit, so it runs straight without catching on one side or leaving a bright gap on the other. Where a frame is too far out to fit inside neatly, a shade fixed on the face of the trim can cover the whole opening and seal its edges.

Small windows, many of them

An antique farmhouse often has a large number of small windows rather than a few big ones, all slightly different sizes. That is more work to measure, and it is exactly why a made-to-measure shade suits these houses. A stock shade cut to the nearest width would leave gaps on most of them. Each shade we make is sized to its own window, so the row looks even from inside and out.

Upstairs rooms under the roof

Many of the farmhouses have bedrooms tucked up under the roof, with small windows set low in the gable ends or in dormers. Those rooms catch the heat in summer and lose it in winter, and their windows are often the smallest in the house. A honeycomb shade suits them well: it takes up almost no space, folds away to nothing at the top of the frame, and gives the room a layer of air at the glass that it badly needs. Double cell is usually worth it here, since these are rooms people sleep in.

Gable windows sometimes sit close to the floor, below the slope of the ceiling. A cordless shade with its bottom rail at a comfortable height, or one that lowers from the top, makes these windows easy to use without kneeling.

Wind Across Open Land

Many Rehoboth houses sit in agricultural settings, with open fields around them and nothing nearby to break the weather. On a cold, windy night, the side of the house facing the wind loses heat at every window, and older sash lets in a little draught around the edges as well.

That windward side is where double cell shades make the most difference. The second row of cells adds another layer of still air between the room and the glass. Mounted close to the sash inside a deep reveal, the shade also cuts down the air movement that a slightly loose window lets in. Many owners put double cell on the windward rooms and single cell on the sheltered side, in the same colour so the house still looks uniform.

Privacy when there is no one to screen

With no near neighbours, privacy is not always the first concern it would be in a town centre. What matters more is the dark. On a farm road at night, a lit room with bare windows shows up from a long way off, and the black glass makes the room feel cold even when it is warm. Lowering a light-filtering shade at dusk turns a dark window into a soft, pale surface and makes the room feel closed in and comfortable.

In bedrooms, the issue reverses in summer. With no trees or houses to the east, the sun comes straight in across the fields at dawn. A room-darkening honeycomb holds back that early light, and the same cells keep the bedroom warmer in winter.

Keeping the house’s character

An antique colonial’s rooms rely on simple, honest detail: painted trim, wide floorboards, plain plaster. A honeycomb shade in a soft white or a muted natural colour sits quietly within the frame and does not compete with any of it. Raised, it all but vanishes. For a room that wants more colour or softness, a simple curtain beside the window adds it without fuss.

Some antique houses have had windows replaced over the years, so a room may hold one old sash beside a newer unit of a slightly different size. Making each shade to its own opening, in the same fabric and colour, lets those mismatched windows read as a set. From the road, the house keeps its even rhythm of windows, and nobody notices that the frames behind the shades are not all the same age. We note each window’s quirks at the measuring visit, including any shutters or storm windows on the outside that affect where the shade should sit.

How an Order Works

We stay in touch with you all the way through, from the first call until the last shade is fitted. A typical order for cellular shades in Rehoboth, MA goes like this.

1. Use the call button or the form, describe the rooms you have in mind, and we book your free quote.
2. A specialist comes out to the house and measures every window, checking each reveal for depth and each old frame for square.
3. You choose single or double cell, fabric, colour and lift, with samples in your rooms or at the Swansea showroom.
4. A quote arrives listing every window by room.
5. The shades are made to the measurements taken in your home.
6. Our installers fit each one, check that it runs straight and evenly, and show you how it works.

Summer Sun on a Big Lot

Rehoboth’s open land cuts both ways. The same fields that let the winter wind reach the house let the summer sun reach it too, with no shade trees or neighbouring houses to soften the afternoon light. A west-facing living room can become uncomfortably warm by late afternoon, and floors, rugs and furniture that sit in that sun lose colour over the years.

Cellular shades in Rehoboth, MA homes help with this as much as with the cold. Lowered through the hottest part of the day, a light-filtering honeycomb softens the glare into a steady glow, and the cells slow the heat building up behind the glass. The room stays bright enough to use, but it no longer feels like a greenhouse by suppertime.

On the porch side of a farmhouse, where a deep porch roof already shades the front windows, the shades have less to do in summer and more in winter. We look at each side of the house when choosing fabric, so a sunny west room and a shaded porch room each get the shade that suits them.

When planning cellular shades for a Rehoboth home on an open lot, it helps to think about each side of the house in turn: the windward side for winter, the sunny side for summer and the road side for the evenings.

Newer Colonials off Bay State Road

The newer colonial subdivisions off Bay State Road are a different job. Their windows are larger and more regular, mostly standard double-hung units in matching sizes, and the houses are built tighter than the antiques. Even so, a newer colonial has more glass overall, especially across the back of the house and in a family room, and that glass still lets warmth out in winter and sun in during summer.

Cellular shades in Rehoboth, MA colonials of this kind usually follow a simple plan: matching shades on every front window so the house looks even from the street, single cell across most rooms, and double cell in the bedrooms over the garage or on the north side. A two-storey family room or entry with tall windows often suits motorised shades, raised and lowered from a remote or wall switch.

These houses often have a sliding door off the kitchen to a deck or patio. A honeycomb shade can be awkward on a door used all day, and a vertical blind in a matching colour is often the better answer for that one opening.

Bedrooms over the garage

A bedroom above an attached garage has cold air below the floor as well as at the windows, and it is often the hardest room in a newer colonial to keep comfortable. Double cell shades are our usual suggestion there, in a room-darkening fabric if it is a child’s room. The difference is often noticed on the first cold night. Pair the shade with a simple curtain if the room needs softening, and the window becomes the warmest part of the room rather than the coldest.

Choosing Your Shades

Whether the house is an antique or one of the newer colonials, the decisions are the same. We talk them through window by window.

Single or double cell. Single for sheltered rooms and those that already feel comfortable. Double for the windward side, rooms over the garage and any room that runs cold.

Light-filtering or room-darkening. Light-filtering for living rooms, kitchens and studies, where you want daylight but no view in after dark. Room-darkening for bedrooms, especially on the east side.

Colour. Whites and soft naturals suit the plain interiors of an antique house and keep small windows bright. In a newer colonial, matching the street side on every front window keeps the house looking tidy.

Mount. Inside the frame on the deep-set antique windows, so the sill stays free. Inside or outside on newer windows, depending on depth and how much light you want to block.

Lift. Cordless for a tidy sill and no hanging cords. Top-down, bottom-up where you want daylight over the top and privacy below. Motorised for windows that are tall or hard to reach.

Starting with the coldest rooms

Not every window needs doing at once. In an antique house, the windward rooms and the bedrooms come first. In a newer colonial, the room over the garage and the north-facing bedrooms. We keep a record of what was ordered, so later shades match in colour and fabric.

Caring for the shades

A soft duster or a vacuum brush on its lowest setting keeps the fabric clean, and a small mark can be dabbed with a damp cloth. Farmhouses near fields see a little more dust in summer, so a quick going over now and then keeps the shades looking fresh. Avoid soaking the fabric; a light touch is all honeycomb needs, and it holds its pleats for years when it is treated gently. If a cord or headrail on a shade you already own gives trouble, our blind and shade repair service can often put it right.

The Window Works Way

Window Works has been a family business in Swansea since 1988 and is now in its second generation. Over 37 years we have worked in old houses and new across 25 towns of the SouthCoast and the Rhode Island East Bay, and Rehoboth’s farmhouses and colonials are familiar ground.

• Window treatment specialists who measure every opening in person
• Fitting by our own installers, not a third party
• In constant contact with you until the job is done
• Warranties offered on the products we sell
• A showroom where you can handle fabrics and see the Norman range

Visit the showroom

All the services we offer in town are on the Rehoboth window treatments page, and you can read more about honeycomb shades on our main cellular shades page.

Talk to Us

Call the Swansea store through the button on this page to book a free quote, arrange measuring in your home or ask about installation. To see fabrics and lifts in person, find your way to the showroom from the contact page. Window Works has a 5.0 rating on Google.