Have you ever considered lined woven woods?

Could you clarify a little more what you want in terms of privacy and light control? Is this for night time only or do you also need in daytime? I think your cellulars work well filtering in some light in daytime, but doesn't give blackout at night and may also show shadows through the windows at night which would be a concern if you dress in visability of those windows. That shade may also present a similar problem. In my MBR, I have a set of sheers I leave closed all the times due to privacy reasons so they work great for that as it still lets in light when closed. At night, we have an extra set of panels that we draw closed. I find layering treatments to be the only way I can achieve my privacy/light control needs.

Have you seen any my my3dogs' WTs? I don't think any of hers are floor length but they all look stunning. She has paired her valances with both woven woods and shutters that cover the bottom 1/2 of her windows, then in one room she made some sil length panels. I will try and see if I can find some of her old threads.

Well, I need more privacy for that single window because I am sometimes running around in my undies in that part of the room. In the sitting area, no one is dressing there but our house is very close to the neighbors so I definitely need something. Usually I am lazy and leave those shades closed all the time. By light control I mean I just don't want the sun beaming into my window first thing in the morning if I'm trying to sleep.

Hm, had not considered lined woven wood blinds. Might be an idea. We actually have them in our beach house bedroom... duh... not sure why I never considered for this room.

That's about what I thought. So, are you OK with having the windows in the sitting room not provide black out? With the sheers you have now, in daytime does that provide enough privacy without the lights turned on? It works in my MBR and I find I like the light that filters through.

I love the look of the woven woods. If they are lined though, in daytime, if you leave them closed then your room will be very dark. How about a combination of the woven woods, lined and unlined? Perhaps lined in the bedroom and unlined in the sitting room. That way, if you do not open in the sitting room, it will still allow some light to filter in.

What I find works best for light control/privacy is the 2" wood blinds. I leave them down all the time, but can open close the slats as needed throughout the day or even filter it just enough for privacy, yet still let in the amount of light I need. I have 3 in my office (which is like your sitting room) as it is part of the MBR--so that is 3 windows I do on daily basis just for the MBR. In your case, you have 5 windows so would want whatever is put there to be easy open/close. I've thought about adding valances to the top of my windows, but so far, just have the clean look of the window trim with the wood blinds.

Oh, well I forgot to mention my other problem which is that the space that's available (in the sitting room windows) to inside-mount a blind is really narrow. That's why I have the 1/2" cellular shades instead of a roller blind or wood blinds.

Also, I kinda hinted around to DH that the cellular shades were not thrilling me, but since we haven't had them very long, he isn't biting at replacing them.

So -- rephrasing my question -- if you had to keep the cellular shades in the sitting room, WWYD?

I don't have an issue w/ privacy during the day, really. Once I'm dressed in the morning, I could have my windows totally bare all day without a problem. I hardly go into the room during the day, other than to fold/sort laundry!

Sue: I thought that was my case for many years as well, that I could not put inside mount wood blinds because I did not have the 2-1/2" (or whatever the exact measurement is). As we were only about 1/4"-1/2" short, we decided to try anyway after speaking with one of the WTs personnel at JC Penneys. Basically we have room to fit the entire blind, but the valance at the top sticks out a tad. It doesn't really bother me--even on the windows that don't have a fabric valance. That said, I think you could also do an outside mount woven wood (without the liner); it would have the advantage that when raised, would not obstruct your window.

If you were to keep the cellulars, though, I think I would consider adding some valances, so that I could raise the the cellulars in the daytime. As you said, only the dog uses the room, no one is going to see them. If at the point, you want to use the sitting room more yourselves, perhaps you DH could be convinced to make the change.

Depending on where these windows are in relation to the MBR, I would try to make the WTs more similar.

Sue-the radiators are tough to decorate around. I think short panels look--well, short. So,I think you only have 2 choices: 1)Valances-mount them pretty high on the wall towards the ceiling, covering the top window trim and the shades mounting hardware. A gently curved valance will bring the eye up or, 2) roman shades. Remember, you can always use an outside mount if there is not enough room. Good luck.