How about matchstick or bamboo blinds rather than fabric ones for this room? (I know, just when you're on a roll and have gotten the sewing thing down, right?)

Calling my3dogs! If you were young Pip here and wanted some drapes that would jive with the area rugs and furniture and home style what would you pick? Keep in mind that Pip has a slightly trendy soul that is caged in traditional (to the house) . She can't get away with too much statement but wants some. You know fabric... think like a young Pip.

Pip, you are keeping everything in the room right? If you were buying all new furniture and rugs and basically starting over you could use some of what you have and what you love fabric wise. If not, maybe m3d can come up with something great.

The fabrics shown do not lend themselves well to the brown and green upholstery. More rustic seems better, for certain with those chairs and sofa.

Yes, keeping everything! That is a room full of Stickley. My husband and I really dislike drapes... and had white honeycomb blinds everywhere in the last house, so we want something different. We plan to keep the window treatments open as much as possible, so want very little blockage when open.

The rugs might change over time, though! When we're ready to buy more rugs, we can put these somewhere else in the house.

Well, here's some logic question. If the blinds will be open most of the time, no sense in using a bold pattern since it won't show most of the time. If you have to chose, go with the geometric. I might go spendy and pick lined bamboo or some type of woven wood blinds which can be done as roman shades. Would be mottled and compliment the wood furniture. Or, I would go with a smaller geometric pattern that reads a complimentary color to your wall color. If the blinds will be open most of the time, no sense pondering how they will look closed as your major deciding factor. It's a factor, but the bigger factor is how they will look open.

Darn....I was hoping you'd like simple drapery panels, too. You could hang them so they just barely touch the trim and wouldn't cover any glass. I was looking at Fabric Guru and found this 'Leesburg' fabric by Mill Creek at $8.95 a yard. I like the top one with your darker green wall-color-to-be, but they don't have a color name for it. The 2nd one is the 'Flint' colorway.

Here is a simple panel made up in the flint color on Etsy -
https://www.etsy.com/listing/269287073/mill-creek-leesburg-paisley-printed?ref=listing-shop-header-3

I would love to see a simple banded Roman or perhaps a stenciled shade, along these lines:

In this case I think the best treatment would make the window look larger, and your inside mount roman shade does the opposite. Panels on either side plus a shade mounted above the window would accomplish that. You could control light/privacy with the shade and the panels would give some heft to the pattern and give the illusion that the window is wider than it is. I love roman shades but think they look best on wider windows, or if they are on a narrow window, one with cabinets, shelves, or other elements surrounding it.

If you have your heart set on just a roman shade, I would mount it on the outside, a little wider than your molding, and close to the ceiling. That way you have the benefit of the pattern showing even when it is closed.

Found another in the 25% off section of Fabric Guru. It's 'Thales' in the Prairie colorway, and is only $5.21 a yard. I looked at it on two monitors, so don't count it out without a good look. It's simple, and I think it would go with your furniture, although probably not the current rugs.

https://www.fabricguru.com/p-bravo-fabrics/prairie-woven-polyester-decorator-fabric

You could totally do a drapes and blinds combo to use some kind of dramatic arts and crafts patterned fabric if that's what you love.

I was perusing photos this morning and came across this one which perfectly illustrates what I meant when I said that the shade becomes an art piece. Notice how everything else in the space is simple and understated, allowing the shade's fabric to stand out. I love this look, but I don't think it's what your set-up calls for.

Phew. Let me think about this.

I did an outside mount in my dining room, and inside mount in the family room. We all (two adults, two kids) prefer the inside mount look, and I was planning to alter the dining room shades for an inside mount. Maybe I should just make them narrower so they don't overhang the side trim.

I close the dining room shades daily because they offer a view into my kitchen. I also close the family room shades daily.

My3dogs, are you saying to do a short panel that reaches the bottom trim of the window, or the trim on the floor? We have baseboard heat, and our bedroom has floor-length drapes... and I hate the combination. Plus, the cats.

I like the idea of a simpler shade, and bought a <1 yd remnant of an off-white solid with a diamond pattern so I could see it better than the tiny $1 sample. I don't like the off white in there, but maybe a different shade? My husband is *done* with anything tan or brown, though. This whole house was tan/brown when we moved in, and it was very depressing to him. He wants color.

IdaClaire, I love that look! I wish we could switch to more muted rugs (or a single large rug, not sure). I love the faded Oushak rugs, but my husband does not like them at all. He likes vibrant rugs.

I was thinking floor length, but the baseboard heater would be problematic.

How many windows are in the room? I see 2 in your pics, but wonder if there is another at the near end of the sofa just out of view? I ask because if there was something that would block the fact that they are short, it might look OK. In one pic, I see what looks like a game table at the far end in front of the window, which might help a bit, but I'd prefer full length.

Maybe a Photoshop guru could 'hang' some at that far window. I think if you got a fabric similar to to future wall color, it would help the 'look' if you made short panels that went to the bottom of the window trim.

I just found this on eBay, by Bloomcraft, but there is is only a small piece just under 1.5 yards. The color would blend rugs and darker walls. I found it by Googling 'craftsman style fabrics'.

This Robert Allen called Scenic Flora on Fabric Guru would blend in furniture and walls, but it's pricey at $20.95 a yard.

Okay, no drapes boohoo. How about an up-down blind with an outside mount with the header up to the ceiling? It gives a little more height and depth.

I also have an Arts & Crafts feel to my home and pondered for a long time about the window treatments. I settled on while '' wood blinds and had the window trim beefed up. It is simple and seems to work well with the room.

There are five windows in the room. Here are my bedroom drapes hung here, though not on correct hardware (we haven't removed what was already there).

ETA: It's the green cotton ottoman drapes from Country Curtains:

https://www.countrycurtains.com/product/010150790+cotton+ottoman+lined+rod+pocket+curtains.do

Oh, and FWIW, I love that leafy print fabric for my bedroom! It feels very zen in there.

So gald you are trying some stuff out. I'm not sure about this but thought I would toss it over here. The drapes are cream and meant to have a prairie fabric trim but it didn't show up right.

Here are more pics that I just took, which show a slightly different arrangement of furniture in the back.

Here's the front of the room, which we will do something with when we finally take down our tree... that rug is just there for no reason. Nowhere else to put it right now.

And here is the original fabric that I'd bought, that might be too purple. I was going to do blackout, but I wonder if leaving it with just a thin lining makes it disappear in a good way. Thoughts?

justerrilynn -- I wonder if I could make a stationary shade, with the drapes on the outside as in your first pic. (Not talking about using these green drapes; it's just what I have on hand!)

Pip, hopefully you will get some feed back on that. I can't get over how drapes tie the room all together in a good way.

I agree with jt. Drapes in this space just give it such a nice, warm, finished look.

It's AMAZING!

...dare I ask what you think of the green drapes themselves? Too much for the room? If we do drapes, we likely would not do anything else on the windows. Or I would do something stationary just to hide the top part of the wall if we mount the rod very high.

I would want to hang them this way: https://laurelberninteriors.com/2014/08/22/hanging-draperies-for-heavens-sake-dont-do-it-yourself/

Though those particular green drapes would be too short. But is green a good way to go?

pippiep, If you are decided on that BM Dried parsley paint color, can you paint that back wall where you're auditioning WTs to see how it looks with anything you want to try? I think that will help you decide on which fabric is best.

I think the solid color drapes really do it for the room. Very simple and nice. Doesn't seem to compete with the rugs.

I also like the solid green ones. Country Curtains has some green fabrics on clearance here - https://www.countrycurtains.com/category/800+clearance/809+fabric+by+the+yard+on+sale.do?c=22.100981&color=Green&pp=24&sortby=ourPicksAscend&cx=0

Hey, it's your 'Cotton Ottoman' fabric, and it's only $5.97 a yard, down from $15.95 a yard.

Pip, these are onSale for $43 bucks. Could you with your talent somehow alter the grommet out? Maybe a strip of fabric over it or(?)

Lined and with a grommet top, woven jacquard fabric.

http://www.pier1.com/aura-jacquard-grommet-curtain/PS53084.html?cgid=curtains#nav=left&start=1&sz=40&showAll=198

It's a low investment so if in a few years you change rugs and some furnishings you wouldn't have to feel guilty about tossing them.

I'm not sure I like them better than My3dogs green above though. That particular green has what could also be a more modern look.

I like some of the drapery choices but with the baseboard heater there, I'm afraid draperies will have to be so short they'll not look as nice as the mock ups.

I really like the fabric in the last draperies JTL posted - it really adds a richness to your room and seems to go better with your colors and furniture style than the original fabrics you posted. I guess you are changing the wall color? That might make a difference in what looks best. If you were to chose something more like the JTL draperies, I wonder if they could be altered into a roman shade? The price seems right.

Those are priced per panel, and I've been able to make the roman shades with the continuous loop hardware for around $100 total. Not cost effective to convert them. ;)

JTL -- that green IS what I already have. Those are my drapes, but they would be too short if I mount them above the window. The exiting mounting hardware makes the rod go right across the casing, which I would not do.

What I keep coming back to:

• I want to lighten the space up! No more reds/golds or anything that makes it look richer/warmer. That was why I was drawn to the clean look of roman shades, particular inside mount, so that we can see the white casing around all the windows.
• My husband and I reaaaaally are not curtain people. I've had the green set in the living room since last evening, and now every time I go in there, the room feels "old" to me. Not comfy, cozy, or light and bright. I feel like it closes in the room to have so much fabric.
• If I stick with roman shades and do outside mounts, I don't have enough fabric in ANY of the ones I bought. OOPS. I measured intending to do inside mount.
• Maybe white wood blinds?? Or a neutral roller shade with a faux roman at the top? Hmmm...

Can you just put some inexpensive roller shades up for now? Just on the most needed windows? You could always stencil them. If you are going to change to a lighter look wouldn't it be best to find the area rugs first?

It would be cute and fun to do.

Yeah, the windows don't really need anything, so we can wait until we figure out all the pieces. But my husband doesn't want to invest in new rugs for at least a year, maybe more.

He was willing for you to spend $100 ea on six windows so you need to get busy with your womanly charm for that rug : )

Start looking now, you'll have him warn down in no time.

Heck, you are wearing me out with your windows. I don't even know you and am about to buy you a rug lol

It will be 21 windows by the time I'm done, LOL! But he wouldn't spend the 300-700 per window we were quoted, which is why I started making them... I have to take it slowly to spread out the expenses. (We just redid our kitchen last summer, and it was waaaaaaay more than we'd expected to spend!)

I remember your nice kitchen. It might of cost more than you first wanted but I bet it's worth it.

How about some inexpensive bamboo shades for the time being.

Thank you all so much for the feedback! My husband and I both really still wanted roman shades, for maximum light when open, and also for not dragging on the floor. I did go shopping for new fabric, though, and just finished putting them up. LOVE how they came out!!

Fabulous!

Those look great!

Oh wow! You did good! Looks great!

Beautiful fabric and so nicely made! You've really gotten good at these. How much prior sewing experience? I haven't sewed much for years. I never had a good place for my sewing machine, so I've often worked on the floor. It feels a bit odder now than when I was 16.

Much better for that room than where you started, so I'm glad you found it, love it and have another room that can use the fabric you have.

Now, you and this thread have created another problem. I want that William Morris fabric. I have to go check it out for my LR or MBR. If the scale is large, it might not work for anything I have in mind though......

They look great!!

Did you use blackout lining or did you use the "layered" method (black fabric sandwiched between the white/ivory lining and the print/face fabric)?

I didn't do blackout on these; just a medium-thick cotton lining. I didn't need darkness in this room, and the face fabric pattern and colors don't suffer with sunlight. That's one of my requirements going forward! A few fabrics that I bought change color (or lose all color) with sunlight coming through.

lisaam -- I had very little experience. I know how to use a sewing machine and had hemmed pants. I sewed maybe once every year or two. I have no desire to quilt or make clothing, but I'm really enjoying these shades! I'd like to try a tablecloth and decorative pillow covers. I need to do something with all the fabric I bought and decided not to use, LOL.

Those look so nice! Very inspiring. : )

Beautiful! Love the fabric.

lascatx -- I know, I still want the William Morris fabric, too! They supposedly have it available at a place in Boston, so I might make the trek someday. I also saw some small sample packs available on eBay. I still adore the fabric I used in the family room.

Robert Allen Pantheon Printed Cotton Drapery Fabric in Admiral

pippiep, those came out beautifully. A very good lesson in the importance of size/scale in pattern.

So nice to see rooms with lots of color and pattern, and used so well.

PS I think it would be great to post here the link to your other thread with your DIY directions, in case anyone else gets inspired by your amazing handiwork!