Stratford and Cornwall are the two communities that have grown up around Charlottetown, and a lot of the work we do in them is one job: a house that has just been built, or is about to be. Wide modern windows, open-plan rooms, young families — and window coverings that are usually the last thing on the list and the first thing visitors notice. We measure, supply and install blinds and shades in both towns, for homeowners and for the builders working in them.
Why these two together
They are separate towns — Stratford across the Hillsborough River, Cornwall out along the North River — but the housing conversation is much the same in both, and it splits in two. There is the newer stock: subdivisions of family homes with large windows and shallow recesses. And there are the older streets, where houses have been extended, renovated and re-windowed over the years, and where nothing is quite standard any more.
New builds: the decisions worth making before the walls close
- Motorisation, raised early — if any window is high, over a stairwell or behind furniture you cannot easily reach past, the options are wider before the walls are closed than after. Worth thinking about at the same stage as the light fittings.
- Clearance — enough recess at the top for a headrail, and enough clearance over the handle on tilt-and-turn or awning windows so the window still opens freely.
- Cordless where children are — in a family home, cordless or motorised operation removes the cord question from the room entirely, which is simpler than managing it.
- One specification across the house — the same fabric on the same window types, ordered together so the batch matches. In a new build this is easy; two years later it is a matching exercise.
- Decided while you are still choosing, not living in it — window coverings are much easier to choose in a quiet, empty house than around furniture and a family routine.
Wide windows and open-plan living
The great-room window is the single most common thing we are asked about in these two towns, and it is usually between two and a half and four metres wide. One shade at that width is a lot of fabric on one mechanism; two or three shades on a shared headrail controls the light better, puts less load on any single component, and looks intentionally made for the window rather than stretched across it. Our large and wide windows page goes through the options properly.
Family homes and cord safety
A lot of the houses here have young children in them, and hanging cords are the one part of a window covering that is genuinely a safety question rather than a preference. Cordless and motorised systems remove it. If you want the detail rather than the reassurance, our page on cordless, chain and motorised operation sets out how each mechanism actually works.
Older homes and renovations in both towns
Not every house here is new. On the older streets and in the renovated farmhouses on the edges of both communities, the windows have usually been changed at some point — some original with storms, some replaced, some added in an extension. That mixture is fine; it just means the coverings want choosing window by window rather than as one catalogue decision. Where coverings already exist and you are adding to them, tell us — matching something still in production is usually straightforward, and where it is not, we will say so rather than guess.
If you’re building or renovating
We work directly with builders, contractors and designers on housing in Stratford, Cornwall and the rest of the island — measured per unit rather than estimated from a plan, scheduled after flooring and paint rather than around them, and installed in one block where it makes sense. Our builders and contractors page covers how that works in practice.
Questions we’re asked most often
Can you install before we move in?
Usually, yes — and it is a better way to do it than living around the job. The further ahead you talk to us the more room there is in the schedule, so raise it while the house is still being finished rather than the week you get the keys.
Do you quote a whole house at once?
Yes, and most people in a new house do. We measure every window in one visit, quote it as a single job, and confirm which windows want a different fabric or mechanism rather than assuming they are all the same.
Our living room window is enormous. What actually goes on it?
Depends on the width, the drop, how much of the view you want to keep and how you want to operate it. For most great-room windows it ends up being two or three shades on one headrail — sometimes split so one side can be dropped while the other stays up. Bring us the window and we will tell you what we would fit and why.
Are cordless blinds suitable for every window?
Cordless covers the great majority of ordinary windows well. On a very wide or very heavy blind the mechanism is doing more work, and there are cases where a different approach suits the window better — we will tell you if yours is one of them rather than fit it and find out.
Do you cover both towns in one visit?
Yes. Stratford and Cornwall are both inside our normal working area, and we will look at everything you want covered in a single appointment.
Next step
Call +1 902-314-0877, email [email protected], or book a consultation in Stratford or Cornwall — and if you are building, send us the stage the house is at.
Also serving Charlottetown, Summerside and communities across Prince Edward Island.