Cellular Shades for Homes in Raynham, MA

The Sliding Door Every House Seems to Have

Ask about the hardest window in a Raynham house and the answer is nearly always the same: the sliding patio door. The ranches and split-levels off Route 44 and South Main Street almost all have one, usually off the kitchen or the family room, and it is a big sheet of glass that loses heat all winter and lets the low sun in all summer. Any plan for cellular shades in Raynham, MA has to start by deciding what to do with it.

We will be straight with you. A honeycomb shade is the warmest shade we sell, and it is ideal for the windows around that door, but on a slider that is opened many times a day it can be awkward to keep raising and lowering. So we look at how the door is used, then suggest the treatment that suits it, and match the windows around it so the room still looks like one plan. On every window, the shade does the same simple job: its cells trap still air against the glass, and that layer of air keeps the room’s warmth in.

• Single and double cell honeycomb shades for every window
• An honest answer for the slider, measured on the same visit
• Fabrics and colours to compare in Swansea

Shades for the Windows and the Door

Single cell

A lone layer of honeycomb with a neat headrail. Enough for bedrooms, kitchens and living spaces that are not unusually chilly.

Double cell

A double layer of honeycomb, twice the trapped air, for the half-buried den of a split or the bonus room on top of the garage.

For the slider itself

For a door in constant use, verticals tend to be the practical pick, coloured to suit the shades.

Vertical blinds in Raynham

Solving the Patio Door

A sliding door has three things working against a window treatment. It is wide, so anything covering it is large. It is used constantly in warm weather, so whatever covers it has to get out of the way quickly. And it has a handle and a lock on one side, so a treatment has to clear them.

There are a few good answers, depending on how you use the door.

If the door is used all day. Most families in summer go in and out of the slider constantly. Here, a vertical blind or a panel track is usually the better choice. It draws to one side like a curtain, so you can walk through without raising anything, and the vanes turn to angle the light. We choose its colour to sit comfortably beside the cellular shades on the windows around it.

If the door is used mainly in summer. Some sliders, especially off a formal dining room or a family room facing a rarely used yard, are barely opened from October to April. A honeycomb shade mounted above the door frame, wide enough to clear the glass on both sides and high enough to clear the handle, can work well here. In winter, lowered at dusk, it holds a layer of air across the whole door, which is the largest area of glass in the room.

If you want both. A cellular shade on the windows and lined drapes on a rod across the slider is a warm, practical combination. The drapes slide aside to use the door and close across it at night, adding a layer of fabric over the glass.

We look at the door, the handle, the swing of anything nearby and how you use the room, then suggest the option that fits. If there is a dog door, a security bar or a screen panel on the track, tell us at the visit, because each one changes what will sit neatly over the glass and what will catch every time the door slides.

The windows beside the slider

Most patio doors sit in a wall with a window or two nearby: a kitchen window over the sink, a window on the other side of the family room. These are where the honeycomb shades go. Matched in colour to whatever covers the door, they make the room look planned rather than pieced together. Lowered at night along with the door treatment, they close off the whole back wall of the house.

Summer sun through the patio door

When the slider faces west or south, the problem in July is the opposite of January. Afternoon sun pours through the glass, the kitchen or family room heats up, and the floor in front of the door fades. Whatever covers the door, drawing it across through the hottest hours makes a real difference, and light-filtering honeycomb shades on the neighbouring windows, lowered at the same time, keep the whole back of the house cooler. A vertical blind’s vanes can also be turned to block the direct sun while still letting some light through, which keeps the room from feeling shut up.

The kitchen window over the sink

In most ranches and splits, the slider shares the back wall with a kitchen window over the sink. A cordless single cell shade suits it: easy to reach across the counter, light-filtering so the kitchen stays bright, and a small stack so the window is clear when raised.

Ranches off Route 44

The ranches strung along Route 44 and its side streets tend to share a layout. Up front sits the living room with its broad window; a corridor leads past the bedrooms; at the rear, the kitchen or family room opens through the slider onto a deck or patio.

After the patio door, that front window is the largest stretch of glazing a ranch has. Covering it with a single honeycomb, or with a set that follows the mullions, holds the living room’s heat after dark and takes the edge off the afternoon sun. Splitting it into sections means daylight can come in through one part while the rest stays covered.

Bedrooms get shades to match, which keeps the façade uniform. A corner bedroom with two outside walls is a candidate for double cell, and if it faces east or the traffic, a dimming fabric helps people sleep.

Houses near the road

Homes close to Route 44 and South Main Street see more traffic and headlights than those tucked back on side streets. For rooms facing the road, a top-down, bottom-up lift lets you lower the top of the shade for daylight while the bottom stays closed for privacy. In bedrooms, a room-darkening fabric keeps out passing headlights at night.

Split-Levels off South Main Street

Split-levels stagger their rooms over half storeys. Living space and bedrooms sit up top; down a short flight is a den or family room dug partway into the ground; and there may be a bonus room perched on the garage. Quite often the slider lives downstairs, leading from that den to the yard.

Being half underground, that den rarely feels warm, even in May. Its little windows sit up near the ceiling, and the patio door dwarfs them. Double cell on those little windows adds a thicker cushion of air against the cold, and because the folded fabric is so compact, the windows still let in what light they can. The door gets whichever treatment matches how much traffic it sees.

Upstairs, the front window is broad, like a ranch’s. A single cell, light-filtering shade lets daytime light in and screens the room from the road at night.

The room over the garage

Bonus rooms built on top of a garage sit over an unheated space, so the floor is cold before the windows even come into it. We nearly always recommend double cell here, with a dimming fabric where someone sleeps. Owners tend to notice the difference within days.

Newer Colonials near Johnson’s Pond and Raynham Center

The newer colonials near Johnson’s Pond and around Raynham Center are larger, with more glass and often more than one set of doors to the outside: a slider off the kitchen, French doors from a family room, sometimes a glass door in a sunroom. They are built more tightly than the ranches and splits, so draughts are rarely the problem. The amount of glass is.

In these houses, cellular shades in Raynham, MA are usually planned around the sun. South and west windows get light-filtering fabrics that soften the glare and slow the summer heat. North-facing rooms and bedrooms over the garage get double cell. The front windows share one colour on the street side so the house looks even from the road. For a two-storey family room or entry with tall windows, motorised shades raise and lower from a remote or wall switch.

French doors

French doors that swing open need a different approach from a slider. A honeycomb shade can be fitted to each door panel, with hold-down brackets at the bottom so it stays flat when the door moves. Lowered, each shade covers its own panel of glass; raised, it stacks small enough to leave the glass almost clear. On doors used mainly in summer, side drapes hung clear of the swing are another warm option.

Sunrooms and garden rooms

Some of the newer colonials have a sunroom with windows on most sides and a glass door to the yard. These rooms are bright and pleasant much of the year but swing from chilly to hot. Matching honeycomb shades on every window give the room a layer of air at the glass in winter and soften the sun in summer, and motorised operation lets you lower them all at once when the sun moves round. The door can take a shade of its own if it is rarely opened, or side drapes if it is.

Houses facing the pond

Homes looking over Johnson’s Pond usually put their biggest windows toward the water, and the afternoon brightness bouncing off it can be harsh. Let a light-filtering honeycomb down for those hours and the glare turns to a soft wash of light; pull it up and it tucks away under the head of the frame, giving the view back. In winter, the same shades lowered at night hold the warmth in against the largest glass in the house.

Choosing Cellular Shades in Raynham, MA

Five questions settle almost every order.

1. How cold is the room? Chilly rooms, such as a split’s den or a bonus room, get double cell; comfortable ones get single.
2. Do you want daylight or darkness? Light-filtering cloth for living areas, dimming cloth where people sleep or watch television.
3. What covers the slider? Whatever it is, the window shades in that room take a matching colour so the rear wall looks deliberate.
4. How will you lift it? Cordless keeps things tidy, top-down, bottom-up suits rooms on the road, and motorised suits tall glass.
5. Will it fit inside the frame? Where the casing is deep enough, yes; otherwise it mounts on the trim, which also covers the edges better.

Doing the house in stages

When planning cellular shades in Raynham, MA over time, many owners begin at the back of the house, with the slider and its windows, plus the bonus room on the garage. The front windows and bedrooms can follow later and still match, because we keep a note of every fabric and colour you choose.

Bedrooms for sleeping in

For bedrooms, room-darkening fabric is the usual choice. A Raynham bedroom on the east side catches the sunrise early in June, and a dark fabric fitted closely to the frame keeps the room dim until you want it light. The same cells that keep the light out also keep the room warmer in winter. For a child’s room, a cordless lift adds one more benefit: there are no loose cords hanging at the window.

How an Order Works

You will not be left wondering where things stand; we keep in touch until the last shade and the door covering are in. The route for cellular shades in Raynham, MA is short.

1. Use the call button or the form, tell us about the rooms and the slider, and we arrange your free quote.
2. A specialist measures every window and the patio door, checking frame depth, the handle and lock on the slider, and how much room there is above the door.
3. Shades and door covering are picked together, from samples brought to you or seen at the Swansea showroom.
4. A written quote itemises the windows and the door.
5. Everything is made to the measurements taken in your home.
6. Our installers fit the shades and the door treatment, check each one and show you how they work.

Care

Dust gathers in the pleats rather than on top, so go over them with a feather duster or the upholstery brush of your vacuum from time to time. Spots lift with a lightly dampened cloth. The kitchen shade near the cooker may want attention more often. Faulty older shade? Phone us and we will say whether fixing it is worthwhile.

Family Owned, Second Generation

A Swansea family founded Window Works in 1988, and their second generation now runs the store. In more than 37 years we have fitted treatments in 25 towns between the Massachusetts SouthCoast and Rhode Island’s East Bay, including plenty of ranches and splits with a slider just like yours.

• Seasoned specialists measure each window and door personally
• Installation by our own staff, who test everything
• You hear from us throughout, until the work is finished
• Warranties available on what we supply
• A showroom where you can compare shades and vertical blinds side by side, with the Norman range on display

Visit the showroom

Every service we offer in town is on the Raynham window treatments page, and the main cellular shades page explains the honeycomb in more depth.

Start with a Free Quote

Ring the Swansea store with the call button and ask for a free quote, a measuring appointment at the house or details on installation. You can also send the form. Prefer to compare honeycomb shades and verticals in person first? Directions to the showroom are on the contact page. Window Works is rated 5.0 on Google.