I would not do a vertical blind. I would some type of horizontal blind, and the type would depend on what I could afford. First choice would be the cheap version of a Silhouette shade, the Shangri-La by Comfortex.

My second choice, and most people here will cringe, but I would put in a 2 inch horizonal metal blind:

http://www.yourblinds.com/mini_blinds_shades.asp?ProductType=MB&BrandID=&SortAttribute=2%22+Slat&Opacity=&GenericColorGroupID=&SortBy=.

Here is a link that might be useful: Comfortex Shangri-La

JC Penney has bamboo panels.

Kennedy bamboo grommet panels.

Brylanehome has them even cheaper

http://www.brylanehome.com/Product.aspx?PfId=11715&ProductTypeId=2&affiliate_id=017&affiliate_location_id=13&mr:trackingCode=69C767A7-D698-DF11-9EB0-002219318F67&mr:referralID=NA

http://www5.jcpenney.com/jcp/X6.aspx?GrpTyp=STY&ItemID=1555361&Nao=0amp;hdnOnGo=true&Ne=840+4+877+878+5+961+6+29+3+598+11+15+12+506+10+23+585+596+1031+8+18+904+903+969+949+833&Ntt=kennedy+bamboo&SearchString=kennedy+bamboo&N=4294959029&SO=0amp;PSO=0amp;CmCatId=searchresults

A couple reasons I hesitate to do a horizontal blind. 1. It was brought to my attention that sometimes when you have a window this wide, it can be difficult to keep the blind level when it's pulled up. Has anyone here had an issue with that? 2. It is a tall window. I forget the formula that you use to determine how much space is taken when the blind is pulled up.
Graywings, why metal and not wood or faux wood? Also, do you think that would tie into bamboo? Or should I scrap the bamboo idea.

Yes, wood or faux wood would be fine too. Aluminum *should* stack slimmer. I don't know whether it would be more resistant to bending. Maybe Bobtheblindguy will stop by with some advice.

Would you do a vertical blind on this window?

NO!

You could just do panels with a blackout lining on a traverse or other rod that you can just open and close.

I do have to wonder about why it would be a 20 minute process to twist the control on three horizontal blinds to adjust for the sunlight, though?

JCP custom decorating has always been pretty pricey, but can you get the items you want in made to measure? They are a great deal and often onsale (like right now!). We did the JCP basswood horizontal blinds in our whole house for about $500-600 using the sales and free shipping. They are super easy to shorten.

You may also want to consider the sliding panels like the PP listed above.

No, do not do a vertical "blind". We just got rid of ours in our kitchen and could not be happier. We updated our French doors to have the blinds between the glass. Looks so much better.

I would do bamboo, overstock has a wide variety of sizes and styles. I would line them if you receive too much light. I would put three on the big window with drapes on each side. I have roman bamboo shades and they are extremely quick and easy to raise and lower, as well as install. And they are affordable. Especially if you're wanting to do bamboo on the other windows, it would go with everything, tie everything togather, and you don't have to dust them like you do wide horizontal blinds. I have those in my big living room picture window (came with the house). They are ALWAYS dusty and they are hard to raise and lower, very heavy.
Have you looked at magic shades? They raise and lower just pulling on them. No cord. May also be an option. You have a beautiful view! Good luck with your decision.

OK, I will scrap the vertical blind idea.

Thanks Kristinekr. I'm loving the bamboo slider from Brylanehome. But I almost think I'd need a track with the window being 8'9" and there will more than likely always be a couch there. What do you think about this in the chestnut or cottage?

http://www.blindsgalore.com/WindowProduct.asp?id=255424

And then I would still be able to do staionary panels on a decorative rod, right? I'll remind you that I have no experience with window treatments so bare with what might be silly questions.

Les, I originally did want full traverse panels, but she priced those that it was going to be more expensive using that much fabric. And with the size of the window, the fabric would cover more of the window than we wanted on the sides.
Oh, and it just took so long to open windows b/c we had two double hung windows in a majority of the rooms in our house and with separate blinds on every window, it just took forever to open windows in that house. And having all the cords with small children made me nervous. I said I wouldn't do that again. :-)

Personally, I wouldn't put panels with the WT you've shown. Are you aware that the panels you show are different than what kristinekr had in her post? The type she was referring to will stack like fabric, whereas the true panel type WT's are a fixed piece 24" wide. Each individual panel stacks on top of the other so when open you'll have 24"+ of material (flat panel) on the end(s)?

I like what kristinekr posted and have never seen them before but I think you're going to want to find something lined if you want to block out the sun.

Another option is to hang one wide horizontal cellular shade and then hang fabric panels on each end. I'm pretty sure the width you have can be done with one horizontal header. If you want to avoid using a valance or cornice to hide the header, then you could buy a cellular the same color as your trim and mount it at the top of the window trim (outside mount).

I've used cellulars before on large windows and loved the fact that the header is low profile and when the shade is fully open the stack took up only 2" of space.

no! no vertical blinds ever!
how about some bamboo or wood shades with a neutral duck cloth drapery?

I wouldn't do vertical blinds with your plaid sofa. I think it would be too many lines for your room. Curtains or something softer would look better to me.

OK, I think I'm going with a cell shade. While talking it through with all of you I realize it meets the most items on my criteria. Thank you all for your help. Hopefully I'll get these going and be back soon with help dressing these windows up.

Why the complete horror at the idea of vertical blinds? I knew they weren't as popular as they used to be, but they certainly make sense in a lot of applications. We have a floor-to-ceiling 12'+ wide window in our living room and *need* privacy. We've had vertical blinds for the last 25 years or more. The current set is soft off-white and stacks pretty slim. Generally the panes are rotated open rather than fully pulled aside, but it's nice on occasion, like after a snowfall, to have them wide open. They're not completely opaque so they let in some soft light even when completely closed; our previous set, fabric backed by rigid plastic, was better at blocking light, but we didn't really need a blackout feature in that room. When closed they're flat and not intrusive, just a plain backdrop.

I've no immediate plans to replace them but have wondered idly what I would choose. I'm not sure any kind of horizontal blind comes that big, and I know from experience with a smaller window that wooden blinds can be VERY heavy in big sizes. We could get side-by-side cellular shades but from what I've seen it can be difficult to get them to align without being crooked. We also have a couch in front of that window so it would be difficult to raise and lower separate sections unless there was a remote control. The current vertical blind is all one piece with controls in a convenient place.

Pleated traditional draperies can look nice but are VERY expensive, and perhaps too formal for our mixed contemporary style (though I know that's debatable). The previous owners had beautiful custom-made lined draperies and I'm sure they paid a fortune, but by the time we moved in the linings were completely sun-rotted.

I don't get many ideas from magazines because they generally show big windows as bare, but that's not an option in a neighborhood with close-set houses like ours. I also hate the black hole look of bare windows at night.

I'd love to hear some suggestions for treating such a big window.

cellular are easy and are very lightweight and stack slim...but i don't know if that would look best with woven woods in kitchen.... i would be inclined to go with 2" wood blinds in a finish that complemented the woods in kitchen... i like wood blinds with leather furniture. BUT, they are heavy, so you would have to leave them down and just open/close them---not a great option if you really prefer open, bare windows most of the time.

lovesummer,
I totally agree with you, especially since my family room has all verticals. Like you, my windows are wide, deep and tall and we like lots of light, so verticals just work best for this room. The reason I used them is because I wanted something that would block the west setting sun, stack nicely and allow full view when open, and gather little to no dust. They're not the plastic, or plastic backed verticals, but the soft fabric that stacks tightly. All windows are inside mount and the slider is outside.

I didn't recommend them to the OP since I thought she was wanting fabric panels on the window, plus, I knew the idea would be shot down from previous posts on the forum. I think they work very well in certain rooms and if it helps convince anyone, I've seen Candice Olson use them.

We had a three window unit (110") much like yours in a previous home. The first treatment we did was three individual 2" wood blinds with one wood valance that covered all headers. After a couple of years, we got tired of the time/energy it took to open and close daily--we had a wonderful view and wanted it totally pulled up, not just open. Then we replaced it with a Hunter Douglas cellular shade that covered the whole unit. We really liked that and could pull it easily and it only had a small stack, maybe 2-3". We did window coverings over this for softness and finish. Our window was a recessed one with a window seat ledge so shade was an inside mount, but think you could do the same thing with the right rods outside. HTH

We have some very wide windows in our house too and used pinch pleats on traverse rods, because we have small children and I wanted to avoid blinds. The ones from Country Curtains are very nice, and if you've never dealt with installing a traverse rod before and aren't sure what you need, their phone operators are very helpful. (You don't have to use a traverse rod but it does make it faster to open and close the curtains.) I'll link ours below. Don't worry about the "homespun look" they mention on the web page -- ours are the natural color and pretty well match our wall paint, and they are a neutral look in the room. They don't draw attention to the window one way or the other. Pinch pleats are not a look everyone wants, but they were the simplest way for us to cover our wide windows and I like them very much.

We also have JC Penney pinch pleats over sheer pinch pleats on a double traverse rod on another wide window. I like those too; they are a thinner fabric than the insulated ones from Country Curtains, so they stack smaller at the sides. The fabric on those has a slight sheen, so they loos more formal than the Country Curtains ones. Those were not custom; they were the premade ones off the website, and I can't remember how much they cost but it was probably similar to the cost of the ones from Country Curtains.

Here is a link that might be useful: Country Curtains insulated pinch pleats for wide windows

I too have drapes on traverse rods. When the drapes are open they look nice and are completely off the window. And, if you mount them high, it makes your ceiling look taller. But in your case, if you keep your couch in that location floor to ceiling drapes may just not look right.

I'm not crazy about verticals, even when they were in style. Verticals make people uncomfortable because they are like bars in a prison cell IMO. They say STOP. Whereas horizontal bars are more inviting for the eye to look through.

I've had wide cellular shades. I could never get them to hang straight when I pulled them up, too much weight and cord to make everything coordinate without a struggle.

Not all horizontal shade operating mechanisms are equal; some have quicker adjustments. The wands are annoying. Truthfully, I think three inside mounted white horizontal 2" shades would look awesome in your windows. Coordinate that with some cloth Romans in the kitchen area and you may feel it not necessary at all to pull up the horizontals with full view in the kitchen.