I think roman shades are great idea. And yes, hang them from ceiling height but I would make them long enough to just cover the top of the window frame. You'd be surprised how much light you lose if they cover that entire top pane.

How about a simple treatment, like this? [houzz=]

I think the windows would look great without any treatments, if you painted the walls white and added larger trim.

Ikea has a great system you could mount on the ceiling and you could either install drapes between the windows (and pull to cover the windows if neccessary) or use sheer panels that could go floor to ceiling and slide back and forth. I have done both (attached) and the panels are easy to make and you can change the look with new panels! The pic with the panel does not have the panel hanging straight - but it should! The system is Kvartal and they have single, double and triple (I think) tracks
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/departments/living_room/18893/

I saved this picture because of the valances. I thought they were simple but yet sophisticated.

[houzz=]

Kinda messy, but this gives you an idea. Just add crown molding and trim around all your windows and paint all white and let the light shine in. Off course, do this on the other wall of windows also. Lots of beautiful trim to use and not that expensive. Add a large area rug under the table to bring out colors you like.

I LOVE the idea of doing molding and trim rather than window treatments. However, I am a little afraid of the white. Will it go with the adjoining rooms (attached photos), which are green (baby turtle by benjamin moore) and gold (blonde by sherwin williams). Should the paint be stark white? Could you recommend a white paint?

Benjamin Moore Dove White, paint the sunroom and family room, the same, paint the end wall with TV in the Family Room Chocolate, Kitchen can stay Baby Turtle.

The yellow is not doing anything.

My opinion;)

I see nothing wrong with the gold paint, very poplar in my area. The white around the windows would be awesome. Match the same white as all the woodwork. Looks like you may need to do a taller baseboard and add crown molding to all the rest of the rooms to tie in with the white around the windows. Crown and baseboard can do wonders for your rooms. You could leave the gold in between all the molding around the windows , but i think that may look a little busy. All white around the windows will look much better. I would do the end wall where the fireplace is the same as the Baby Turtle that's in the kitchen to tie it all in.

I have track-type drapery hardware for some windows (like the systems by IKEA) and loved how easy they are to move back and forth over big windows--3-track sis nice because it gives you a lot of depth between sheers and drapes so they don't catch. Get several bags of plastic clips for the curtains, and if you are making your own, the curtain tape. Both are cheap. IKEA also has a wire and clip system for a more modern (and cheaper) system. Their curtains are great because they are really long (you have to hem them to size though) and not too expensive.

I had lots of windows with the tracks already installed and needed to block the sun, but not much money and used inexpensive fabric shower curtains. Worked great and didn't look half-bad. Not appropiate for your beautiful big windows, but thought I'd mention it as an idea for someone else.

BTW, perhaps the same white as the ceiling just along that one wall of windows would work. Trim would be nice, but maybe a bit top heavy unless you trim out the baseboard too, and that would affect the rest of the room. Actually, I think it looks OK without curtains or window treatments. Perhaps hanging some plants would make it look less bare? A simple window box along the ceiling for each window might work--or a long continuous strip--to hang the shades or curtains from.

I agree woven woods would look stunning and more up to date. Make all of your woodwork white. Larger baseboards would look good. You also need a beautiful rug under the table pulling out some of the wall color and also a little of the color "Baby Turtle". The rug will anchor the whole room and the woven woods should be natural but darker than your walls. Use cushions on your chairs that pick up colors from your rug. Possibly a stripe or small geometric. Your room will be awesome!

Lucy Haines Interiors, CID

[houzz=]

Would the window molding like this work in my kitchen? Or should I case the windows separately? The windows are 13 inches apart.

Do you mean door casing? I do not see window molding. All molding should be used the same through out the house to keep it uniform.

Its been a while but we are finally ready to finish these windows! Thank you for all the great ideas! We decided to forego any type of window treatment and just have molding put around all the windows. We just aren't sure if we should do a basic casing around each window separately (leaving the yellow paint between each window) or try to give it the look of one big window. Would it make sense to do one big molding across the top and bottom of all windows, then molding down each side of each window, painting the molding and everything in between white?

I like the windows separate -- I think the one-big-window idea would make them look heavy, and I think they would be lovely, trimmed individually. I also vote for the white (not stark white) color.

I think that would be too much molding and it looks like your windows go to the floor. One big molding would not look right either. I think that you should use some kind of window treatment whether it be woven woods or just a valance that does not cover the window. It would soften the large amount of windows and yet unite them. You could use a print or a plain fabric if you decide to go with a valance. Keep the pattern small. (Go on line and type in valances for some ideas). Woven woods will give you a lot of texture and can be only a valance. (not operable)

Should you use molding between each window, there will not be much space between. Keep what space there is yellow to unite the room. I suggest that if you are going to do molding, buy a length and hold it up on each side to see whether you like it or not.

Thank you impax! I am meeting the carpenter tomorrow to pick the molding. We are thinking a wider version of what was used around all the doors in our house. I also purchased a rug based on your previous comments a few weeks back! Can't wait to get it all together. Maybe woven wood valences down the road as well.

One more thing - The window sills need to be replaced as they do not extend wide enough to reach the width of the molding. Should they be kept separate for each window as well or be one big continuous sill?

In my professional opinion, I would take off all the window sills and just use the molding around the entire window. It is a little more contemporary but it looks more uniform. I am not sure how low the windows go to the floor. Would you have room to do what I just said? Don't do one continuous molding.

On second thought and looking back at your pictures, I see that you have a baseboard all the way across. I think that you would want all your moldings and baseboard to be the same size. So if you kept the sill and the baseboard was smaller than the molding it would look strange. Do you see what I mean? Be sure to hold the molding up before you do anything. Step back and look.

Got it. Thanks! Theres the baseboard, a piece of molding, then the sill. We'll get some samples for around the window before we finalize. Thank you so much for your input!

Our Innovation Tandem Shades will give you two options...light filtering by day and privacy at night.

You can make it stand out by placing drapes into it like the ones below.

Beautiful windows. You have some great suggestions above.

Here are two options for you to consider. If you want to just have "the view" as the star then the trim is perfect. If you feel the room needs a hit of colour or texture or pattern, then the roman valance is a great solution. Can be used with or without crown moulding.

Good luck.

image

You have some great options above.

If you want the view to be the star then the trim is a great option.

If you feel the room needs pattern, colour, texture, then the romans are a great solution.

See below for both.

I like the simple illustration above with the roman and the moldings. This is a simple, no fuss look for this room--which appears to be rather casual. Som of the full length curtains shown farther up are much too formal--IMHO, for this room. Goodluck!