Hi. Hope you don't mind a reply from a newbie. I think that since you love both your drapes and the look of drapes on clip rings that you should buy the clip rings. Not only would the rings make it easier to open and close your drapes, if you desire to do so, but they'd reduce wear and tear on the fabric. It could actually be the more frugal choice, since it could prolong the life of your drapes.

I would go w/the clip rings.

Either way is fine, but it sounds like you really want the rings. How will that affect the length of your drapery?

I don't think it would look better than what you have installed right now and hangs very well; I personally would not bother, it looks perfect as is.

Such a pretty room even w/out the new paint!
I vote for white clip rings~ I can't believe what a difference those little gems make. :)

I had my living room drapes on clip rings but switched to wooden rings that I sewed into the drapes--they work much better if you are actually opening/closing the drapes. The clips on the ends of the drapes were always coming off because of us pulling them, especially since we had telescoping metal rods whith the bump in the middle. I got nice wooden rings at Lowe's to match new wooden rods (which look like yours) and they work great and eliminate frustration of the clips coming off weekly. If your drapes are lighter weight and unlined clips may be fine but if they're heavier I'd recommend sewing in rings. It took me about 20 minutes per drape to sew them in (by hand, at the dining room table) so no biggie to do.
I love your room and think you've done a fabulous job!

If you're keeping your drapes pulled to one side, I would keep them as is. The rings will slide along the pole and won't stay put if they're pulled to one side

Thanks so much for the input! Gracie01 brings up a point that's been on my mind about the curtains on the small windows sliding out of place if they're on clip rings. So tell me this - do you think those windows would look better with a panel hanging on each side? That would, of course, entail ordering one more pair - but I'd be willing to do that if it would look better than what I've got now.

Using clip rings will make the drapes puddle a little bit more on the floor, but they puddle already.

Memazz, I hadn't even thought about the clips detaching. My drapes are lined, so that may be a consideration. Thanks for the suggestion of sewing in the rings.

Thanks for your kind words and helpful advice, everyone!

I vote for 2 panels each. But it's a personal preference for me, I've never cared for the one panel window.

Only thing about white clip rings is, wouldn't they kind of stick out like a sore thumb? I like the rods you have now. :)

I do not think you need more panels. I think that might take away from the fire place. You could try hanging then straight down for a modern look. I see two windows on one wall with only one straight panel hanging on each often in mags and blogs now. Thenclips might look ok but not with the angled look.
Very lovely room in a beautiful house!

I love the way you have them set up right now but, since you like the clips, get one package and try them. You never know, they may hold in place just fine. If they move an inch or two initially it won't make any difference to the impact of the single drape on either side of the fireplace. They'll still frame out the fireplace in a very unique way. It brings the eye directly to the focus point. Good job.

Oh, this is so timely - I'm going through the same debate and am 90% sold on going to rings. But for practical reasons - I use extension rods and my panels get caught up on the spot where little rod goes into big rod. And the rods are 9' up... and I'm only 5'10... so all I can do is stand there and yank until it comes clear. Good thing we used the anchors when we installed the rods!

But I LOVE the look of rings. And I think they would be absolutely charming in your space... but maybe not "clip" rings. I'd take the time to attach them, if you had some fabric scraps or something (if you needed to hem the length the accomodate the rings, you night get scraps that way), or could sew them in (think this was mentioned above). There's something a little "messy" and something a little "cheap" about seeing the clips themselves that I never care can quite get over, and your space is so lovely and warm... I just don't see the clippies.

I'm also going to echo something noted above. If you go to rings, you won't get that nice (sash? swag? pullback?) look to your curtains unless you really work for it, or somehow block the rings - but then you lose the great functionality. I tried to keep that look on DH's WTs, also on rings, and gave up. Now I usually just let her panels hang straight down, covering up the adorable holdbacks I labored on for 2 weekends.

I vote yes to rings. I like the look much better than gathered on a rod.

And, I vote yes to 2 panels per window on fireplace wall IF there is room for a panel on fireplace sides. I'm not a fan of the 1 swagged panel on a window, but I get that sometimes there isn't room for another.

Don't you just love how I can spend YOUR money when you said you're trying to be frugal :-)

Thanks so much for the additional input! I see Avesmor's point about the clips ... I wasn't quite sure about the look of the actual clip on the ring either. Would there be anything wrong if I used drapery pins on the backside of the curtains and attached the rings (sans clips - I'd get the kind with the little ring on the bottom of the rings) to the pins? I think those pins are intended for pinch-pleat drapes (and I've used them on the window treatment in my dining room), but don't see why they wouldn't work here as well. Thoughts?

I think that would actually be the preferred method; what I did (sewing the hooks directly to the drapes) means that when I want to have the drapes cleaned I'll have to cut the hooks off....but like Scarlett , I'll think about that tomorrow.

Jen, that is exactly what I did with my burlap drapes.