Tall, Narrow and Close Together
The Victorians of Oak Hill and Quality Hill, and the mill-era three-deckers off Broadway, share one kind of window: tall, narrow double-hung sash, set in houses that stand close to their neighbours. At windows like these, length and privacy matter far more than width. Custom fabric decor in Pawtucket, RI takes its cue from that. The fabric at the window comes in long, slim strips, and the pillows, bedding and seating are where that pattern gets room to spread out.
Close-set houses also mean side windows that face a neighbour’s wall, rooms that rely on front and back light, and a real need for privacy at street level. Each of those shapes the fabric choices inside.
- Throw pillows, duvet covers and some upholstery
- Chosen to work with long, slim window treatments
- Fabrics to compare in our Swansea showroom
Pieces Made to Go With Your Windows
Pillows that widen the pattern
On a narrow window the print shows as a slim band. Pillows in the same cloth let it be seen at full width on the sofa.
Bedding for tall bedroom windows
A duvet cover planned with the long bedroom panels, so the two biggest pieces of fabric in the room agree.
Some upholstery
Upholstery is part of our work in a limited way, always tied to the window fabric. Ask about your piece before you plan around it.
Length Before Width: Custom Fabric Decor in Pawtucket, RI
A tall, narrow window carries its fabric as a vertical strip. That has consequences for pattern, for colour and for how the rest of the room picks it up. Here is how we approach custom fabric decor in Pawtucket, RI around windows like these.
What a long drop does to a pattern
On a tall panel, a pattern repeats many times from top to bottom. Vertical patterns, such as stripes and trailing florals, look natural at that length and make a ceiling feel even higher. Large, rounded motifs can look cramped on a slim panel, because only part of the motif fits across its width.
That is where the pillows come in. A large motif that is squeezed on the window can be shown off whole on a pillow, cut so the motif sits in the centre. Many Pawtucket rooms work best with the window in a stripe or a small repeat and the pillows in a bolder companion print.
Privacy without darkness
On streets where houses are close together, the front windows are overlooked and the side windows often face another house a few strides away. Privacy is needed nearly all day. The usual answer is a sheer or a light-filtering shade at the glass, with long side panels for evening. That keeps rooms private without making them gloomy.
For the decor, the sheer is the backdrop: pillows and seating near the window are seen against it every day. A pale sheer makes colourful pillows stand out; a tinted one suits softer tones.
Rooms lit from one end
In a close-set house, light often comes mainly from the front or the back. Rooms in between can be dim. Pale cloths with a gentle sheen reflect light, while dark matte ones soak it up. In a dim dining room or middle bedroom, a pale duvet cover, light pillows and a cream or soft gold upholstery fabric make a noticeable difference.
Colours that suit a tall room
Tall rooms can carry stronger colour than low ones, because there is more wall and air around each piece. A deep green, a claret or an inky blue on the long panels, with pillows that pick it up, gives an Oak Hill parlour real presence. In a smaller three-decker room, keep the strongest colour to the pillows and let the panels be lighter, so the room does not close in.
Choosing a stripe
Stripes are the natural partner for a tall narrow window, but their width changes the effect. A fine pinstripe reads almost as a texture from across the room and suits a quiet bedroom. A medium stripe in two colours gives a parlour structure without shouting. A broad stripe makes a bold statement and works best where there are only one or two windows in the room. Whichever you choose, a pillow cut from the same stripe, turned so the stripe runs across rather than up and down, gives a pleasing twist that still clearly belongs to the window.
The Victorians of Oak Hill and Quality Hill
Parlours and their sash
The Oak Hill and Quality Hill Victorians have front parlours with high ceilings and tall sash windows, often two or three in a row or set in a bay. Each window takes its own long panels, or the group is dressed as one. Either way, the panels are the anchor, and the parlour seating takes its colours from them.
Victorian parlours suit richness: velvet, brocade-look weaves, a fabric with a sheen. A pair of velvet pillows in a colour pulled from the drapery print, on a settee set between two tall windows, is a classic arrangement that still works.
Rooms through wide doorways
Many of these houses have front and back parlours, or a parlour and dining room, joined by a wide doorway. The two rooms are seen together whenever the doors stand open. Their fabrics should be planned as a pair: perhaps the same drapery in both, with different pillows, or different drapery with pillows that cross over. Either approach keeps the view from one room to the next easy on the eye.
Bays and window seats
Where a Victorian has a bay, it often has a built-in seat beneath it. Pillows sized to the seat, in the drapery cloth or a companion, make the bay into a reading corner. Because the seat sits right at the glass, those pillows get strong light, and we will help you choose a cloth that holds up.
Victorian bedrooms
Upstairs, the bedrooms keep the tall windows and much of the ceiling height. Long curtains, usually lined for sleep, carry a lot of cloth, and the bed is the other large fabric surface. A duvet cover in the curtain print looks grand; a plain cover in the print’s main colour, with shams in the print, looks calmer. Both work, and the choice depends on whether you want the bed or the window to lead.
Dining rooms on the hill
The dining rooms in the Oak Hill and Quality Hill houses are often the tallest-feeling rooms in the house, with a pair of long sash windows and sometimes a built-in sideboard. They are used mostly in the evening, when lamplight changes how colours read: a cool blue can turn grey, a rich red can deepen almost to brown. Seeing your cloths under warm light before you decide avoids surprises. A pair of pillows on a window bench or the two end chairs, in the long panel fabric, carries the room’s colour around the table. Done this way, custom fabric decor in Pawtucket, RI makes even a formal dining room feel comfortable.
One floor at a time
If you own a three-decker and live on one floor, you may want to start there and treat the other floors later, or leave them plain. Planning the front windows of every floor together, even if only one is done now, keeps the building looking tidy from the street. Inside, each floor can go its own way, with its own colours on the pillows and beds. We keep a note of what was chosen for each floor, so if you come back for the next one in a year or two, the street side can be matched exactly and the inside planned fresh.
Mill-Era Three-Deckers off Broadway
The three-deckers off Broadway were put up for mill workers, and they were built plainly: simple trim, straightforward rooms, and the same tall, narrow sash as the grander houses on the hill. Each floor is a home of its own, and the windows on each level line up one above another, so from the street the whole building reads as a stack of matching openings.
Simple trim, more room for fabric
Because the woodwork in a mill-era three-decker is plain, the fabric does more of the decorating. Where a Victorian parlour might have carved mouldings to look at, a three-decker room relies on its curtains, pillows and bedding for character. That is good news: a well-chosen print on a pair of long panels, with pillows that pick it up, can transform a plain room more than it could a fancy one.
Matching from the street
Since every window on the front of the building is seen as part of a stack, a neutral lining or a white sheer at the glass keeps the facade orderly, whatever colours you choose for the room side. That leaves the inside free for colour, and it means your pillows and duvet cover never have to suit anyone’s view but yours.
Rooms in a line
Most three-decker floors run front to back, with rooms opening one into the next. Standing in the front room you may see straight through to the kitchen. A single colour that shows up in each room, in the long panels at the front, the duvet cover in the middle bedroom, a pillow on the kitchen bench, makes the floor feel like one home. Change the pattern room to room; keep the colour thread.
Front rooms over the street
The front room is the one with the most light and the most eyes on it. Sheers or a light-filtering shade handle daytime privacy, and long panels in colour close for the evening. A sofa there can take a mix of three pillows: one in the panel cloth, one in a bolder print, and one in a plain texture that ties to the sheer.
Middle bedrooms with a single window
The middle rooms often have just one tall window, facing the house next door, and the curtain there stays mostly closed. A light-coloured duvet cover helps such a room feel brighter, and a single pair of pillows in a strong colour gives it personality without closing it in. Because the room is narrow, keep the bed fabric simple and let the pillows carry the accent.
Back porches and the rear kitchen
At the back, the kitchen usually opens onto a porch stacked with the neighbours’ above and below. It is often the sunniest room on the floor in the morning. A light cotton at the kitchen window and a couple of washable pillows on a bench or a porch chair, in a cheerful print, give the back of the floor some life. Porch pillows in particular should have covers that come off easily, since they see weather and wear.
Ready to Get Started? Book Your Free Quote
Call the Swansea store for a free quote, or come and see the samples in person.
Why Pawtucket Calls Window Works
Window Works started in Swansea in 1988 as a family business, and it still is one, run now by the second generation. For over 37 years, tall narrow sash and close-set houses have been everyday work for us, across the SouthCoast and the East Bay.
- Specialists who look at how fabric works across the whole room
- Each window measured in your home, and our own installers on the day
- We stay in contact until every piece is in place
- Warranties come with what we sell
The Order, Step by Step
- Ring through the call button or fill in the form with the rooms you are thinking about, and we book your free quote.
- We cover privacy first, then light, then how the rooms open into each other.
- At the showroom, you hold drapery cloths beside the pillow and bedding fabrics and picture the pattern at the height it will hang.
- Every tall window is measured at the house, top of frame to floor.
- The quote lists each item; once you say yes, the pieces are made from your chosen cloths and our team installs the window treatments.
The small details
A pillow looks made for its room when the fabric finishing is right: the edge, the placement of a motif, the direction of a stripe compared with the stripe on the long panels. We settle each one with you before cutting.
On upholstery
Our upholstery is limited and always linked to the fabric at the windows. Rather than name particular furniture, we would rather hear about yours. Describe it, or bring a picture in, and you will get a candid answer.
A cover for the wash
Duvet covers are laundered constantly. If the bedroom curtain fabric is delicate, a hardier cloth in its colour goes on the bed, and the curtain fabric appears on shams or a single accent pillow.
Looking after fabric in a close-set house
Even behind a sheer, pillows fade a little over time, so turn them now and then. In darker rooms, dust is the bigger enemy of a pale cloth; a soft brush keeps it bright. Clean covers as the cloth allows, and call us before tackling a stain.
See the cloth before you choose
A small swatch on a screen tells you little about how a print looks on a tall panel. In the Swansea showroom you can unfold a cloth, step back to judge the scale of its pattern, and hold a pillow fabric right against it. Bring a photo of the room or a cushion you plan to keep.
Windows and decor in one plan
The long panels themselves are covered on custom drapes in Pawtucket, and shades for narrow frames on Roman shades for Pawtucket homes. Our Pawtucket window treatments page lists everything we do in the city, and the main custom fabric decor page shows our fabric work as a whole.
Questions from Pawtucket
My windows are tall and narrow. Which patterns suit them?
Stripes and trailing, upright patterns look natural on a long, slim panel. Big motifs usually look better on the pillows, where the whole motif fits.
How do I keep a close-set house private without making it dark?
A sheer or light-filtering shade at the glass for the day, with long panels for the evening. Pale pillows and bedding then keep the rooms bright.
My three-decker has very plain trim. Can fabric make up for it?
Yes. In a plain room, the curtains, pillows and bedding carry the character, so a good print and a clear colour thread make a big difference.
Is upholstery something you do?
In a limited way, always chosen around the window fabric. Tell us about the piece and we will say whether it is one for us.
Do I pay for a quote?
No. Quotes are free; ask through the call button or the form.
Take the First Step
Press the call button to book a free quote for custom fabric decor in Pawtucket, RI, set up measuring in your home or ask about installation. You can also send the form and we will reply. The contact page has directions if you want to see the fabrics for yourself first. Window Works is rated 5.0 on Google.