Great idea! I hadn't even thought about putting something on the outside.

Thanks! Lisa

In our old house I had a window like that. I screwed little cup hooks in the tope corners, I used white ones. When I needed to hang a covering I strung cord between them and hung with rings.

I would use a very lightweight folding screen, or2 Have someone make them out of 1 by 2 and cover either with kraft paper of an unbleached muslin They don't need to be tall....and you might find other uses for them as well.

You could do curtains. Hang the rod high and wide and leave plenty of room on the sides to stack the curtains when you don't need them.

Curtains will give you the option to add another decorating element to the room (pattern, texture or color) and give you the ability to insulate against the cold in the winter months. And when you don't need them, pull them back and your pretty woodwork won't be covered up.

localeater- that was one idea I was considering. My biggest concern is that the window is 9' wide and I was worried I couldn't get a wire taught enough so it didn't droop. Ikea has a wire line I installed in another room, but they recommend a center support for longer length windows. Probably if the curtains were lightweight it wouldn't be an issue though.

lindac92- Screens were something I had thought of. Hadn't ruled them out. I made some for a friend of mine a few years ago. Not tough to do.

d_gw- That's what my boyfriend says too. The high part is the problem. It's only an 8' room and there's about 4" between the top of the window trim and the bottom of the crown molding. I'm afraid everything would look squished together at the top.

I saw Costco carries something called Sunsetter Easyshades with an option for solar powered with a remote control. Anyone have any experience with them?

Thanks again for all the suggestions- Lisa

There are paper temporary shades at the big box stores. We are using them until our permanent blinds come in. Only a few bucks and you could probably reuse them if you wanted.

Buy three inexpensive tension rods with a small enough diameter to fit in the jamb of each window. Shirr lightweight fabric onto each rod and hang them as needed.

I'd go with the temporary blinds option. My daughter used her "temporary blinds" for 2 years before springing for custom ones. They're cheap and in obtrusive.

I recently went through the process of finding window coverings for the windows in our new build. Had a hard time making up my mind, but finally decided on the honeycomb shades, with the top-down bottom-up feature for some of the windows. I love that, when they are pulled all the way up (as they would be in your home), they practically disappear in the woodwork. However, with the top-down feature, you can lower the top of the shade to let in light but still preserve privacy in the bottom part of the window. The shades are inside mount to keep all the trim work visible.

Beautiful millwork and view. I'd say your best options are either 1)Tension rods with shirred panels or 2)Temporary paper shades available at big box stores. Drapes would be my personal option, but with the size of your window, it would be expensive. Therefore, I'd go with #1.

I have a sunsetter shade from costco with a remote. I absolutely love it because it was installed up under the eaves (it's much longer than I need to cover just the window so I had it mounted as high as possible) and I can't see the mechanism at all, unless I am outside peering straight up.

I, too, have no window coverings and just had this one shade installed because in the summer the setting sun shines right into my dining room and in people's eyes. The remote works great, even through the walls! The one caveat is that it is not opaque at night. If you would be worried about anyone being able to see in when the lights are on and it's dark outside, it won't work.

It's hard to tell from the picture, but it's 3 side by side windows- no jamb in between, so tension rods aren't an option.

Never heard of temporary window shades- I'll have to check them out.

Sail_away, your window shades sound pretty cool. You mentioned they're inside mount? Not sure that'd work on the width of my windows. If you remember the brand I'll double check on their website.

Olychick- thanks for the feedback on the sunsetter shades. Looked like they got good reviews, but you're right- they'd need to be opaque at night too. Dang. I'm still leaning toward that option- maybe I can find other companies.

Thanks again- so much stuff out there I hadn't even considered. You all are amazing.

Lisa

One issue with temp shades is that they adhere with adhesive, which I wouldn't want on your woodwork.

Even if the sunsetter doesn't work, I think you can find opaque roll down shades, perhaps not with remote, but something else might work for you.

Here's a brand that will make their shades with their awning fabrics (opaque).

http://www.aristocratawnings.com/solarshade.aspx

You can get longer tension rods, which would be my choice. That or something like localeater's suggestion, but the hooks (possibly Command hooks) installed at the very top of the window frame so they can't be seen.

This tension rod at Bed Bath Beyond is for windows 84"-120".

Use and remove 3M command hooks to hold a rod in place, putting one or more (as needed) in the center.

Beckysharp- Thanks so much for the link. I've never had a lot of luck with tension rods for wider spaces, but these look like people have had good results with windows my size. Would be easy to store when not used and definitely less expensive than external shades. Will definitely check these out.

Olychick- thanks for the link. I figured someone made more opaque versions. Would need an external plug, but we're having the wiring for our outside lights updated and might ask the electrician about adding an exterior plug just in case. Would be nice for Christmas lights even if I don't end up getting an exterior shade.

Mdin- thanks for the picture- really helps me visualize different options. I'm a big fan of command hooks since we can't use nails to hang things on the walls at work.

Well off to jury duty. Really appreciate all the ideas. Nice to have options.

Lisa

Since you're only looking for a temporary solution on occasion, and you do have a nice sized sill, and you only need to cover the bottom portion of the window for privacy, I'd make a panel to put on the sill in front of each window. You can get a styrofoam sheet from the home store, cut it to fit. Then you can wrap it like a present in fabric, and just pin the fabric to the backside into the styrofoam to hold it using t pins. You can wrap the styrofoam first with batting to make it look more quilted or not. You can then even pin or glue some trim onto the front to dress it up or not. Or you can pleat the fabric as you pin it to make it fancier. The panels will be lightweight, store flat and can color coordinate with your room. Just rest them on the sill and lean it on the window. You can make them as high as you want, even cover the window entirely. They go away easily and won't damage your lovely woodwork.

Annie- How creative! And you're right- a pretty simple project. But, full confession, I was born without the creative gene. And when I try it usually turns out like something you'd see on the pinterest fail website. But I could totally see how in the right hands it could turn out pretty cool.

If the BBB tension rod actually works I'll probably do cafe curtains for now. Maybe an exterior shade down the road. It's just good to know I have options with the holidays coming up and people coming home for visits.

I'll be sure and post pictures of the finished product.

Thanks again- Lisa