Custom Drapes and Curtains in Raynham, MA

The Patio Door Problem

Ask what window gives Raynham houses the most trouble 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, opening from the kitchen, dining area or family room onto a deck or patio. It is a big sheet of glass that needs to be covered at night, cleared completely by day, and walked through dozens of times a week. A packaged curtain rarely manages all three. Getting it right is one of the main reasons people order custom drapes in Raynham, MA.

Drapery is Window Works’ specialty, and we build every order from the fabric up. Choose the cloth, and we work out the lining, the heading, the hardware and the length around how that cloth moves and hangs. The newer colonials near Johnson’s Pond and around Raynham Center bring their own set of windows to think about as well.

• Drapes sewn from the fabric you pick, for doors and windows alike
• Each opening measured at your house, including how the door moves
• Rods fitted and panels hung by our own team

Drapery for Raynham Rooms

Patio door panels

Long panels planned to clear the door completely when open and close right across it at night.

Sheer and solid together

A sheer for daytime privacy and a heavier drape for evening, hung together on one window.

Ring-top curtains

A heading with rings set into the fabric glides easily, ideal on an opening you draw every day.

Woven cloth in soft colours

Textured weaves that wear well in a busy family room and hide everyday creases.

Fabric for the bedroom

Duvet covers and pillows made in a fabric that ties to the bedroom curtains, through our fabric decor service.

Drapes with verticals

Vertical blinds on the door for daytime light control, with drapes alongside for softness and warmth.

Getting the Sliding Door Right

A patio door is the hardest-working opening in most Raynham ranches and splits, and drapes on it have to be planned around how it is used. These are the questions we work through on every one.

Which way does the fabric go?

A sliding door has a fixed half and a moving half. Drapes that part in the middle can leave a bunch of fabric hanging across the moving half when open, right where you walk. A single wide panel that draws to the side of the fixed glass usually works better, leaving the moving half completely clear. Where the door sits in the middle of a wall with space on both sides, a pair can work, as long as each side can be drawn fully past the frame.

How far past the frame?

The rod needs to run well beyond the opening on the stacking side, so that the open fabric sits against the wall instead of over the glass. On a wide door with a full drape, that stack can be considerable. We measure the wall space next to the door to make sure there is room for it, and plan around any light switch, cabinet or corner in the way.

How does it move?

On a door used all day, ease of movement matters more than almost anything. Rings or a smooth track let the drape glide with a light pull. On a very wide door or a heavy fabric, a traversing system with a wand or a cord means you are not grabbing the fabric itself, which keeps it cleaner and puts less strain on the heading.

How long?

A drape that drags on the floor at a patio door collects grit from the track and from feet coming in from the yard. A hem that stops just clear of the floor stays cleaner and slides more easily over the threshold. If you have a dog that uses the door, a little more clearance is sensible.

Comfort at the Patio Door

A large sheet of glass loses heat in winter and lets in heat in summer, and the patio door is often the coldest and the warmest spot in the room in turn. Drapes can make a real difference here.

In winter, a lined drape drawn across the door in the evening adds a layer between the glass and the room. A panel that reaches close to the floor, overlaps the wall at each side and is wide enough to cover the whole frame traps more still air than a skimpy one. In summer, drawing the drape across a door that faces the afternoon sun keeps the kitchen or family room cooler and protects the floor and the furniture from fading.

If the door gets direct sun for much of the day, a lining is the most useful single choice, because it shields the face fabric too. Paler colours show gradual fading less than strong ones. On a one-way draw, the same part of the panel always meets the sun first, so on a sunny slider it is worth picking a fabric that will age evenly rather than one that relies on a deep, saturated colour.

Everyday Wear at a Busy Door

A patio door in a family house sees a lot of traffic: children running in from the yard, a dog asking to go out, bags of groceries carried through to the grill. Drapes on that door take more handling than any other fabric in the house, so it is worth choosing with that in mind.

Mid-tone colours and fabrics with a little texture or a small pattern hide fingerprints and the odd smudge far better than a plain pale cloth. A tighter weave resists snagging from paws and toys. Panels that can be taken down easily for cleaning, on rings or hooks rather than sewn to the rod, make life simpler. And a heading that slides with a light touch means nobody is tempted to yank the fabric itself.

We plan custom drapes in Raynham, MA around how the room is actually used, so if the patio door is the family’s main way in and out, tell us. It changes the fabric and the hardware we suggest.

Ranches off South Main Street

The ranches along and around South Main Street keep everything on one floor, usually with the living room at the front, a kitchen and dining area with the patio door at the back, and bedrooms down a hall.

At the front, the living room window is often wide and not very tall. Drapes on a rod mounted close to the ceiling and running past the frame on both sides make that window look taller and let it clear completely in the daytime. Using the same fabric at the front window and the patio door ties the open living area together, even though the two openings need very different hardware.

In the bedrooms, drapes mainly provide privacy and darkness. A darker lining in rooms that face east keeps out early light, and panels that meet and overlap in the middle stop a stripe of light down the centre. Keeping the same fabric on all the windows facing the road makes the house look tidy from the street.

Split-Levels off Route 44

In a Route 44 split-level, the patio door is very often down in the family room on the lowest level, opening at yard height. That room tends to sit partly in the ground, so its daylight comes mainly from the slider itself and a strip of short windows near the ceiling. Every bit of glass counts.

So the drapes there are planned to vanish by day. We size the rod so the panel can stack beyond the slider’s frame, against solid wall, and pick a light-coloured cloth that does not make the corner gloomy when bunched. Unlined or lightly lined fabric keeps the room airy; in the evening, drawn across, it still gives the family room a closed-in, comfortable feel. The high windows can take short curtains or simply be left to a shade.

Up on the main level, the front window of a split is typically broad and fairly short. Carry the rod up toward the ceiling, extend it onto the wall each side, and full-length panels will change the shape of that window completely. The bedrooms half a flight up follow the ranch pattern: privacy at the front, darker linings toward the morning.

Custom drapes in Raynham, MA for a split-level are really three small projects in one house, and it helps to plan the levels together so the fabric choices relate.

Colonials near Johnson’s Pond and Raynham Center

The newer colonials near Johnson’s Pond and around Raynham Center bring larger rooms, taller ceilings and more windows. Many have French doors or a wide slider from the family room, and the houses near the pond often have rooms that face the water.

These rooms can carry fuller drapery. In a formal living or dining room at the front of a colonial, floor-length panels with a tailored heading, hung high, give the room presence. In the family room, a more relaxed fabric and a heading that glides easily suit everyday use. With French doors that swing into the room, the rod needs to sit high and wide enough that the doors open freely beneath and beside the drapes.

Rooms looking onto Johnson’s Pond pick up light off the water as well as from the sky. On that side of the house, a fine voile or sheer by day keeps the pond in sight and takes the sparkle off it; a lined drape, on its own rod in front, closes up for the evening. Lighter colours stand up better to that much light than dark ones.

Back Yards and Neighbours

In the subdivisions off Route 44 and South Main Street, back yards often face one another, and at night a lit kitchen with an uncovered patio door is on full display to the houses behind. By day the same door looks out on the yard and lets in most of the room’s light, so covering it fully all day is rarely what anyone wants.

A sheer on the patio door is a neat answer. It blurs the view from the neighbouring yards while the room stays bright, and you can still see the children playing outside. After dark, a lined drape drawn over the sheer closes the room off completely. Both can share a double rod, stacking together on the fixed side of the door when you want it fully open for a summer barbecue.

The same idea works on the kitchen window beside the door, where a short sheer curtain keeps the sink area private without losing the light.

Choosing the Fabric

The cloth comes first in every pair of custom drapes in Raynham, MA we make, because it decides how the drape hangs, how it moves and how it wears. For a patio door that is drawn every day, durability and ease of movement matter as much as looks.

• Medium-weight weaves wear well, move easily and hang neatly. A good choice for patio doors and family rooms.
• Linens and cottons have a relaxed, natural look that suits ranches and casual rooms.
• Heavier fabrics and velvets give warmth and richness, suiting formal rooms and bedrooms.
• Sheers soften light without blocking it, on their own or behind a heavier drape.
• Textured and patterned fabrics hide everyday marks and creases, which helps on a busy door.

The Swansea showroom has the fabric range to see and handle in daylight. Bring a photo of the room, and especially of the patio door and the wall around it.

The Order in Six Steps

Somebody from the store keeps you up to date the whole way.

1. Phone us or send the form, tell us which rooms and doors you are thinking about, and we book the free quote.
2. On a visit to the house, a specialist measures each window and door, checks which way each slider runs and notes the wall space it has to stack into.
3. You pick the cloth at the showroom, then the lining, heading, length and how the door panels will be drawn.
4. Our quote lists every opening separately.
5. Each panel of your custom drapes in Raynham, MA is sewn to the figures from your house.
6. Our installers put up the hardware and hang the drapes, then open and close the patio door with the fabric drawn back to make sure nothing catches.

A Second Layer for the Glass

Not every opening should rely on fabric alone. On a patio door, vertical blinds turn to steer the light through the day and stack neatly when you need to go out, and drapes either side make the door look finished; more on that is on the vertical blinds in Raynham page. On ordinary windows, a cellular shade under lined panels makes a warm, dark bedroom.

We supply the shades, blinds and shutters too, so the two layers are designed as one. For cushions and bedding that match the curtains, see custom fabric decor in Raynham.

Family Owned, Since 1988

Window Works started in Swansea in 1988 and has passed to the next generation of the family. For more than 37 years, drapes have been what the store does best.

• Window treatment specialists with years of hands-on experience
• A visit to your house to measure, and our own installers to fit
• Fabrics laid out to compare in the showroom
• Warranties on what we sell
• Contact with you right through to the finish

The custom drapes page tells you more about our drapery, and the Raynham window treatments page lists everything else for the town.

Visit the showroom

Talk to Us About Your Drapes

Start with a free quote. One tap on the call button reaches the store in Swansea, where the team can book a measuring visit or explain installation, and the form works just as well if you prefer. For a look at fabric beforehand, head for the showroom, which is mapped on the contact page. Window Works has a 5.0 Google rating.