Norman Blinds and Shades in Taunton, MA

Getting the Proportions Right on a Tall Window

A tall, narrow window under a high ceiling is one of the most handsome things in an older house, and one of the easiest to get wrong. Three things decide whether a treatment looks right on it.

Width. A treatment that overshoots the frame on each side makes a slim window look squat. A treatment fitted inside the frame, or just to the edge of the casing, keeps the window’s tall, narrow shape.

Height. The top of the treatment should sit at the top of the frame or just above it. A headrail mounted well below the top of the window cuts off its height. One mounted far above it, without drapery to justify it, can look odd.

Stack. When raised, every treatment gathers somewhere, usually at the top. On a tall window, a deep stack is less of a problem than on a short one, because it takes a smaller share of the glass. Even so, a shade that rolls or folds compactly leaves more of the window clear.

Choosing Norman blinds in Taunton, MA for a downtown Victorian usually means fitting inside the frame where the depth allows, with a slat or louvre size that suits a slim window. A narrower blind slat or a smaller shutter louvre looks more in keeping on a tall, thin opening than a broad one.

Reaching the top

A window that runs close to a high ceiling can be hard to reach. That affects which operation you choose. A blind with a wand or cord on the side you stand on is easy to work from the floor. A shade with a continuous loop or a lift that does not need you to reach the top rail is another option. For the very tallest windows, remote or wall-switch operation is worth asking about, and the showroom can show you how that works.

Shutters in two tiers

A Norman shutter on a tall window can be made in two tiers: a lower set of panels and an upper set, each opening on its own. That gives you a choice no single treatment can match. Close the lower tier for privacy from the street, open the upper tier for daylight, and the high-ceilinged room stays bright without being on show. In a front parlour near the Green, that arrangement is hard to beat.

How light travels in a tall room

A tall window throws daylight much further into a room than a short one, which is part of the charm of the downtown houses. It also means the sun can reach right across the floor to the far wall on a bright afternoon. Slats tilted upward catch that light and bounce it off the high ceiling, so the whole room glows without direct sun landing on the sofa or the dining table. For many owners, that one effect is the reason to choose Norman blinds in Taunton, MA for the main rooms of a Victorian, and keep shades for the bedrooms.

Dark bedrooms with tall windows

A tall bedroom window lets in a lot of early light, and with more edge around it there is more room for light to creep round the sides. For a properly dark room, a room-darkening Norman shade fitted inside the frame, close to the glass, keeps the gaps small. A blind always lets a little light through between its slats, so in a bedroom where sleep matters, the shade is usually the better choice. Some owners pair the shade with drapes for an even darker room.

The Triple-Deckers and Victorians Near the Green

The housing near the Green is dense and mostly older, with triple-deckers and Victorians close together and close to the street. Ground-floor rooms are on view to anyone passing, and side windows often face the neighbouring house a short way off.

Privacy comes first on the lower floors. A blind tilted upward lets light in toward the high ceiling while blocking the line of sight from the pavement. A two-tier shutter does the same with the lower panels closed. On the side windows that face the next house, a light-filtering shade keeps the room bright and private at once.

Upper floors in a triple-decker get more light and are less overlooked. Here a shade or a blind that opens fully lets the light in, with a darker fabric in the bedrooms. Because each floor of a triple-decker is often a separate home, the front of the house can end up with three different treatments. Where one owner is choosing for the street side, keeping one colour across all three floors makes the house look cared for.

Weir Village

Weir Village has much of the same older housing, with tall windows and rooms built for high ceilings. Some houses here have been divided or renovated over the years, and the windows can vary from room to room as a result: an original tall sash beside a replacement window of a different size. Our specialist measures each one on its own and suggests a product that looks right on both, in one finish.

Where a house has been divided into separate flats, each one may want something different, and that is fine inside. On the street side, though, a single colour across the front windows keeps the house looking cared for, and it is worth agreeing that with the other households if you can. Weir Village’s older houses also tend to have generous casings, and keeping those on view with an inside fit is usually the first thing we suggest.

East Taunton Ranches

Across East Taunton, the ranches built in the years after the war have a different feel altogether. The ceilings are lower, the windows are wider and shorter, and everything sits on one floor. Here the tall-window rules turn around: a treatment that stacks compactly matters more, because the windows are shorter, and width becomes the main challenge on the living room window.

A ranch living room often has a broad front window. A single wide Norman shade gives a clean line across it, or two or three treatments side by side make each section lighter to lift. Down the bedroom hall, the windows are usually standard sizes, and matching blinds keep the house looking even from the road. Over the kitchen sink, faux wood slats handle steam.

Ranch windows sit at ground level, close to the yard, so evening privacy matters in every room. A blind with slats tilted upward or a top-down shade keeps the lower part of the window covered while letting light in above.

Norman Blinds in Taunton, MA for the Bay Street Colonials

The newer colonials off Bay Street are larger, with more glass. A typical one has a symmetrical front, an open kitchen and family room at the back, a slider or French doors to a deck, and sometimes a two-storey entry or family room with a tall window high in the wall.

The front windows read as a set, so most owners pick one product and colour for all of them. Behind the front, rooms can vary while keeping that colour. Choosing Norman blinds in Taunton, MA for a colonial often means blinds in the study and bedrooms, shades in the family room and perhaps shutters in the dining room, all in one finish.

The family room is usually the biggest decision. A run of windows across the back wall can take a row of matching shades or blinds, each made to its own window. The slider needs something that draws to the side, such as a vertical blind or panel track. A tall window high in a two-storey room may be best with remote or wall-switch operation if you want to cover it at all; some owners leave it bare and treat the glass below.

Questions Worth Asking at the Showroom

The Norman range is on display at our Swansea showroom, and a visit is the best way to see which products suit a tall window, a ranch window or a colonial family room. A few questions help you get the most from it.

• How much of the window will the stack cover? Raise a blind and a shade fully and compare.
• Which slat or louvre size suits my window? Bring a photo and the rough width and height.
• How do I reach the controls? Try the operations on offer, and ask about remote or wall-switch options for high windows.
• Will this finish suit my woodwork? Bring a photo of the trim in daylight.
• Can I combine this with drapes? Ask to see how a fitted blind or shade looks with drapery above and to the sides.

Our specialists can answer all of these, and you do not need to decide on the day.

How We Handle a Taunton Order

From your first call to the fitting, we keep in contact the whole way through.

1. Book a free quote by phone or form, and tell us whether the house has high ceilings or tall windows.
2. Visit the Swansea showroom to try the range, if that suits you.
3. A specialist measures each window in your home, checking frame depth, squareness and the full height to the ceiling where it matters.
4. You decide on product, slat or fabric, colour and operation, window by window.
5. We send an itemised quote.
6. The order is made, and our installers hang it, check every piece and show you how it works.

Colour on a tall window

On a tall window, the treatment covers a large area of wall when lowered, so its colour has more effect on the room than it would on a small window. A white or soft neutral keeps a high-ceilinged room light and lets the woodwork stand out. A stained finish can make the room feel warmer and more traditional, especially beside dark original trim. If the room has painted trim and a strong wall colour, a finish that matches the trim usually looks most natural. Bring a photo of the room in daylight to the showroom and look at the finishes beside it.

Drapes above a fitted blind

High ceilings are made for drapery. A Norman blind or shade fitted inside a tall window, with floor-length drapes hung from a rod set high above the frame, makes the room feel even taller and adds colour and softness. Window Works makes custom drapes, so both can be planned and measured on one visit. In a Victorian parlour or a downtown dining room, this combination suits the scale of the room better than almost anything else.

Kitchens, baths and back rooms

Older downtown kitchens and bathrooms often have one tall window, sometimes set high in the wall above a counter or a tub. A faux wood slat or a moisture-friendly shade suits these rooms, and the same tall-window rules apply: fit inside the frame where you can, and choose an operation you can reach without leaning over the sink. In the ranches and colonials, the kitchen window is usually lower and wider, and a single faux wood blind is the simplest answer.

Heating a high-ceilinged room

Tall rooms with tall single-glazed windows can be hard to keep warm. Warm air rises to the ceiling, and cold comes in through the glass. A fabric shade lowered at dusk, fitted close to the glass, adds a layer between the room and the cold. If heat is the main concern, compare cellular shades too; they are on show beside the Norman range.

More for Taunton homes

Everything else we offer in the city, from cellular shades to vertical blinds, is on our Taunton window treatments page. For more about the range itself, see the main Norman blinds page.

Your Free Quote

Press the call button to reach the Swansea store and ask for a free quote, then book a time for us to measure at the house or talk through installation. Writing is fine too: the form comes straight to us. If you would like to stand in front of the Norman range first, the showroom is open for that, and you will find the way on the contact page. Window Works is rated 5.0 on Google.