Hello, and thank you for looking. You have found Debsan Design Center, a window treatment store serving Newton, MA, with our showroom a short drive west in downtown Natick. From Newton Centre to Waban, Auburndale to Chestnut Hill, we come to your house for a free in-home consultation, measure each window by hand and install the Hunter Douglas blinds, shades, shutters and drapery you pick. Wallpaper, fabrics, Benjamin Moore paint and flooring are part of the same store, so the walls and floors can be planned alongside the windows.
Newton’s housing gives that work plenty to do. Much of the city is Victorians and big colonials, built with bay windows, tall sashes and openings that rarely match a stock size.
Bay Windows and Tall Sashes in Newton’s Victorians and Colonials
Older Newton houses were built before standard window sizes took hold. A Victorian may have an angled bay in the front parlour, a pair of very tall sashes in the dining room and a narrow window lighting the stair. A large colonial has more regular rows, but its windows are often taller than a modern opening, and decades of paint and settling mean two windows that look alike can measure differently.
Measured one window at a time
Because the openings vary, we measure every window separately and order each treatment to its own size. A shade made for a standard width would leave gaps at the sides of an older sash, and gaps let in light and draughts.
Bays treated as a group
The angled sides of a bay need treatments that meet neatly at the corners. Depending on the depth of the frame, we may fit a shade inside each window, hang drapery across the whole bay, or combine the two.
Height that works for you
Tall sashes make a room bright, but the top of the window can be out of easy reach. A top-down, bottom-up shade lets you open the top for light while keeping the lower part private. On the highest windows, ask us about motorised options.
The Lines We Run for Newton Houses
Debsan carries several lines under one roof, and every one of them has its own Newton page. They fall naturally into two groups: what goes on the windows, and what goes on the walls and floors around them.
On the windows
Window treatments. Our main line is Hunter Douglas: blinds, shades and shutters in a wide range of fabrics, colours and ways of operating. For a Newton Victorian, the choice often turns on how much light the tall windows let in and how much of the original trim you want to see. Read more on our page for window treatments in Newton, or browse the full window treatments line.
Custom blinds. Blinds are the simplest way to manage sun on a south-facing bay: tilt the slats through the day and leave the blind down. Wood blinds sit comfortably against painted Victorian woodwork, and each one is ordered to the measured width of its window. See custom blinds for Newton and our custom blinds overview.
Custom drapery and fabrics. Drapery suits tall windows particularly well, because a full-length panel follows the height of the sash and lets a high ceiling show off its full height. Fabrics come from collections including Stout, Anna French, Kravet, Thibaut, Morris & Co, Schumacher and Sanderson. Read about custom drapery for Newton or see custom drapery and fabrics.
Blind and shade repair. An older house often has treatments that are still worth keeping but no longer work as they should. Frayed cords, and shades that drift down on their own, can sometimes be fixed instead of thrown away. See blind and shade repair for Newton or our blind and shade repair page.
On the walls and floors
Wallpaper. Victorian and colonial halls, stairways and dining rooms take wallpaper well, and a period pattern can suit the proportions of an older room. We carry papers from Phillip Jeffries, Schumacher, Thibaut, Sanderson, Anna French, Morris & Co, York and others. Read about wallpaper in Newton or see our wallpaper page.
Benjamin Moore paint. Older houses have a lot of trim: casings, baseboards, picture rails and the woodwork around bays. Choosing the trim colour and the wall colour together with the window treatments keeps a room calm. We stock Benjamin Moore and help with colour choices. See Benjamin Moore paint in Newton or the paint page.
Flooring and carpet. We carry hardwood, carpeting and luxury vinyl. In an older house, a stair runner or a carpeted bedroom upstairs can sit happily above original wood floors below. Read about flooring in Newton or see our flooring page.
Ready to Start Your Project?
Visit our showroom on Main Street in Natick, or book a free in-home consultation and we bring the samples to you.
Working in Every Newton Village
Newton is a city made of villages, each with its own centre and its own mix of streets: Waban, Auburndale, Newton Centre, Chestnut Hill, Newtonville, Newton Highlands, West Newton and the others. We work in all of them. The housing changes as you move around the city, so the conversation changes too.
Near the village centres you will find Victorians with porches, bays and decorative trim, along with larger colonials on the streets around them. Some houses have had additions over the years, so a modern family room may sit behind an original front parlour. That mix is common, and it is one reason a single product rarely suits every room. The new part of the house may take a clean roller shade, while the original rooms suit wood blinds and drapery.
Porches are another Newton feature worth a word. A deep front porch shades the windows behind it, so the rooms facing it are often darker than the rest of the house and need lighter, more open treatments. The rooms at the back or the sides, without a porch, may need the opposite. Looking at each room in its own light, rather than choosing one product for the whole house, is how we keep both comfortable.
We plan for that. During a consultation we look at where the original house meets the newer additions, and help you choose treatments that feel right in each without the house looking like two different places. Often the answer is a shared colour or fabric that runs through, with the style of treatment changing to suit the window.
Older Windows and How We Handle Them
Victorian and early colonial windows bring a few recurring questions. Here is how we usually approach them.
Inside or outside the frame
A treatment can sit inside the window opening, which shows off the trim, or be mounted on the wall or the casing above it, which covers more of the glass and can make a window look larger. The depth of an older frame, and whether its sash locks or handles stick out, decides what is possible. We check this at the measuring visit.
Windows that are not square
Houses move as they age. A frame that has shifted slightly can leave a gap on one side of an inside-mounted shade. When we see that, we talk about mounting options that hide the difference.
Light and privacy on busy streets
Many Newton houses sit close to the street or to their neighbours. Sheer shades, light-filtering fabrics and top-down, bottom-up designs let daylight in while keeping the lower part of the window private.
Sun on the south and west sides
A bay or a run of tall sashes facing south or west can flood a room with afternoon sun. That light fades rugs, upholstery and wood floors over time, and it can make a room uncomfortable to sit in. Light-filtering and solar shades cut the glare while keeping the view, and they can be lowered only for the hours the sun is on that side of the house. Pairing them with drapery gives you a softer look in the evening.
Draughts and cold glass
Old single-pane windows can feel cold in winter. Cellular shades trap air in their pockets, and lined drapery adds another layer. Neither replaces a window, but both can make a room feel more comfortable.
Keeping a Period House Looking Like Itself
A Victorian or an older colonial has details that are worth keeping in view: deep window casings, original sashes with their muntins, panelled shutters inside the frame in some houses, and woodwork that may be stained rather than painted. New treatments should work with those details rather than hide them.
Let the woodwork show
When the casings are a feature, an inside mount keeps the treatment within the opening and leaves the trim fully visible. Slim shades that stack tightly at the top suit this well, because they disappear when raised.
Match the wood, or contrast with the paint
Where the woodwork is stained, a wood blind in a tone close to it can look as if it has always been there. Where the trim is painted, a blind or shade in the trim colour reads as part of the window, while a contrasting colour turns it into a feature. We can bring samples of both so you can see the difference on the window itself.
Fabrics with a sense of the period
Many of the fabric and wallpaper collections we carry include patterns drawn from historic designs, alongside plain weaves and modern prints. A traditional pattern on drapery, with a plain shade underneath for daily use, is one way to give a parlour or dining room its character back without making it feel like a museum.
Hardware that suits the room
On drapery, the rod and rings are on show every day. In an older house, the finish and weight of the hardware make a real difference, and we will help you choose something that sits with the room’s other metal, from door handles to light fittings.
Fitting Window Treatments Around a Renovation
Newton houses are often renovated in stages, and window treatments are best planned with that in mind.
If windows are being replaced
Measure after the new windows are in, not before. New units can differ from the old openings, and a custom treatment needs the final size. You can still choose styles and fabrics early, so the order can go in as soon as the new windows are fitted.
If walls are being painted or papered
Paint and wallpaper go up before the window treatments are installed, so brackets are not fixed to a wall that is about to be redone. If you are choosing a paint colour or a wallpaper from us at the same time, we can look at them together with the treatment so the whole room is decided at once.
If an addition is being built
A new room built onto an older house usually has larger, more modern windows. We can plan its treatments to tie in with the original rooms, so the addition feels like part of the house. Bring the plans or the window schedule to the consultation if you have them.
If you are moving in
Bedrooms and street-facing rooms tend to need privacy first. We can help you decide which rooms to do straight away and which can wait until you have lived in the house for a while and know how the light moves through it.
From the First Visit to Installation
Getting in touch
Start by listing the rooms on your mind and whatever bothers you about them now: glare, privacy, a draught, a room that feels unfinished. Mention if the walls or floors are part of the plan.
The consultation
The in-home consultation is free. We come to your Newton house, look at each window in its room, and bring samples to try against your own light and furniture. If you like to know exactly what to expect, there is a full walk-through of the consultation.
Measuring
We take the measurements ourselves, window by window, and that is included. The reasons accurate sizes matter so much for made-to-order products are set out on the measuring and installation page.
Ordering and installation
Once you have chosen, we place the order. When it arrives, we come back and install the window treatments in your Newton house.
Coming to the Natick Showroom from Newton
You will find the showroom in the middle of Natick Center. From Newton the drive runs west through Wellesley and into Natick’s downtown.
Coming in is worthwhile when you want to compare a lot of options quickly. You can look at window treatment samples beside fabric books, wallpaper and paint colours, and see the flooring choices too. If you are working on a Victorian with strong colours in its woodwork, bring a photo or a small piece of trim and we can match against it.
You do not need an appointment to visit. For most Newton projects, though, the in-home visit comes first, because the windows themselves are what we need to see and measure. Directions and opening times are on our contact page.
Betty and Joseph Greenberg founded the business in Natick in 1947, selling wallpaper and paint. In 1967 it moved downtown to the spot it still occupies, and Ben Greenberg came into the business in 1972. The Murphy family bought Debsan in 2026, with Nick Murphy running it. The same family owns Blinds & Designs and Window Works; of those stores, only Debsan carries every line.
Nearby Towns We Also Serve
Wellesley lies between Newton and our showroom, and our Wellesley page sets out the lines we run there. Natick has its own page at Natick. We serve 24 towns in all, and you will find each of them on our service areas page.
Questions from Newton
Which parts of Newton do you cover?
All of it. We offer free in-home consultations across Newton’s villages, and the showroom in downtown Natick is open to anyone who would rather come in first.
Can you fit a shade or blind to a bay window?
Yes. We measure each window in the bay on its own and choose a mounting method that suits the depth of the frame, so the treatments meet neatly at the angles. Drapery across the whole bay is another option, alone or over shades.
My windows are taller than usual. Is that a problem?
No. Every treatment we order is made to the measured size of its window, so tall sashes are not an issue. For windows that are hard to reach, we will talk about top-down, bottom-up shades and motorised options.
Can I keep the look of an older house while updating the windows?
Yes. Choices such as an inside mount that keeps the trim on show, wood blinds that suit painted woodwork, or drapery in a period-appropriate fabric help a Victorian or older colonial keep its character.
Do you also help with wallpaper, paint and flooring?
Yes. Debsan carries wallpaper, designer fabrics, Benjamin Moore paint and hardwood, carpet and luxury vinyl as well as window treatments, so a room can be planned as a whole.
Book Your Free Consultation in Newton
Whenever you are ready, tell us about the house and the rooms you want to work on. From there we set up the free in-home consultation, carry the samples to your Newton home and take the measurements. Leave your details on the contact page, phone us with the call button, or call in at the Natick showroom if starting in person suits you better.