Depends on the room but I think panels warm a space up and give it a finished look

mine come down in summer and go back up in the fall. the house def looks chiller without them.

My bedroom is brown and aqua. I have chocolate silk draperies for Winter, but I remove them in the spring and replace them with white embroidered sheers. I also replace my heavy comforter with a white matelasse spread. It lightens everything up! That being said, have you looked at contemporary design magazines? Most of the windows have no coverings whatsoever! I guess no one needs privacy?!

I don't have a single curtain in my whole house. Shutters on most windows and blinds on several.

Depends a bit on your style -- a more traditional style is well matched with curtains. (They get suggested again and again here, especially for bedrooms and very brocaded living rooms.) As you go more modern, they seem more and more out of place. I don't have any, but I do have some kind of window treatment in every window -- the trade-off with privacy is an illusory one (ahem, SS!). We have some accordian blinds -- light-blocking to shear as we move from bedroom to living spaces. Am considering replacing inherited vertical blinds on a couple of huge windows (sob) with some top-down shades so that we can have the privacy and maximize light/view as well.

Go to Ikea. They price their drapes by the pair, not as other places do by the panel. Ikea has a wide variety of styles & choices of fabrics, good quality as well.