I don't care for the sheer panels at all. I think they are too lightweight to balance the heaviness of the blinds. I think the lace panels in the ivory and the white from Penney's are the prettiest. While the ivory is a definite match, I think I like the white better, as it acts as another layer of color balance among the white trim, off-white furniture, ivory bedding, deeper walls, etc.

Personally, I would never open the panels. I would just lower or raise the blinds to let light it, but keep the panels over the window all the time. They are sheer enough that they won't inhibit light, but will soften the windows and add interest and a feminine feel to the blinds.

If you decide not to open them, I would get the clear rods meant for lace and sheer curtains. No rings or heavier decorative rods.

I like the lace. I think the off white has a romantic feel to it while the white gives more definition to your wall and window space. Either would be attractive. I agree with Les on the hardware.

Not a fan of any of the plain sheer.

Very comfy room.

I like the ivory with lace pattern with your wall color and bedding.

DD1's sheers are white, but then most of her fabrics are white. Here are the same sheers used in several apartments/houses. I tried to do a Shutterfly slideshow, but keep getting error messages this morning.

Same sheers, different wall colors:

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For whatever reason, I don't have a photo of the bedroom of the house, second photo. She used the sheers on white distressed wooden rods and they were used over wooden blinds in the bedroom, which looked good also. Sorry no photo.

Have you tried raising your blinds during the day and leaving a sheer closed, so that light comes in/you can see out? If not, try it and see what you think (like in her first photo). When she lived SOMA, she had metal blinds that she kept raised during the daytime but left the sheers closed for privacy from building across the street. No photo of that either.

I agree with Allison about leaving the blinds open during daylight with the sheers for filtered sunlight and then close the blinds at night time. I like the one that is lying on your bed with the lace on it, #5 I think. It looks beautiful on your bed and will look beautiful in the same room. I don't like sheer panels in every room but I think they will be beautiful and feminine in your room.

Thank you everyone who replied with your opinions. I am running late but I will reread the replies to help make my decision. I just think my windows need something on them and I am glad those that replied agreed.

OK I am back and love the pictures Allison sent to the list. Thank you Allison.

About 2 years ago when I joined this list, I had decided to do my bedroom in the serene ivory/cream/white room but then I had an oak platform bed and old oak furniture that was not working well and falling apart.

I bought JCPenney Sheers with lace in the middle of them with the valences that I loved but I found out that I could not open the balcony door so I could not have the stationery sheers as I had planned to go with. That is when I realized I had to be able to open and close the curtain panels. I looked into sheers just above my two windows and a balloon on the door. But that would not cover all of the Honeycomb blinds that were longer than the balloon sheers or lace panels. I found out that a rod on to me.

So I decided to go with pretty 3/4" pleat retractable cord top/down bottom/up Honeycomb blinds and put sheers around them until I found out I disliked the color at night. I can't have cordless since I am so petite and would not like climbing on a stool to open and close the blinds all day and night.

Hence, I have to be able to open the blinds to open the door. I also was hoping to only cover the windows when I am in the room to see beauty since when I sleep and in the day time, I would want the heater vents to be as open as possible that unfortunately are directly below the two windows. Hence, I could put the panels around the windows to block out more light (only slight light seeps in now that I bought the black-out honeycomb blinds) by bunching them there and the same with the door and not have the vents blocked. But when I am in the room, I want to see the sheers for beauty and have the duet blinds covered. If I would have designed the house, I would have put the heater/air conditioner vents on the other side of the bedroom.

After all those pictures, I am still not sure but I do know I love the quality of the JCPenney curtains and I love the Ivory Lace, the bright white lace and the more mellow white Crinkle Sheers. I did not post any pics of the sheers that were too sheer or the eggshell color that looked greenish in my bedroom, etc. Regular sheers did not cover the Duet Blinds well but the crinkle ones are not bad.

I like the white lace best but it is a bright white so I fear it may be too white for a whole wall of it.

I love the ivory lace but I am not sure how it would look opened surrounding the duet blinds but so far it is not that bad of a clash since it is a very nice ivory color and matches my bedding.

I like the crinkle sheers since they cover the duet blinds nicely and are a mellow white that is not too bright but they were not as pretty as the lace.

I never had lace curtains before and I never thought of myself as a lacey type of person so I was suprised when I started to like the Shabby Chic look 2 years ago. I also am finding my own style that it can be my own look that has parts of other looks.

I visited Target today and found out that I did not like their shabby chic eyelet sheers that were a thin cotton that would wrinkle easily and three panels in the store were discolored and not my taste. I guess I like materials that the JCPenney blinds are in that I can crumble and then hang up and they look wonderful without being ironed. So at least now I know I really like the three JCPenney panels I picked up.

I am leaning towards the white lace (so happy and pretty) but worry it will look so bright. I also love the ivory lace since it is a nice ivory/cream color without being too yellow and so pretty and goes so well with my comforter. I may have to first buy the rod and buy all 6 panels of each to see how it looks before making a decision or at least 2 panels of each so I can see how a window looks with the curtains on the rod.

One of my friends who was here likes the crinkle white sheer panel since it is less white. My other friend that has been to my home many times and has seen the pictures likes the bright white lace.

I like all three so much since I have seen so many sheer and lace panels before choosing these three before asking all of you questions.

I also love the country curtain white sheers (less of a bright white and kind of looks off-white from the very tiny sample) with the macrame bottom but it is so sheer despite it being 60" wide while the JCPenney panels I chose are only 52" wide each but less sheer. Also the sample is tiny and the store is not so close to me to go there until I am ready to buy a rod since they have very nice rods. Another thing is that the Country Curtain panels can be 84" high or 90" high or 96" high while the JCPenney panels I chose only come 84" high so the rod will just be a tiny bit above the door trim. The price of the JCPenney curtain panels with the sales JCPenney has is so much better than the price of the Country Curtains but of course there is the width and height differences.

I also checked out Target's Shabby Chic Rod when I was in the store today (a doctor's appointment is right near Target) and it is too short for my window (maximum is 112" with that size not even in the store and must be ordered online)and was more of a beige antique white color that may not look great with my current wall color.

I am now thinking either a clear or a bright white curtain rod with pretty finials in a slim rod would look nice.

Should I buy a 3/8th inch with rod with pretty finials from Country Curtains in white and just skip the white curtain clip rings? If I do this, the rod only comes in a maxium 120" while my windows are exactly 120" from one to the other.

If I go with their slightly thicker rod to have it expand past my windows, I will have to go with the white curtain clip rings to be able to open and close the sheers or lace panels.

Would it be safe to leave the sheers closed all the time and only open the sheers on the door when I am opening and closing the balcony door which I do several times during the week? What I mean by safe is there are floor vents in the middle of each of my windows.

I wish now I did not have the balcony door in my Master Bedroom since that is the reason why I must be able to open and close the curtains.

How much room do I need on the side of the windows for the rod? Remember my bedroom is on a second floor so I will not have to worry about anyone looking in on the sides into my bedroom. Also There is not much wall space on each side of the window and I would still like a small finial there unless others have a better idea.

The wall on the side of the window where the Armoire is measures 10". The walls on the side of my bed near the junior chest measures a little less than 9". The walls between the windows and balcony door are slightly more than 2.5" of wall space.

http://www.countrycurtains.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=1349&itemType=PRODUCT&iMainCat=106&iSubCat=195&iProductID=1349 Their 3/8th mini rod that comes in white & is up to 120" wide

http://www.countrycurtains.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=1364&itemType=PRODUCT&iMainCat=106&iSubCat=195&iProductID=1364 Country Curtain's Decorative Rod that comes in White & is 5/8th of an inch in width and and expands up to 144" wide but will need the mini clip rings in white to open and close the sheers

http://www.countrycurtains.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=1364&itemType=PRODUCT&iMainCat=106&iSubCat=195&iProductID=1364 Love this mini rod set up to 120" with the mini pineapple finials and mini clip rings in white.

Here is a link that might be useful: Country Curtain's 3/8th mini rod that comes in white & is up to 120

I would buy clear rods for EACH window, not one rod all the way across. Then hang panels for each window, leave them closed all the time and just open the blinds underneath.

Rods like this - no finials to fight with in the minimal space you have, either:

clear rods for lace curtains
Then buy another clear sash rod or rods for the door , mount panels on the door shirred top (and bottom, perhaps). Or, leave the door with the blinds only.

Lynn, I am wondering why, if you wish you didn't have the door, you then say that you have to use it? If you don't want the door there, treat it like another window and then don't open it.

Hi Les,

Thank you for the link and describing the best way to hang the curtains to be able to open the balcony door also.

I wish the balcony and door was in the hallway like my neighbors have it. I just do not like it in the bedroom from the draft coming from the sides of the door and from the problems with window treatments. But for now I have put my remote temperature gage on the porch (tells me what temperature and humidity it is outside as well as inside) and I open it to tell someone I am running late or be right down if they are early and I am doing laundry since my laundry room is on the second floor.

The clear curtain rods would work on my windows but not on the door since the sash rods do not have enough clearance for the at least 4.5" needed to pass the Honeycomb blinds and the retractable cord mechanism.

Should I put three clear rods above the windows and door and just open the ones above the door when I want to open the door? That may not let me move the sheers out of the way far enough to open the door.

I also need to be able to open and close the honeycomb blinds when I want light in the day time so that needs room to move up and down under the sheers on the door.

My other two windows need only 2" of clearance. Would it look funny to have side windows with 2" of clearance and the middle door with 4.75" inches of clearance? 2" of clearance on my side windows would work on not having the sheers hit the heater vents.

I wonder how it would look to leave the door alone and put the triangle valence on the door and this way the white door will go with the white lace panels on both other sides.

Or I can go with one long skinny 3/8th width white rod (with the pretty pineapple finials) with no ring clips and just go with the 120" length and slide the panels open sometimes but most of the time leave them closed except for the door that I will try not to open too often by being ready earlier.

I still love the Ivory lace color (not too yellow like most of the cream sheers and cream lace panels I have tried out) but I loved how the white lace looked also with my balcony door and white lamp shades. I was surprised I loved the lace so much.

Thanks Les for being there for me. I have no curtains anywhere else in my home so this is new to me trying to fit them to make them right. I know in my last place I finally bought black-out insulating curtains for one window in my bedroom and it was never wide enough. I did not have the internet then to help me. I also knew it was a temporary place so I did not let it bother me.

ditto everything les917 said...
have you ever thought about the glass windows you can put over your door with the blinds built inside the glass? they cost about $80 last time I brought one. I had a door with a window immediately next to it and I had to wonder what in the heck the builder was thinking when he made up that plan? I wound up knocking out the window and replacing the door and window with a french door. what a difference that made!

But anyway back to the real subject at hand. I vote whole heartingly with the white lace and clear rods. I think you will be very pleased with that look.

msjay2u, thank you for your vote since so far the white lace is winning and I do like the clear rods idea.

If I go with the clear rods with one clear rod per window what do you suggest I do about the door due to the clearance issue and the fact I just paid good money for the honeycomb blinds to insulate the door and keep the light out. Unfortunately the light comes in through the side of the window blinds on the door since it needed more clearance due to the white molding inside the door of the window wooden frame.

The clear rod for the doors do not have enough clearance unless there is a kit to add clearance to it? Would you go with one long clear rod or two or three clear rods and then just put the curtains to the right all the way to open the doors? If I did not have that door and wall space in between I would love two clear rods for clearance and for keeping the clearance at 2" to allow the sheers to not hit the heater vents. I do love the idea that I would not have to worry about my heater vents.

Or maybe one long white rod with cute pineapples on the end or would that look funny in my bedroom with the little white clip rings off of it or since it is 3/8th of a inch maybe no clip rings needed to slide the blinds back and forth?

I wish I had the money to just do French doors there also but it is not an option at this time for the fact I would also need permission from the townhouse complex I live in and I doubt it if they will let me change it. But if I ever move, these are the things I will think about when buying a home.

Again thank you for your vote.

Here is a link that might be useful: Country Curtains White Mini 3/8th Rod with Pinapple Finial

I wonder if they make extension clear clearance rods?

I posted Emma Lace Panels to see what the valence looks like. Maybe someone with photoshopping skills can put the valence on the middle of balcony door with the lace panels on the windows only to see what it would look like. Then I can only have a 2" clearance and not hit the heating vents that are 2.25" from the wall. If everyone is too busy, then maybe someone with time can let me know if this is a good idea or one big rod with 4.75" clearance from the walls so I can slide the blinds back and forth.

Here is a link that might be useful: Emma Lace Panels

I was just responding when you PM'd me. LOL

I am not sure if I am understanding about the vent issue and I went back to your photos to see but I did not find a picture with the vent. maybe it was too deep in the photos?

If you originally had the idea of putting a rod on the bottom and top of the curtain so you can easily slide it open at will you can still do that BUT instead of sliding the curtain to open and close you can get one of those ties and tie in the middle of the curtain for an hourglass type look when you want to open it. That would make the window on the door kind of independant and you can do what you want to the windows. I would still use the same curtain pattern or layer the windows and have the lace panels as the bottom layer to keep everything tied in together.

Did that help you? ...

BTW JCP sells the clear extensions (see link)

i lived in a townhouse too so maybe the windows so close to the door is a townhouse thing. Anyway I was just whining really cause when I saw your picture it brought back a bad memory and I do feel your pain. Hopefully you will get through it though. How old is your townhouse? Maybe you can look up the floorplan under images in a search engine and see if there is a model of your unit online. if so you might be able to get an idea of how they suggest to dress the window/door. Might be able to get a useful idea there too???

Here is a link that might be useful: jcp clear extension rods.

scratch what I just said about the hourglass idea, I forgot about the blinds. I still could not find your vents you mention in any of the photos. I usually skim through real long responses so this time I read it word for word twice to see if I understood. I am still confused on the vent issue becauase I did not see it anywhere in your pictures. Looking at the last photos you do have a lot of light that most people will kill for.

I have to put a little more thought into your problem once I understand what the vent problem is but I think one of the things you are concerned with is aligning the top of the curtains on the windows AND the door... is that right? Looking at your photos, I don't see that happening. I myself am a person who likes everything in line too but I think you are going to have to trick the eye somehow on these windows.

Get me straight here.
you like the blinds
you want to be able to close off all the light in the day time
you want to be able to open everything at will and still maintain privacy
you have a vent somewhere on the top of the windows that you don't want to cover
the other problem is the length of the sheers

did I miss something? if you can fill in tonight I will try to come up with a solution for you tomorrow after I sleep on it. I will wait for about 15 minutes so hopefully you are still on.

Thank you for replying back so soon. I want to finish my bedroom before I get busier with my busy season so I have a place to find serenity and peace away from my stress and busy days and doctor appointments (had a car accident in August and I am still hurt unfortunately but it could be worse since at least I had my safety belt on as I always do).

I am thinking now that I should treat the balcony door differently after all so that the two windows can have sheers not touching the heating vents that sit flat on the floor and start at 2.5" away from the wall but the heat part of the metal vents starts at 3.5" away from the wall that the windows are on. I just remeasured so it is not as bad as I had thought and this way the clearance of most curtains rods would work with my windows. So you still think the clear rods and not the decorative pineapple rods that I posted the link to in another prior post above should be what is used per window(one rod with finials per window if I am making the door independent)?

I did not see extension clearance rods on the JCPenney site to make the sheers stick out farther from the window so that the clearance is 4.75" which is what I need to be able to open and close the Duet Blinds to have blackout and insulation at night.

I guess since land is so expensive in North Jersey (so close to NYC so the cost goes up) and houses and townhouses cost so much, they make things look so pretty for resale with not much space between windows and others things in the home that the buyer does not realize until they move into their new home that this is the case. I wonder if other areas of the country do this also? I wanted to live in a nice neighborhood and preferred the townhouse at the same cost of a house in a lesser neighborhood. My home is very nice but it amazes me how cheap the builder could be in not giving me more room between the windows and door and not putting molding/trim around the windows.

I thought I liked the one pretty rod idea to move the sheers around but now I see that would mean the rod would stick out far in order to not hit the door's handle and blinds. It may even have to be 5" outward so maybe my initial idea was not that great. I am so glad I posted to ask for help.

You are all the best for making me realize this. Now I guess I must work on my door.

I love the Emma design but it does not have a curtain panel. I still love both the Ivory and the White Sheers and wish I had two rooms to use both colors but my other rooms I feel are done with.

Let me post the other JCPenney sheers they have that I did not like the cream color (more yellow than the pretty ivory color) but maybe their white would be nice. I wonder if I can mix designs or do I have to choose another lace panel to like?

msjay2u, I guess I am confusing people. The only two heating/air conditioning vents in my bedroom are two flat small vents directly on the floor with the carpet cut around them. You can stand right on them. They are in the middle of each window and start at 2.5" from the wall (but the slates in the vents themselves start at 3.5" from the wall) and since the white trim at the bottom of the windows (think is called a window sill) juts out 2.25", if I put sheers on each individual window, they will have to be not much more than a 3" clearance to not cause a fire and not block my heat or air conditioning.

I want light in the day time and darkness and privacy at night. I went with the top down/bottom up honeycombs to achieve this so I could put the tops part way down while getting dressed to have light and then raise the blinds when I am dressed to have more light. But at night, the single pain windows need insulation and they need to darken the windows since my bedroom faces a street with lots of lights from the street lights.

I need to be able to open the balcony door to tell my clients or friends I am running late if they arrive early or I am just not quite ready or doing laundry and I have a visitor. My laundry room is across from my bedroom. This sold me on my home since I love not having to go to a laundrymat. I have an interior townhouse so that is the only wall of windows. I would prefer to have another window on another wall and only two windows on this wall with the balcony in another room since why would I want to sit outside since it faces the street rather than the back of my home that has woods and privacy.

http://www.flooring-nc.com/bcl-plated-steel-registers.htm

11.5" long X 5.5" wide is the measurements of each floor register that my central heat and my central air comes out of. The biggest one of these vents on the link I am sharing looks like my register vents but mine are 1.5" wider.

Here is a link that might be useful: Picture of my register on the floor that has vents to let in heat or air

After considering what others have said, I am beginning to think it is best to put one curtain rod per window and treat the door like a door this way the clearance per the two end windows will be less and maybe the blinds will not go directly on top of the heating vents.

Hence, I will send ideas I have since the Emma blinds I love do not come with shorter sizes. My blinds on my door are 28" wide and 69" long so I need to cover both. The door knob is directly next to the blind on the left.

I want to not bind down the bottom or there may be problems lowering or raising the blinds. I would love to have window treatments that I have the option of having total light come into my window without anything on them if I choose to.

I love the ivory lace so much but due to the door being white, I am thinking the white treatment will make adding other white treatments easier and look like they are part of a set.

Here is one idea of a lace shade from Country Curtains that will have some of the blind show through.

If anyone has suggestions or wants to vote, that would be great. I had planned on one big rod which is the best idea IF I had no heating vents under the windows since I would need 4.75" clearance at least or more for the blinds to stick out from the window to cover the door and that will make them hang a bit on top of the vents.

Here is a link that might be useful: Country Lace Roll Up Shade

My other idea from hearing all of you is maybe two country lace door panels on a rod that I can get brackets to give the clearance I need to go over the honeycomb blinds and door knob which is only 3" if directly on the door and not above the door with the molding trim.

Maybe I can find a rod that would allow me to open and close the blinds to allow light in or just stay hanging there.

Here is a link that might be useful: Country Lace Door Panel

Or maybe I can just put the matching valence on the door that hangs down 30" and not worry about it not covering all of the door's blinds since it is a door. Emma Lace Triangle Door Valence at JCPenney link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Emma Lace Triple Triangle Door Valence

Sophia Sheers Crescent Valance in White may look nice on the balcony door.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sophia Sheers Crescent Valance in White may look nice

Shari Lace Shaped Valence may also look nice on the door

Here is a link that might be useful: Shari Lace Shaped Valence may also look nice on the door

Shari Lace at JCPenney has lace door panels & lace window panels that would fit both windows and doors that are pretty also but a different pattern and can only be ordered online so I can not see what they look like until they arrive but JCPenney has a free shipping offer right now up to 01-07-08 if you spend $99. They also have matching valences if I just want a valence on the door.

Then again, maybe I should just get a long curtain rod with pretty finials with more clearance and not worry about the blinds hanging a bit over the floor heating vents.

Anyone with any time to look and give me their opinion, I would be so appreciative.

I will be back to check messages after my doctor's appointment and then I will be working later on tonight with my employee but I will check messages throughtout the day in case anyone had time to look and had ideas or their voting opinion on what is best to do.

Here is a link that might be useful: Shari Lace at JCPenney has door panels & Window Panels that would fit both windows and doors

I know I posted enough bu I had wanted to show you idea I had based on Les being right (and other agreeing) that I should leave the door as a door with a different window treatment and ahve one curtain rod per window. I will check back later on, if anyone has time to vote. You have all been so helpful adn that I am blessed.

Sorry for so many posts above but I wanted you to be able to click links without copying and pasting like would happen if I put all the links in one email. My employee just left at 9 PM and I was able to focus on work again when she was here so I feel wonderful despite so much pain in my back and neck. I just feel blessed to have found such a wonderful worker who is enjoyable to work with and who I am comfortable with so I am able to focus and get my mind off of my back and neck pain and off of my bedroom decorating obsession. :)

Getting away from my curtain decision has made me feel it will all work out and I will like something but I do want to keep the door separate and no longer have all the curtains on one long rod as I planned to do thanks to you all.

If anyone is not intimidated by all the posts and will vote on one of the links for the door, please let me know.

Also if anyone likes the crinkled sheers like ones of my friends does due to the less bright white it has, please let me know.

I thought about your dilemma today and have a couple of solutions. if you are concerned about the curtains disrupting the flow of air from your vents they do have clear vent extenders that you can put on the floor. I would definately treat the windows as seperate from the door. You can do this by hanging a valance over the windows and use the sheers under it and then do a seperate treatment on the door and it can be in the same fabric.
Thats all I have

Here is a link that might be useful: vent extender

Thank you msjay2u for the link to the vent extender and deflector which I know will be helpful in some rooms. I think as long as I do not put heavy curtains on my two windows in my bedroom and I treat them separately, I will not have the worry I thought since I will not need the 4.75" clearance I thought I did and 2.75" will just work. If I find that I need 3" and the sheers are too close to the vents, I love the deflector idea so the sheers will not be touching the metal heating vents.

I guess no one knows what is best for my door since I have the links above. This post has helped me greatly since now I do not have to find a curtain rod a little bigger than 120" long and if I ever sell my home, I really did not want to block the balcony door but I could not see it any other way until all of you opened my eyes and I know one of the treatments will work.

I still would like to open and close my sheers so I am thinking that 3/8th white rod with the cute pineapples on the end may be nice or the clear ones but the I am not sure if I will be able to open and close the sheers or lace.

Does anyone on this list have the Shari or the Emma Lace and/or anyone can tell me which they like better since the Shari sheers I would have to order online and their white says "cool white" while the Emma Lace panels says only "white".

I also still like the crinkled sheers in a less bright white but I am waiting to see if there are any other people who read this post who would like to vote.

I got so much done today and that has made me realize to take my time and I will love whatever I do to my windows.

Thank you.

P.S. Did you see my link above to what my heating vents/registers look like? You seemed to have gotten it right with the deflectors.