Rooms Lit from Two Sides
Most houses in Berkley sit on generous lots, with open ground on every side, and that is the starting point for window treatments in Berkley, MA. A living room in a cape off Padelford Street or a ranch near Myricks Street usually takes daylight through two walls, not one. Morning sun comes through the east windows, the afternoon arrives on the other side, and a single treatment has to cope with both ends of the day.
That changes the job. A shade that suits the sunny wall can leave the shaded wall feeling dim, and a blind chosen for privacy at the front can be more than the back of the house needs, where the nearest neighbour is a long way off across the yard. The newer colonials have larger rooms and more glass, and the houses near the Assonet Bay waterfront add wide water views and strong reflected light.
- Each wall looked at on its own before anything is chosen
- Measured in your home and installed by our team
- Samples to compare at the Swansea showroom
What We Make for Berkley Houses
Cellular shades
Honeycomb cells trap a layer of air by the window. Well suited to for the north side of a corner room, where the window feels cold through the winter.
Wood and faux wood blinds
Slats you can tilt through the day as the sun moves from one wall to the other, in wood, faux wood or aluminium.
Roller and solar screen shades
Screens that cut the glare on a bright west wall and keep the yard in sight beyond them.
Plantation shutters
Interior shutters fitted to each frame, with louvres that angle the light in a bedroom with windows on two walls.
Drapes and curtains
Our specialty. Lined panels that soften a big colonial living room and close across the glass on a winter evening.
Roman shades
Fabric folds in flat, hobbled or relaxed styles, a gentle choice for a cape’s dining room or bedroom.
Woven wood shades
Natural weaves that filter the light and bring texture to a family room that looks out over open ground.
Vertical blinds
Vanes on a track for the sliders that open many ranches and colonials onto a back deck.
Motorized blinds and shades
Remote or wall switch operation for tall windows and long runs of glass that are hard to reach.
Norman window fashions
Blinds, shades and shutters from Norman, a range on display in our Swansea showroom for you to handle.
Custom fabric decor
Pillows, duvet covers and some upholstery, made to tie in with the fabric at the window.
Planning Window Treatments in Berkley, MA Around Two Walls of Light
When a room has windows on two walls, it helps to think of each wall as its own small job. The question is not only how much light the room gets, but when and from which side. Choosing window treatments in Berkley, MA works best when you know which wall faces the morning, which takes the long afternoon sun and which looks onto the road.
We usually start by standing in the room with you at the time of day it bothers you most. A family room that is pleasant at breakfast can be hard to sit in by late afternoon, when the low sun comes straight across the floor and onto the television. A bedroom that is fine at night can be bright far too early. Those are the moments a treatment is really for.
Matching the look, splitting the job
The two walls of a corner room are seen together, so most households want them to look like one choice. That does not mean they have to be the same product. A cellular shade on the sunny wall and a matching cellular shade in a lighter fabric on the shaded wall look the same from across the room, yet one blocks more light than the other. Blinds in the same colour and slat on both walls can be tilted differently at different times of day, so one wall is half closed while the other stays open.
Another common answer is a layered one. A light filtering shade on every window keeps the room even, and side drapes on the brightest wall add the extra control when the sun is at its strongest. Drapes are the store’s genuine specialty, and they give a room a softer finish than a shade alone.
Capes off Padelford Street
The capes in town tend to have a compact ground floor with windows close together, and dormers upstairs set into the roof. Downstairs, the front windows usually face the road and need privacy, while the side and back windows look onto open yard and can stay lighter. A blind or a Roman shade at the front, with a lighter shade on the sides, keeps the street view private without darkening the whole room.
Upstairs, the dormers are often the only window in a small bedroom. A treatment with a compact headrail that stacks tightly when raised keeps as much of that glass clear as possible. Cellular shades suit these rooms well, because the cells help hold the room’s warmth under a roof that can feel the cold.
Ranches near Myricks Street
A ranch puts everything on one floor, and most of its rooms run along the long sides of the house. That gives living rooms and kitchens a wide front window and a back window or slider, with light from front and back rather than from two sides of a corner. The front window is usually the widest in the house and the most exposed to the road.
For a wide ranch window we look at whether one treatment or two side by side will work best, depending on how the window is divided and how heavy a single shade would be to lift. The slider at the back is a separate decision, often a vertical blind or a panel track that draws clear when the door is in use.
Newer colonials and their larger rooms
The newer colonials bring bigger rooms, taller windows and more of them, sometimes with a two-storey entry or family room. Light from two sides is even more pronounced here, because a corner family room may have four or five windows across two walls. These are the houses where a whole room of shades is worth planning together, so the fabrics, lift systems and stacking heights line up.
Tall windows that are hard to reach are where motorized shades earn their place. A remote or a wall switch raises and lowers a whole run of shades at once, which makes it easy to close the sunny side in the afternoon and open it again in the evening without walking from window to window.
Ready to Get Started? Book Your Free Quote
Call the Swansea store for a free quote, or come and see the samples in person.
How We Measure and Install in Berkley
Every treatment we make starts with the windows themselves. This is how an order usually runs from the first call to the finished room.
- You ring the store or fill in the form, list the rooms that trouble you most and set up a free quote.
- A specialist comes to your home to measure. Each window is measured where it is, and we note the depth of the frame, any crank handles, and which way each wall faces.
- You choose fabrics, slats or louvres, colours and controls, with samples at home or in the showroom.
- Your quote lists each window, so you can see exactly what is being made for every room.
- The treatments are made to the measurements taken in your home.
- Our team installs them, checks that each one raises, lowers or tilts properly and shows you how they work.
- You hear from us at each stage, and a later question goes straight back to the same small team in Swansea.
Why measuring every window matters
Even in a newer house, two windows that look the same can differ slightly, and an older cape can have frames that are not quite square. A treatment made to the nearest stock size leaves light at the edges and can bind as it raises. Measuring each opening means the shade or blind fits the frame it was made for, closes fully and runs smoothly.
It also lets us check for an inside mount, where the treatment sits within the frame and the trim stays on show. That needs enough depth in the frame, and the depth can change from one room to the next.
Treatments for Rooms with Open Views
When we plan window treatments in Berkley, MA for the back of a house, the view usually matters more than privacy. With large lots and few close neighbours, many Berkley rooms look out over lawn, fields or trees rather than another house. That means privacy is often only needed on the road side, and the back of the house can be left as open as you like. It also means the view is part of the room, and a treatment that blocks it all day feels like a loss.
Roller shades with a solar screen fabric are made for this. The weave cuts glare and heat while leaving the view visible through it, and the openness of the fabric decides how much you see. A more open weave keeps the yard clear; a tighter one gives more shade. Woven wood shades do a similar job with a warmer, natural texture, and a liner can be added behind the weave where a bedroom needs more privacy.
Near the Assonet Bay waterfront
The houses at the edge of town along Assonet Bay add water to the picture. Light reflects off the bay as well as coming straight from the sky, so a water-facing room can be bright well into the evening. These rooms often have the widest glass in the house, put in to frame the view.
Here the aim is usually to soften the glare without losing the bay. Solar screens, sheer shades and light filtering cellular shades all keep the water in sight while taking the edge off the brightness. For evenings, drapes on a track can close across the whole wall, and a room darkening liner keeps a bedroom properly dark early in the morning.
Sliding doors to the deck
Many ranches and colonials have a slider from the kitchen or family room out to a deck or patio, and it is often the largest single piece of glass in the house. Vertical blinds draw to one side and turn to angle the light, so you can leave them partly open by day and close them at night. Panel tracks, with wide fabric panels sliding on a track, give a softer, more modern look for the same opening. Either way, the treatment is measured across the full width of the door and set to clear the handle.
Choosing Fabric, Slats and Louvres
Once you know what each wall needs, the choice comes down to how you want the room to look and feel. Here is how the main options compare in a Berkley house.
Blinds give the most direct control, because the slats tilt. Wood suits living and dining rooms, faux wood handles kitchens and bathrooms, and aluminium keeps small windows simple. You can read more on our main custom blinds page.
Cellular shades are the choice for warmth and soft light. The cells trap air against the glass, which is why the room holds heat, and they come in light filtering and room darkening fabrics. More on the cellular shades page.
Plantation shutters are fitted to the frame and stay in place for years. The louvre size and the frame style are the two big decisions, and a wider louvre gives a more open view when tilted.
Drapes and curtains are where colour and texture come in. Lined drapes add warmth and darkness, sheers keep a room bright, and the two can hang together on a double rod. See the custom drapes page for the fabrics and headings we make.
Roman shades fold up in soft layers and suit bedrooms, dining rooms and kitchens where you want fabric without full drapes.
If you are planning more than one room, our window treatments page shows the whole range in one place.
What Sets Window Works Apart
Since 1988 Window Works has been run by one family from its Swansea store, and the second generation runs it today. That is over 37 years of fitting window treatments in Berkley, MA and right across the SouthCoast and East Bay, with Berkley a short drive up the river.
- Specialists who know window treatments, start to finish
- We measure in the house, then our own team fits the order
- Each wall planned on its own terms, never a one size answer
- Regular updates from us right through to the last window
- Warranties offered on what we sell
- Rated 5.0 by Google reviewers
Bringing the Fabric Indoors
A window treatment does not have to stop at the window. We also make custom fabric decor: pillows, duvet covers and some upholstery. Choosing the fabric for a bedroom’s drapes and its duvet cover at the same time gives the room a finished look that is hard to get from separate purchases, and a pillow in the drapery fabric ties a sofa to the window behind it.
In a colonial with a formal living room and a casual family room, this is a simple way to give each room its own character while keeping the house consistent. Bring a swatch or a photo of the room to the showroom and we can help you match it.
See It in Swansea First
The Swansea showroom is the easiest place to compare everything side by side before you decide what suits your Berkley house. You can feel the weight of a drapery fabric, see how a cellular shade glows with light behind it and try the controls on a blind or a motorized shade. The Norman range is on display as well.
A wall colour sample, a snapshot of the room and a rough idea of which side gets the afternoon sun are all useful to bring along.
Questions from Berkley
My living room has windows on two walls. Do they need the same treatment?
They usually look best matching, but they do not have to do the same job. We often suggest the same product in two fabrics, or a shade on every window with drapes on the sunniest wall only.
Do you come out to Berkley to measure?
We do. A specialist visits to take the sizes at each window, and the finished order comes back with our installers on a second visit.
What keeps the view but cuts the glare near Assonet Bay?
Solar screen roller shades, sheer shades and light filtering cellular shades all soften the brightness while leaving the water in sight. Drapes can close across the glass in the evening.
Can tall windows in a newer colonial be raised without a ladder?
Yes. Motorized blinds and shades run from a remote or a wall switch, and one control can raise or lower a whole run of windows together.
How do I get a quote?
Ask through the call button or the form. The quote costs nothing, and once we know the rooms we will set a day to come and measure.
Book Your Free Quote
Start with a free quote. Press the call button and speak to someone at the Swansea store about measuring at the house, fitting or anything in this page, or fill in the form so we can call you back. Prefer to handle samples first? Directions to the showroom are on the contact page, and it is the quickest place to plan window treatments for Berkley rooms that take light from two sides.
Window Works serves 25 towns across the SouthCoast and the Rhode Island East Bay; you can see them all on our service areas page.