I'm a big fan of Roman Blinds. They look elegant and will have the features you're looking for. Beautiful windows by the way! :-)

If privacy is only important to you at night, then Roman blinds would work. No worries then about blocking your sunlight!

Or, if you like woven woods, you can get an independently operated privacy liner to bring down at nighttime.

Craftsman style homes focus on the woodwork. It seems a shame to cover up these windows you love with blinds, shades and/or curtains. While some dismissed window film as unneeded or damaging to the windows, I disagree. There are static cling window films that you can install, and even remove later and install elsewhere if it suits. They are available in frosted or etched designs that allow light in while preventing interior scenes from being discernible. Here are 1st and 2nd sites, but do a search for others. You can also find some of these at local stores.

Below is your photo with three types of window film: (left to right) frosted, "glacier" embossed, and "rippled" embossed. I cannot guarantee that the actual film would look exactly like my rendition, but no one will be able to see through them. While I only changed the middle windows I would cover the base windows also and leave the top 3-light windows open as no one is likely to see in through those.

It's not worth voiding the warranty on the window to put a film on it. Check with your manufacturer first!

Quasiexpert, most professionally installed window films come with a warranty from the window film manufacturer that will back up the warranty from the window manufacturer if they decide to void the warranty. Our experience is that most homeowners do not have a warranty on the windows unless they built the home or are the original owners. The vast majority of window warranties are not transferable to new homeowners which takes many warranties off the table.

Always know what you are buying and get the warranties in writing, preferably from the manufacturer and not just the local company.

That could be. The vast majority of windows I deal with have a minimum of 20 years of glass warranty and are fully transferable. My personal house has windows with a lifetime warranty for me, and 20 years for any subsequent owner.
I would personally never put an aftermarket tint on a new window, because all manufacturers I work with have factory tinting options that are a small upcharge and don't effect any warranties. But if the aftermarket film manufacturer will cover any problems with the windows, cheers to them.

The factory glass tinting options do not offer the same type of protection from UV and energy performance upgrades that aftermarket film can offer. Window film can will improve the performance of any glass so often times the proper combination of glass and film will beat the performance of a high-end window at a lower price with no loss of warranty.

If you have an unlimited budget you can get some fantastic triple pane windows made to your performance needs. For most regular folk, window film offers the potential for an affordable upgrade, particularly when we look at the payback time required for window replacement.

I don't mean this as an insult, but that sounds like the talk of a tint salesman-so can you give some hard numbers to back that up? Let's say I purchase an Andersen or Marvin window with their standard LowE glass, and have aftermarket film applied. Do you have specs of what I can expect as far as performance goes? I have the specs of what their higher lines of glass can do, and would be interested to see how they compare cost & energy-wise?

Laloofah, I have enjoyed reading all of the great ideas here but wonder if you could share the inside mount measurements of your window frames. I have 2 inner windows flanked by 2 outer casement windows and the mounting space is inconsistent between the inner/outer. Do the cellular shades require more than 1" of depth to install? Wondering if Roman Shades would be similar. With screens on the casement windows I have only 3/4" to mount hardware. Outside mount may be all I can do but it will certainly hide some beautiful detailing on the moulding...sigh.

Quasiexpert, Sorry it took me a while to get back I was travelling. I can provide specs for any window film on a variety of glass types. We often do this type of comparison for clients that are considering replacement windows. As an example I will look at 3 different types of common glass with and without our Enerlogic Low-E window film applied. Not sure if you can see the numbers in the graphic below but here are the highlights:

Clear Insulated glass (IGU) with Enerlogic Low-E film applied vs. "Typical" Low-E window - Summer Heat Gain reduction reduced 55%, UV Rejection increased 47% and Winter Heat Loss Reduction (keeping heat in your home) increased 3%.

Clear Insulated glass (IGU) with Enerlogic Low-E film applied vs. "High Performance" Low-E2 window - Summer Heat Gain reduction reduced 29%, UV Rejection increased 15%. Winter Heat Loss Reduction is 13% better on the Low-E2 window vs. the clear IGU with film.

Adding film to better performing glass still improves performance but typically to a lesser extent (because the base window is performing better. Window film makes all windows perform better and provides the best protection from fading.

We are currently gathering data from clients to compare some of these values with the different real-world prices for window/glass replacement and film installation which we plan on sharing soon.

If you have specific questions about window/film performance we are always happy to analyze, educate and help recommend the best option for your money, even if it isn't window film.

Lastly, we spend a lot of our time educating and informing consumers. Houzz is a great forum for open discussion and learning. We have never sold any window film to anyone we have interacted with on Houzz (although we would love to!) We are experts in our field running an ethical, customer focused business and just want you to be able to make informed decisions before spending your hard earned money. Please let us know if we can help in any way.

Kevin Koval - Owner

www.solarisfilm.com

I guess it depends on what you start with. If you're installing it on an older window, particularly single-pane, I could see the point of adding a film. But I don't believe I'm by any means sold on putting it on a new window.

I pulled up Andersen's numbers for a casement window. They use whole unit U-Factors in their ratings, so the glass U-Factor is actually better than what they claim in the ratings, but here are their numbers on the two main double pane glass units they use...

Standard LowE4 glass-UF .29, SHGC .31, Visible Light Transmittance .54, and UV blocking 84%.

LowE4 SmartSun with HeatLock-UF.24, SHGC.21, VLT .47, and UV blocking 95%

Again, on an existing single pane product, I believe there's still a market for films though.

You have to consider budget and what you want to achieve in the home. The SmartSun windows are great. I am in a lot of high-end, million+ dollar homes and have yet to see these windows get specified. The reality is most windows are not anywhere near that level of performance and the cost is prohibitive in a lot of cases to upgrade to the top line windows. This is where window film comes into play as an affordable improvement to any window.

The performance gains on a single pane window are huge. On a window like the SmartSun they would be much smaller. On a mid range window adding window film can get you top line performance at a much lower cost.

If money is no object they are producing some great triple and quad pane products in Europe with incredible performance numbers. It is just not realistic to install that type of window in every home.

It's Ok if you don't want window film on your home for whatever reason BUT it is a great option for many homeowners to boost performance of their windows and not something that should be overlooked.

Cheers!

You're right, and we really aren't disagreeing overall. But windows like Andersen's SmSun and other manufacturer's equivalents SHOULD be spec'd more often. It comes down to laziness on the part of the architect, contractor, and homeowner. So much time is spent getting the bathroom tile JUST right, the draperies JUST the right material & sheen, the paint JUST the right hue-when all of those things are very likely to be changed in 10 years. But something like a window, which the homeowner fully expect to last their lifetime-eh, whatever is standard or saves enough money to buy that TV & couch they're eyeing. Then when the service guy is out 5 years in and they're complaining that the windows aren't performing like the latest & greatest from Europe, they regret not paying a little extra on what really mattered. The couch is ripped up, the TV is long since outdated, the drapes and tile are long gone, and the house is fully repainted. By the way, SmartSun glass represents about a 3-4% premium over standard LowE with Andersen, so that $100k in Windows is now $104k with substantially better performance.

But, this is where a business like yours fills in the gap and gives better performance to those windows!

Your windows are looking great so far, and will look even better when you get the right treatments set up.
I would go with Roller shades for this area. our roller shades are made with fabrics that range from sheer to blackout, depending on how much privacy and light control you need - semi-opaque fabrics offer a good combination of both.
Check out our site for my inspiration and ideas: http://www.blindsgalore.com/roller-shades.

Blindsgalore team.

Four years later...how are the Budget Blinds holding up? Tons of great info in this link! Thanks!

@ Catherine Kelly and @ pilatesmom - apologies for being 2 years tardy with a reply to you both! My husband ended up retiring a bit earlier than we'd planned & we sold our house (beautiful windows, blinds, & all) and moved to the PNW in 2015. So things were (are) hectic, & of course I couldn't have measured anything on those windows for you, Catherine, but no doubt you were able to get an answer to your dilemma from a shade manufacturer or someone with expertise by now. And pilatesmom3, the shades all held up quite well - though we only lived there 3 years, they got a lot of daily use. We did have a minor issue or two with a couple of them but Budget Blinds came right out and took care of them, covered by warranty. So no complaints.

We bought a bit of a fixer upper out here in the Puget Sound area with a whole new set of joys & challenges that come with an existing, aging house and very different climate and setting - the fun just never ends. :-) Most of our windows here don't need window treatments as we have lots of shade, privacy, & milder temps, but the ones that already had them had the good old top down-bottom up pleated shades. Plantation shutters are very popular in our neighborhood too, so as we remodel and update this place, I'm also considering those.

Thank you very much for the follow-up. It sounds like you are enjoying the new "chapters" in your life! Have fun with the new house!

I wouldn't cover them at all ! You have a lot of land so privacy is not an issue. The windows are lovely by themselves. If you feel that it looks to stark then put a long panel on either side and leave them open. All the best in your new home.