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We're in the process of buying a new house that has no window treatments in place. We currently live in a small apartment with huge windows (that are all the same size), which we put cellular blinds on. We've never lived in a house before or one that has so many windows. I've been looking at photos online but any advice would be greatly appreciated!
This first picture is of the entry sitting room and dining room. On the big window between the white chairs, I am thinking of doing a neutral color (light brown) drapes. What do you suggest we do with the two smaller windows in the dining room? Should we do matching drapes or would blinds work better?
I am not a big fan of drapes personally. I would go with just enough to give you some privacy if needed but still be able to retain your views. I would probably go with 2" white wood blinds in most of the windows and do a light valance of some kind at the top just for color-drapy sheer fabric of some kind. I would hate to cover up the trim on the windows too much. I think adding too much will kill the clean look of the house.
We have a solar shade on our patio door that I LOVE because we can still see out into our yard but it cuts down on the sun coming into the house.
I would use the same window treatment on all of the windows in the entry/dining area. Maybe not exactly the same, but I'd at least use the same fabric on all of the windows.
I LOVE the new solar shades and they do make them where you can see through to the outside but the outside can't see in. Very cool.
I am going to get some for my own living room, as soon as I can figure out which shades will actually block the sun. I was in a hotel recent and they had solar shades that were useless. They didn't block the glare or the heat from the intense sunlight. I'm not even sure they provided any privacy.
Do solar shades provide enough privacy? Most of the ones I see online look quite sheer, which means people outside can see inside?
You can get them so they do. They come in various levels of light blocking ability and with that you get varying levels of privacy. Our back yard is flanked with trees so privacy isn't an issue where our patio door is. We have a medium level of light blocking because we didn't want to obstruct our view too much.
If you go for any kind of shade or blind, the extra amount of money spent to get them to work from the bottom up is totally worth it for privacy and light control. If you raise them up half-way, you can walk to the window and look outside without moving the shade or bending down. What is seen through an open top pane is usually prettier (trees and sky) than when the top panes are covered and the bottom panes are exposed, as with traditional blinds.
I have bottom-up, inside the wood trim, pleated solar shades in a dining room with a bay exactly like the windows in your living room. We can sit at the table and see the sunset (we've even watched fireworks at night). But we still having the lower panes covered, completely obscuring the sight of cars driving down the street, which is visible from the room, or anyone walking down the sidewalk next to the street.
If you want the look of drapes but don't want to spend a ton extra, just get dummy panels for the sides and use your shades for privacy and light control (Candice Olson on HGTV does that all the time). The shades will be a big investment, but totally worth it and you can layer on drapes or valances, etc., in the future as you have more money or fashions (or your taste) change. And you can keep the shades for decades so long as you keep them clean and maintain the cords.
I really like plantation shutters and am considering it more now that I've seen some photos and think they look very classy.
I will have to check out some stores to see solar shades in person.
We currently have cellular blinds that are bottom up and top down. We really liked the concept at first, thinking that we'd do top down a lot and see blue sky but still have privacy, however in practice we actually rarely do top down. It's something to consider for the house!
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