Some window manufacturers offer window grids that go on the inside of the house only. Some friends have a lakehouse with them and they come out in one piece. The wood even goes around the entire inside of the window (like a frame.) Maybe you could find something similar for your windows.

I don't know about that window grid thing. I'll ask DH if he knows if there is a way to insert one and have it look OK.

I know what you mean about window's without grids. DH insisted he have those type in our back and side entry doors for a very good reason. Our cats and dogs would eventually tear up any grids with their claws. This way they have nothing to tear up. To make them even more industrial, we have the blinds in between the glass. Another decision made because of the animals. To me this looks industrial so to soften I'm going to hang drapes on either sides of the doors. I'm also thinking about putting a shelf in between the transom and top of the doors to add some softness up there also. I was going to run that idea by everyone here when it was time for me to be thinking about it.

So my advice to you is cover those babies up or dress around them. I hope that helps.

I was able to get real french doors in between the foyer and the great room. I'm afraid Brutus will do a job on this door over time since it will be closed most of the time to keep the animals out of the foyer.

I think you can hide a multitude of errors with fabric, lots and lots of fabric. HA!

I like brutuses idea of fabric. Could you do straight panels on either side of the windows and then a third panel in the middle to make it look as though they were two narrower windows rather than one wide one?

Oh, my, I do remember fighting with my house. The Atlanta area is very traditional and my home was a pain. Beautiful, but a pain! Wide trim around each window and door. Doors to the outside, no sliders. French doors between the dining room and the great room and between the dining room and the entry. When we were ready to sell, the appraiser told me that the place was contemporary. I didn't say a word--obviously he had only read about contemporary. But in the 10 days the house was on the market, we had 10 offers, 3 of which were full price. Thank heavens I'm in FL where contemporary is the rule, not the exception! Oh the Atl, house had grids, the FL house doesn't. I'm mistaken. The Atl. house had real grids--wooden grids between individual window panes. Wood grids that peeled their white paint when water ran down the single-paned windows due to temperature differences between inside and outside. Do I miss that house?

"obviously he had only read about contemporary." That's funny.

Like Brutuses said, 'cover 'em up'! I would use sheers, floor to ceiling, in a white or ivory. ;o)

Allison ~~

Thanks. I'll look into that. In my last house I had just gotten new windows in a few months before moving -- after years of living with sweaty, moldy, single pane aluminum. Hated those. Loved the new white windows with the double panes and the grids in them (I paid $500 extra for grids on the upper (ground in front) level. They were so pretty!

Brutuses ~~

Amazing how we have to decorate around our critters, isn't it? I'm better off with the grids as they stop my birds from flying into the windows. I used to have a GSD who tore up all my screens on every window. I love light and white furniture, but have all dark upholstery because it's more dog-proof. So boy can I identify! I hope Brutus doesn't rip up your drapes. Mmmm French doors, lucky you! Thanks for asking your DH for me. You know, walls of draperies aren't much better than walls of windows -- both look too modern. But I'll have to do what I can do. Grids would really help.

Budge ~~

I think your idea of three panels might look just great from inside, but bad from the street. I don't think I'd fool anyone as there are other houses/windows much like mine on this street. But it's a thought I could at least try and then see how it looks from both inside and out, thanks.

Beachlily ~~

Looks like you and I want opposite things. I'd have loved your old house. Haha about your appraiser. He has to have read almost nothing to make a mistake like that. I'm happy for you that you got a good price for the old one and now have what you like.

Patty ~~

Thanks. I hope that will help. I have drapes here from JCP still in their packages. The rod that will hold them is on back order and not supposed to be in until Feb! Of course, they didn't say that at the time I ordered them. So I have no idea what they will look like hung up, or if I'll end up returning them and doing something else.

~~

Meanwhile, the f.c. is almost done and should come back tomorrow or the next day maybe. The upholsterer agreed with me that it was created to go against a wall. He says he shored up the back some, but it absolutely has to sit against a wall. That confirms what I had always thought too. So it can't go in front of the window. It has to stay on that half wall. I have to figure out something to do about that to make it all look better.

I'll post a pic of the f.c. when I get it.

Oceanna, my last house was a mid-60's split entry. I never liked it. We bought it because DH took a new job and we were fleeing a severely crashing real estate market in southern NH (1989). We learned from that experience that location, location, location truly are the real estate investment words to live by. So I can totally relate to how you feel about living in a home that is less than your ideal! Although this house went comletely against my tastes (I was very traditional back then), it was a well built house in an aging executive neighborhood in a nice town with a good school system. We got it for a good price because it had been badly neglected for many years (it was actually being rented as a group home, much to the dismay of the neighbors. Realtors couldn't even get anyone to look at!) It had the typical huge living room picture window, and no architectural detail. We refinished all the wood floors, had a traditional painted mantle and surround built onto the plain brick fireplace, added some wainscot and crown molding here and there, etc. 8 years later we sold it in one day for full asking price, despite the fact that "split entry" style homes were probably even less popular (most buyers in my area of NE wanted two story colonials).

If I had stayed in that house, my plan was to add plantation shutters to the huge picture window. I know that would have been a considerable expense, but it would have added architecture to the window--both inside and out. I've seem this used with other similar style homes and I really do think it changes the feeling of the home. Another nice thing abour plantation shutters is that for resale I think they can work with both traditional and contemporary styles. I think this look would work really well with your gorgeous antique pieces!

Just a thought!

What do you do when your house style and your decorating style are fighting with each other?

I moved. There were other reasons for the move, but really, I was glad to get away from a style I didn't like. And no one understood why I didn't like the house. It was gorgous, a traditional center hall colonial. The rooms that we decorated in a traditional style looked great. The one room I refused to do that in, the family room, always looked, well, not right. So I guess my answer is that it is easier to decorate around what the house wants.

Candice Olson did a wonderful remake of a contemporary living and dining room. She added a lot of molding to the rooms.

Honestly, I would either change the decorating style to match the house, or move to a house that matched my style.

But as you said, we are all very fortunate to have a place to keep us warm and safe, no matter the style or how it's decorated!

My previous house was a 1994 tract-type GenericCape. Borrrring. Reasonably cute on the outside, although whoever designed it was drunk when he chose the window and dormer placements because the proportions were off. But I thought it was plain ugly inside, since the rooms were all open to each other without so much as an empty doorframe or soffit between, and even though it was built in 1994 I swear it was built with all the 1980s crap no one else wanted (guess the builder got it all cheap)! I think the only thing that would have really "gone" with the architecture (such as it was) was Pottery Barn! We had no option at the time of moving to a house that matched our style better, we had a limited budget and the selection in the towns where we needed to live for DH's commute was dreadful - since the only one that was in a great location would have required at least $200k in renovations (on a house that was $265k to begin with), we simply took the best-condition one in our price range.

I will admit that I just pretty much rammed my stylistic preferences into it, damn the torpedoes and full speed ahead, and for the most part it did work okay. Probably because the house was SO much of a dull, soulless, boring blank canvas all by itself. I did tame back some of my more over-the-top urges, like the carved-to-death Savonarola chair that I came THIS close to buying :-) because they would have been too much for the house to carry. When we remodeled the master suite I was able to change out all the moldings which made a HUGE difference in getting the atmosphere a little bit more toward the Arts & Crafts-y look I prefer without trying to make it into a bungalow, although we never got a chance to do the rest of the house as we wanted to. Changing lighting to get rid of the "brasstone" and pressed-glass fixtures helped quite a bit. Replacing the ghastly wall-to-wall with hardwood helped a LOT, as did my color choices. We put enough of ourselves into it that it did suck to have to sell it last year, but now it's in the hands of a family who really like it and have promised to take care of it.

To keep your birdies from crashing into the windows, why not hang the sheerest of sheers over the window itself, something like an ultrafine linen (fabrics-store.com has an excellent price on it BTW) or a lovely lace (I love Country Curtains' Point d'Esprit Lace) so you still get plenty of sunlight, as a starter? Those hanging stained glass pieces would also go beautifully with your decor style, and they certainly don't need to fill the whole window to prevent your feathered friends from crashing.

Then, put furniture pieces like benches, console tables, low bookcases, sideboards, under/in front of those horizontal windows to draw the eye down and give the whole assemblage more vertical massing. If you can do flanking draperies that just barely kiss the floor and that also bracket that piece of furniture nicely, it will look even nicer. Don't do sill- or apron-length WTs because those will just emphasize the horizontal nature of the windows and you want the eyes to be going up and down; I think blinds with horizontal lines (wood, Roman shades, etc.) do the same thing but some others don't agree with me. Walls of draperies do NOT have to look modern if you use the right fabrics in generous amounts and loads of trimmings! Do you think a jewel-toned velvet or a heavy damask trimmed with bullion fringe and wide silk braid would look modern? No way!

Now, to get back to your original question about window grids/grilles. I've never used these, but I did have a site called NewPanes in my sixteen gazillion bookmarks. Because of the connectors I'd still want to hang some sheers over them but I think they might look pretty good without completely gutting your poor pocketbook. Fancier but also pricier is Big Blue Window, which makes custom grilles.

BTW, I'll be honest. This last time around, the house I REALLY wanted was a 1972 ranch! It was on a good big lot, had excellent exterior proportions so I could have tarted it up into a cute little cottage with some bungalow flavor, and the interior, although a hideously dated 1970s idea of modern, had a LOT of potential to, again, be tarted up quite prettily. The "Victorian Lite" we ended up in was actually our third choice! Now I do think it's a bit bizarre to take an over-the-top detail-loaded Queen Anne and decorate it in an ultra-contemporary fashion (I cringe whenever I see it, and it's getting all too common) or to cram an Eichler type house with Louis Whatshisface gilded frills-and-furbelows, but something really bland can indeed be amenable to some additions.

I find that the longer I have lived in a home, the more I am able to mesh my style with the style of the house. Living in tract homes helps, I guess, since they have so little architectural detail to work with in the first place. If I had my way, I would have your big windows. Mine are narrow and tall.

Red

Re grids: I had a ton of very plain, Anderson windows when we purchased this early 80's house. Have you looked closely at your windows? Mine have tiny "slots" all around the inside frame of the window, about 6 inches apart. I was able to purchase snap-in grids for all of my windows and the difference was amazing! They are a pain to clean but worth it! Once we installed the (rather inexpensive) grids it made decorating much easier. Instant character. Good luck, I believe I recall seeing photos of your glasswork and it is lovely.

JR

I got VERY lucky with our house. It was exactly what I wanted, so I've been able to decorate in my style. It's a '50's ranch and has some great architectural features. The PO did an addition in the 70's which fit perfectly with what we wanted for the family room. They did some minor upgrades in 2002...new vinyl (grid) windows & sliders, so, while I didn't get the french doors I dreamed of, the sliders are much better than the aluminum framed ones I'm sure existed before.

My ideal style is mediterranean or spanish...stucco and exposed beams, but I can live with what I got. DH loves log cabin, so fortunately the FR has that feel.

Our retirement home is going to be in Arizona or New Mexico, so I'll get my stucco eventually.

The description of your windows reminds me of hotel windows, big and unobstructed for better light and view.

Why not follow their lead of stylish hotels. Hang sheers and curtains made from a luxurious, traditional fabric. I've posted a link to a room in the Hamilton Crowne Plaza in D.C. It has traditional interiors with wide windows.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hamilton Crowne Plaza guest room windows

Well my home has NO style to it at all. Builder's grade everything, basically. It was built in 2001 and we are slowly changing out so many things to make it "our" style. Nothing like buying things twice. Have you checked at any of your local box stores in the doors/windows dept. to see if grids are available for your windows. I bet they are. At Lowe's yesterday, we saw removeable grids for french doors you just snap on. I bet you'll find what you are looking for. That would make your windows look very nice IMHO.

oceanna,

Hi there! we've talked about this one before, but not about the windows specifically. i, too, lived in a dreaded (to my taste) '60's condo with wide short windows. oh, i hated them. i love long, narrow windows that look like french doors!

i tried the grid thng but they wouldn't work in my awful aluminum windows. i couldn't replace them without the whole condo building redoing theirs. so, i decided to fool the eye. i hung a long drapery rod (ten feet) very high, close to the crown. behind it, i hung (higher than the window, of course) bamboo roll down shades, which i kept rolled down to where the window actually started. i hung burgandy taffeta drapes in front of the shades, and hung four panels instead of two. in the center of the window, i used a tieback to hold two panels together, so it looked like two long windows with drapes on either side.

phew. that took longer to explain than it did to make. i made it for super cheap, and it really helped me live with those windows! i picked the matchstick roll down shades because you can get them for next to nothing but they still look good, and they come in three shades of wood. i used the medium shade. i hung the fabric from clip on rings in black iron (matching the rod) and only had to sew the bottom and sides of the panels. i'm kinda lazy like that.

yes, wouldn't it be great if i could post a picture? it's a mystery how i can do a lot of other techie things but i can't manage picture posting on this site. sorry! you can email me, though, and i'll send you pics if you want!

ROFL at decorpas "i love long, narrow windows that look like french doors!" because I have them, and for seven years have had bare windows because I don't know how or where to find window treatments that work!

I guess the grass is always greener...

prairiegirlz,

oh, that's not right! have you tried the swing arm rods?

see, i've got my whole life figured around those french doors....i'm putting them into this living room if it is the end of me. :-)