Roman Shades for Homes in Portsmouth, RI

A Bright Side and a Shaded Side

Portsmouth sits on an island with water on both sides, and that shapes roman shades in Portsmouth, RI more than anything else. Many houses have one face turned to the bay and full of light, and another that sits back in shade. The same fabric and the same fold rarely suit both.

The housing itself is varied. Island Park and Common Fence Point are full of cottages, often compact, with small windows and rooms that open onto porches. The newer colonials off East Main Road have regular rows of double-hung windows and more formal rooms. The larger homes toward Carnegie Abbey bring tall windows, wide openings and rooms planned around a view.

A roman shade made from the fabric you choose, in the fold that suits each room, can work across all of them. The trick is to plan the bright rooms and the shaded rooms separately.

What We Make for Portsmouth Windows

Flat fold

Even, crisp pleats with a smooth face. Calm against a bright bay view and the easiest fold to keep tidy on tall glass.

Hobbled fold

Rounded folds cascading down the shade at every height. Full and cosy, and well suited to the shaded rooms of a house.

Relaxed fold

Mostly flat, with a soft sweep at the bottom edge. Light and informal, a good match for a cottage kitchen or porch room.

Roller shades for the brightest glass

On a sunroom or a wall of bay-side glass, a roller shade can sit alongside roman shades in the rooms beside it.

Roller shades in Portsmouth

Cellular shades for the shaded side

Rooms that see little sun can feel cool. A cellular shade holds a layer of air against the window.

Cellular shades in Portsmouth

Drapery panels

Drapes are the store’s specialty, and side panels add height and softness around a roman shade.

Custom drapes in Portsmouth

Planning Roman Shades in Portsmouth, RI Side by Side

The simplest way to plan roman shades in Portsmouth, RI is to walk the house twice: once along the bright side and once along the shaded side. The rooms that face the bay get strong, open light much of the day and need fabric and lining that can handle it. The rooms on the far side get softer, cooler light and can carry warmer colours, heavier cloths and fuller folds.

The bay-facing rooms

On the bright side, the shade’s first job is control. Light off the water is strong, and in a living room or a bedroom it can be glaring at certain times of day. A lined roman shade cuts that glare and protects the face fabric, which in a sunny room otherwise fades sooner. Lighter fabric colours tend to look better against a bright view and show fading less than deep ones.

Keeping the view matters just as much. A shade mounted on the wall above the frame can be raised clear of the glass, so the bay stays in full view when the shade is up. Lowered partway, the stacked folds take the glare out of the top of the window while the lower glass stays open to the water.

The shaded rooms

On the other side of the house the problem turns round. These rooms can feel dim, so the aim is to let in as much daylight as possible while still giving privacy and warmth. An unlined roman shade in a light cloth lets the daylight glow softly through it. Mounted above the frame, it lifts clear of the glass and leaves the window open when you want every bit of light.

The shaded side is also where a richer fabric can work. A hobbled fold in a warmer woven cloth brings colour into a room that does not get much sun, and because the light is gentler, a deeper colour will hold its look for longer than it would on the bay side.

Rooms with windows on both sides

Some rooms, particularly in the cottages and in open-plan living spaces, have windows facing both ways. In those rooms, using the same fabric throughout keeps the room together, while the lining changes from one wall to the other. The bay-side windows get a lining for glare and fabric protection; the shaded windows are left lighter. From inside, the shades look like a matched set. In use, each wall does its own job.

Island Park and Common Fence Point Cottages

The cottages in Island Park and Common Fence Point are a particular pleasure to work on, and a particular challenge. Rooms are often small, windows are modest and sometimes irregular, and a porch or a close neighbour may sit right outside.

Small windows, small stacks

On a small cottage window, the folded stack of a raised roman shade can take up a noticeable share of the glass. We keep that in mind when we measure. A flat fold stacks the most compactly. Mounting the shade a little above the frame lets the stack sit on the wall rather than across the window. Both help a small room keep its daylight.

Rooms behind a porch

Plenty of cottage living rooms sit behind an open or screened porch. The porch roof already shades those windows, so they rarely suffer glare, and the bigger worry is that the room feels dark. Here a pale, unlined cloth is the friend of the room. It softens the view of the porch and gives privacy after dark without blocking what little daylight reaches the glass. If the porch is used as an outdoor room in summer, the shade also gives the inside a little separation from guests sitting just outside.

Fabric that suits a cottage

Cottages carry softness and pattern well. A relaxed fold in a cotton print, a flat fold in a stripe or a gingham, or an unlined linen that glows in the morning all feel at home in these rooms. Where a cottage window looks onto a porch or a neighbouring house, privacy matters more than sun, and a shade that can be lowered halfway gives cover at sitting height while light still comes in over the top. In a cottage bedroom tucked under the eaves, a soft relaxed fold in a small floral or a washed cotton keeps the room feeling light and simple, and pillows in a cloth that picks up one of its colours can finish the room without any extra pattern.

Irregular frames

In older cottages, window frames are not always square, and sizes often vary from room to room. That is exactly why a shade made for each opening makes sense here. We measure every frame at several points and make each shade to the frame it will hang in, so it hangs straight and closes without a gap down one side.

Colonials off East Main Road

The newer colonials off East Main Road are a tidier job than the cottages. Their double-hung windows repeat along each wall, the rooms are larger, and there is usually a formal living room and dining room either side of the front door. What these houses ask of roman shades in Portsmouth, RI is order: shades that match one another and suit rooms meant for guests.

A matched front

Look at a colonial from the road and its front windows form one pattern. If the shades behind them differ in colour or hang at different heights, the pattern breaks. So on the street-facing windows we keep the outward colour, the raised height and the mounting the same throughout. Inside, every room is still free to go its own way: a printed flat fold for the dining room, a plain hobbled fold for the living room, and lined shades upstairs where people sleep.

Formal rooms

A colonial’s dining room is often where a roman shade can be most decorative. A hobbled fold in a fuller cloth adds richness, and side drapes in a coordinating fabric add height. In a living room that faces the bay, the same thinking about glare and lining applies as anywhere else on the bright side.

Upstairs bedrooms and the landing

The bedrooms over the front rooms of an East Main Road colonial usually repeat the windows below, and they are where the lining matters most. A bedroom facing the bay wakes early unless its shade is lined and sized to cover the frame well. A bedroom on the shaded side can be lighter. The stair landing, seen from both floors, is worth a fabric that sits happily with the hall below and the bedrooms above.

Kitchens and family rooms at the back

Most of these colonials put the kitchen and family room at the back, often opening onto a deck. A flat fold in a light, easy cloth over the sink keeps out of the way of taps and counters. In the family room, a relaxed fold brings softness without fuss. If there is a slider to the deck, that opening is better served by drapery or a treatment that moves sideways, with roman shades on the windows beside it.

Larger Homes Toward Carnegie Abbey

The larger homes toward Carnegie Abbey tend to have tall windows, wide openings and rooms designed around the water. Roman shades here need careful sizing, and they often share the room with other treatments: sheers or drapery panels for softness, with the roman shades handling privacy and glare. Planning them together on one visit avoids a room where the layers fight each other for the same few inches above the frame.

Tall windows

Height changes the maths of a roman shade. The longer the fabric, the deeper the bundle of folds when it is pulled up. Kept inside a tall frame, that bundle reads as a small band at the head of the window when seen from the floor. Fixed higher on the wall, it lets the opening look taller still and frees the whole pane once raised. Before suggesting either, we check the gap between the frame and the ceiling and how deep the folded fabric will be.

Wide openings

A single roman shade across a very wide window becomes heavy and awkward to lift. On wide openings we usually make two or three shades that sit side by side and raise separately. That also lets you shade one end of a room against the afternoon sun while leaving the other end open.

Big rooms built around the water

In the larger houses, the main living space is often one long room with its best windows facing the bay. Shades there are seen from every corner, so the fabric becomes part of the room’s design rather than an afterthought. A plain, light flat fold lets the view take the lead. Where the owners want more character, the colour can come from drapery panels at the ends of the run, keeping the shades themselves quiet. Measuring roman shades in Portsmouth, RI for a room like this means checking every window in the run, because a small difference in one frame shows clearly when the shades are lined up together.

How a Portsmouth Order Runs

We stay in contact the whole way, from your first enquiry until every shade is hanging. This is how it usually goes.

1. Reach us by phone through the call button or through the form, say which side of the house is the priority, and arrange your free quote.
2. One of our specialists visits to take measurements window by window, notes where the sun falls, and looks at depth and ceiling height.
3. Fabric, fold and lining are chosen together, using samples we bring or a trip to Swansea.
4. A written quote follows, itemised by window.
5. Every shade is made to the sizes recorded in your house.
6. Our installers put them up, make sure each one rises level and folds where it should, and show you how they work.

Tying shades to the rest of the room

Because the store makes drapery and custom fabric decor as well as shades, a roman shade can be cut from a cloth that ties to pillows, a duvet cover or side drapes in the same room. In a cottage bedroom, a shade and pillows in the same print can be all the room needs. In a formal room, the shade might be plain and the drapes patterned. Our Portsmouth window treatments page lists everything we make for the town, and the roman shades page explains the folds in more detail.

Keeping fabric shades fresh

Fabric gathers dust, and on the bay side a little salt and grit as well, so a regular pass with an upholstery brush attachment keeps the cloth clean. Spots can be dabbed gently with a slightly wet cloth once you have tried it on a hidden edge. Putting a roman shade in the washing machine risks shrinking it out of shape, which is why a specialist cleaner is the better route for anything more.

Who We Are

Window Works began as a family store in 1988 and the second generation runs it today. Over 37 years of covering windows on the SouthCoast and across the East Bay, Portsmouth has long been on the list, one of 25 towns.

• Window treatment specialists with years at the job
• Drapery is the store’s specialty, so fabric comes first
• Each window measured where it is, at your house
• Our own installers hang every shade
• Warranties are offered
• One point of contact who keeps you informed until everything is finished

Fabrics You Can Handle First

In Swansea you can lift the fabric samples, hold two weights side by side and see how flat, hobbled and relaxed folds look once they are sewn. The Norman range is on display there too.

A snapshot of your sunniest room and your dimmest one is the most useful thing to bring, so the team can suggest a cloth for each.

Visit the showroom

Take the First Step

Everything begins with a free quote. Tap the call button to speak to the store in Swansea about measuring at your house or about installation, or leave your details on the form for a reply. Prefer to look at fabric first? Drop by the showroom, with directions on the contact page. Google reviewers give Window Works a 5.0 rating.