I would do a dark Gallery Glass stained glass treatment on the top three windows and put Roman Shades or very pretty roller blinds on the other three to play up the architecture of the windows.

But if you feel that wouldn't give you enough light control, I'd do either curtains on a pole rod or drapes on a traverse rod. Traverse rods may well be what you're thinking of that your mother has. If you want elegance, silk draperies on a traverse rod is the logical answer.

Another way to do it would be to ignore the architecture at the top of the windows and cover them with a pretty valance, and use curtains underneath.

There are decorative traverse rods that resemble wood rods, and so a bit different from your mother's. My hard drive crashed and I've lost all my decorating bookmarks. I had some for drapery rods from the forum, so maybe you (and I) can do a search to find the sites.