I'm in the minority as well. I don't leave window's undressed. It's the RARE window that wouldn't be improved with a window treatment. In that paticular window I'd keep it within the confines of the frame...fairly simple, but well done. I'd also leave the wall as is and paint just the inside of the frame if it's a drywall frame (It looks like that to me). I'd do that in a bold color and pick a window treatment color that blends with the wall color.

I live where all of the views in my home are fabulous (on a lake which is to the side and infront of our home). Even with those views I still will be dressing all of the windows except one in our entry way. The difference between your entry way window and mine is that mine is octagonal and very large, and it is at eye level as you enter the house. The view through it is one of the best of the lake. I debated long and hard with myself about leaving it bare, but finally let the smart me win :oP but for every other window...view or not, treatments are a MUST in a finished home.

I think moving the scrollwork from above the door to where the narrow picture is would fill in and complement your grouping, without resorting to WT.

The FAKE plant with up-lighting (no one wants to water a plant that high up, hehe), would go better than the vase of grasses and the floor lamp with your giraffes.

I do like the giraffe painting, and think you should try it at eye level in the foyer, if possible. The repetition of elements is a very effective way of tying the look together.

I also like the trunks, they suggest travel to far off lands. BTW are those dried florals or feathers? Wouldn't feathers be an interesting texture? but maybe too dusty up there.

I would also consider changing the hanging light fixture to one with a warmer shade, with darker metal accents. This would complement the scrollwork.

I love the accent wall color, think that is really the way to go. I vote for a soft gold color.

I'd be inclined to trim out the window with mouldings. Although the space around the arch looks a bit tight from here -- probably due to the angle of the photo though. I'd also trim out the ledge like a sill, trim the left door entrance (the right is trimmed), and maybe even trim out the bottom of whatever the drywall piece running out from the ledge area is (hard to tell what's going on).

Then I would just let the door area soar and not break the flow with the iron piece or by decorating the sill. Although maybe it's very high and you just didn't like that effect? Painting the window area little sunnier might be nice but it's hard to get a feel for it all with the limited photo and angle of the shot.

Essentially, I'd let it be the beautiful architectural feature that it is and not try to decorate or change it : ) Just accentuate it with supporting mouldings.

I haven't read all the posts, only some, however, I would like to throw in another approach, just for options. If that were my space, I would cover the left wall with framed drawings and/or paintings, lots of them, and on the right wall I would hang a tapestry. On the shelf I would have several tall vases or a great architectural fragment. I wouldn't do anything over the door.
I think what you have up there now is too dinky, and I hate saying it, cheap looking. If great accessories are not in the budget, consider doing some cool things with paint.

It's not really the money though. A huge bouquet of curly willow in a well proportioned vase might look wonderful too.
I planted some curly willow just so I could have great quanties of the stuff.

I just reread my post and I want to say I'm truly sorry for posting that. You didn't ask for an opinion on your accessories and I shouldn't have given an opinion on them.

I think you have your answer but just wanted to add my .02 I think window coverings on that window would look very strange. I don't think every window needs something, especially this one. It's already a beautiful window as is. I also love the idea of an accent color! ;c)

Flyingflower - you asked "What is that little thing next to the luggage? I'd remove that as well since it's too small to even know what it is (a rock? a turtle?) and does nothing to improve on the composition other than to appear as more clutter."

That would be a birthday balloon that floated up there and died. I have to get a ladder out to get it down. There are actually two dead balloons up there. I dont know why they had to fly up there before they died. (hubs b-day was in the beginning of this month)

Bumblebeez - no need to apologize. I have been on this forum and others long enough to know that if you post a question, you're gonna get all kinds of answers and suggestions and I can't take it all too personally. I thank you as well for your input.

Thank you all~ You've got a great forum here with many "good eyes".

This squirrel does carpentry :) Here are some moulding ideas. It's hard to tell what's going on from the pic, or what the white ?shelf piece is over the right door. Just conceptual not specific as to the perfect moulding widths, styles, etc. Of course, then I had to paint :)

As far as the accessories up there, the window is so short that it really does seem to need something. What you've done looks great, imo, and it works.

btw, this is a window treatment :)

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Squirrel: Nice job with the paint. I would have a hard time selecting a color. Really like the green selections though -- all of them!

I love the last trim pic above where the top echoes the top of the door frame, coming out just a bit from the verticals. Very nice design that relates to something else in the field of vision and is more than the sum of its parts!

Ok NOW we're talking Squirrel! And the best part of this is that my husband is a cabinetmaker. He's made some beautiful pieces in our home and he could do this blindfolded!

I just showed him what you've done and he likes it a lot. I like the window framed better than any type of curtain that's for sure. It really finishes it off nicely I think.

OH the hanging lamp - one day (soon I hope) we'll get a different one for this entry way. The one that's there was supplied by our builder. So many other bigger things we had to do, it is on the bottom of our list right now.

Thanks squirrel! You're good.

Get outta here with dh!! Now we're cookin' is right :)) lol. And a dispute settled at that :)) Get dh started on the mouldings. Not only are they so beautiful to live with, but will enhance your home's value and market appeal nicely.

Funny, I had just been working on removing the light fixture, which seems lost up there anyway :) I think you will like how it looks without it! as the window can really shine. Actually, thinking about this a little more -- that area really does need something up there -- but, if you had an appropriately large chandy, decorating the shelf might become unnecessary as it would be a nice canvas to view the chandy against. Hm? Trimming out the sill would still work and enhance the whole area.

Not sure if it's doable, but I've installed some crown moulding in this last shot. It might be necessary to balance/finish off some of the more extensive trimwork options if they were to be done. Totally not necessary with Fly's favorite :) which is easy and looks quite appropriate from what I can see from here -- you are the best judge of that :) I also made a taller door header. Still like the iron piece (although it's a little tight now), but it works without also.

Anyway, I had wanted to show the soft creamy yellow which had somehow gotten lost from my last post (tough color to mix with your wall color, but this one is lovely with it). It looks best with all the white mouldings, rather than just the trimmed sill. Ended up doing the crown and removing the fixture, as well, lol.

I also like the brighter white ceiling, which flows up from the door to the sill to the header very nicely, imo. Maybe makes no sense overall, but from here it's working nicely :)

Curious what the trim piece is off to the right over the door. ???

I'd take away the lamp and picture and leave the window as is. It's very pretty alone.

For me, the problem with all those things up there on the ledge -- the plants, the floor lamp, the trunk -- is that they seem to create a little room that no one goes into. Who waters the plants (even fake)? No one! Who turns on that lamp? Nobody! (But yes, how do you turn on that lamp up there?) It just doesn't quite make sense.

But I agree that it needs something. I like the idea of the fake plants, maybe uplights (who will turn them on?), a different paint color but maybe something more dramatic than those shown, some trim done by your talented husband, and a new, more spectacular chandelier in the foreground.

I think your decorating abilities are fine, you're just trying different things out like everyone does!

Squirrel, that is crown moulding you're seeing to the right of the door........ here is a picture of it so you can see it better.

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Wooderlander, my husband installed an electrical outlet up there and we turn the lamp on or off by the light switch on the wall. Sort of like an overhead light? It's up on the ceiling and you have a light switch on the wall. Here is a picture of the light switch. The one that controls the lamp up there is the switch that stands alone.

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This is what I was saying about a substantial chandelier filling the space and having the area beneath the window act as a blank canvas for the chandy's lines.

Hmm. No wonder I couldn't figure out what was going on.

(I want that cozy 'library' :)

I would not paint that wall a different color. I don't think you are really trying to make a space that draws people's attention away from the rooms around it, but rather to finish the look of the area. Having a completely different wall color up there will seem odd, and perhaps create a sense that you ran out of paint to finish that wall.

I think some trim around the window is a great idea. (I would also add trim around the entry to the room on the left, to match the right side). I wouldn't add the crown up high, etc, especially by the demilune window - I think it will look crowded - nor would I add it at the point on the side walls where the first floor crown would normally be. I think it would chop up the wall areas too much.

I would add a much more detailed, interesting chandelier up there, to help fill the space. The one now kind of just looks like a flying saucer, since all you see is the bottom.

I would take down the lamp and the giraffe picture. The trunks on the left side are fine, but I would add a piece of colorful fabric angled or a throw on top of the large trunk and then put the smaller ones on top, to break up the solid brown. I would replace the smaller brown arrangement with something with more green that is also taller, and add an uplight behind that. Pull them to the right just a little, too, so they don't look jammed in the corner.

On the right side, I would look for a tall vase that could hold long river cane and grasses, and keep that in from the right a few inches, again so it isn't jammed into the corner.

Finally, I would consider adding a wrought iron railing up there, that attaches on the front of the ledge and comes down as low as the amount of side wall that you see that notches to meet the ledge. It would feel almost like a little juliet balcony, not like an open room. I would remove the wrought iron piece from above the entry door.

These virtuals are more contemporary with the mouldings, and accounting for the side areas in your latest shots. The same moulding as the side crown is used to cap the shelf. The last virtual shows crown at the ceiling level, if room permits. Hard to say whether that would give a more finished look, complementing with the crown below, or not, without really understanding the space. The chandy is also bigger this time -- not sure where it would fall, though.

Looking at your latest pics, the area looks a good bit wider than this photo I've been working with. So, the narrowness is deceiving in the virtual, I think.

Also trying a full accent wall. I don't think you'd really need anything on the shelf, unless it's quite deep, as the mouldings and chandy are beautiful details. But I do love those 'unexpected' giraffes up there :))

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I'd stop focusing on the window and wall, and do something decorative with the ceiling... possibly a painted finish (metallic? pearlized?) and a light fitting chosen to complement the finish. You won't need to be desperately trying for height in what is on the ledge and the window itself if the ceiling is less visually empty.

What if the area were turned into an outside-in balcony? By this I mean fill in the area below the window with shutters (either raised panel or louvered)in white. Then, place a rod below the semicircular window. Do panels tied back at the top of the shutters - but pushed back so they aren't touching at the center. Then accessorize in front of that backdrop. I was thinking a large hammered metal planter with faux geraniums in a great color. Love the more trimmed out look.

I'd love to see this mocked up...hint,hint!

We just built a model home and it has a wiondow like that.I think like a sheer...not swag just a small sheer piece kinda like a scarf drooped over rod would be pretty.

Here's the foyer widened a bit, more like it seems in the latest pics at eye level. A grayed olive-y green, and a soft brown is really nice too.

One thing I'm really trying to show is the way the chandy fills things out. This shape seems to work really nicely, and the area feels complete just with the trim and an appropriate fixture.

The other is the crown moulding at the ceiling. I do like finished seams :) This is a narrower style moulding, which seems to work fine, and better due to the seeming space constraints. Just finishes the edges, in a contemporary way. Looks ok without, but I prefer it finished (from here, anyway, without seeing the whole area :)

Of course, the shelf depth might be an issue, and whether to just trim the edge or the base also, which is what I was envisioning.

Looks to be maybe 12" deep?

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That looks great, I love the fixture you put there too. You've really taken a lot of time giving me so many visuals, that's really nice of you squirrel. Thanks.

When we finally decide on what we'll do up there, I'll be sure to post a picture!

Thanks to everyone for all your input.

Please do! Your welcome : )

Oh, meant to add - all this time all I thought we needed to do up there was add some type of window treatment ..... hahahah!!! Knee slapping I tell ya.

I feel like I had my own little HGTV Show here - "Dormer Do-Over"

I'll be around!

I think this type of treatment would look nice (sorry to disagree!)

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or

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The first thing I thought of was putting an uplight on a timer - that way you don't have to worry about turning it off and on. We have timers all over our house - even outside uplighting the exterior!!

Love the window - it sure brings the outside in. Lovely home too.

dgmarie, that's pretty.

Very pretty, dgmarie, especially the top one for that style window. Adds a soft, graceful touch.

Ha! This place is ~spooky~ I was just getting back to Square One, too. Do we need a wt? lol. So, with your window as it is, yes, I would. I just put a little sheer up here as suggested but now see some other examples.

Back to the unsolicited advice, lol, 'cause that's kinda what we do around here, looking at all this stuff ;) I like what you've done up there very much. The only thing that feels off (not bad, just hmmm) is the painting smack center. The area does need something tall, so I'd just shift that off to the left and pull it off by overlap it with something smaller beneath.

Beautiful treatments, dgmarie! -- A bit fancy for safari, though :) I didn't know what to put up there, so just did a little knotted swag to soften it up :)

HTH!

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Ok, here's a real wt :) Marie's second pic lends nicely to your safari accessories. Your window is somewhat short, so showing a few lengths. Right or wrong in the world of wt design, with your window, I like the treatment draping beneath the sill line (unlike the inspiration pic).

Also prefer the trimmings :)

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Well now that's exactly what I had in my minds eye when I said I thought it needed a window treatment, just a sheer scarfie type thing like THAT!

But now that I see the different colors that would look so nice and the framing around the window... aye yi yi.

Not sure what to do now. But it's going to have to wait a bit because hubs is in the middle of building our bar now. After that, yes. But so many decisions now! hahahah!

Definitely with color. The drape-y one Marie posted (first example pic that should have been) is great with your accessories, imo. The length still has my eye. Maybe long and puddled?

(NO MORE DECORATING TODAY Squirrel!! -- BACK, BACK IN YOUR CAGE!)size>

Hey I like how you moved the tall picture over and added another little picture. First I thought hey, where'd I get that? haha! Silly.

Squirrel, you are so talented with that photoshop program. Even my husband was impressed with you! Thanks again~

Love those nuts :) You're welcome! :)

I would just put in the trim around the window and get a bigger/better chandelier. Since your husband can do the trim it should be easy.

The lamp and some of that other stuff on the ledge has got to go. Why do you have a lamp up there? Does anyone sit up there and read? Right now it kind of looks like a giraffe shrine.

The more I look at the pictures, the more I want to remove everything; for now what works for me is the added trim around the window and a more substantial light fixture.

Not all vacant space has to have stuff on it. Bare is nice and wonderful. specially above a main door that has an ornament over it.

I LIKE this look, but the treatment needs to have more substance and be much darker. Otherwise is disappears from a distance.

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How about this fabric instead?
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or

but hung as above?

You don't want overkill either. IMO, any sort of WT is unnecessary if you, #1/change the fixture to something more grand, #2/place several plants in a rectangular container, such as a window box. Add wood embelishments to the box and paint it in a metallic color, but tone down with a glaze.

IMO, your little space looks like a staged room, rather than the nice window alcove that it is. Keep it simple. Painting a contrasting color is a great idea, and would give enough punch without the frou-frou.

I'll be having two spaces such as yours in the house i'm building, and the only time they will be decorated with anything other than silk plants will be Christmas. You can go hog-wild with a Christmas vignette!

I think a swag wouldn't be overkill. I would however remove the floor lamp and simplify the vinette.

A giraffe shrine? Well I do like giraffes but never meant for it to look like shrine.

We've looked at these things up there again and took into consideration what you've all suggested and we have come to the conclusion that we like it the way we have it decorated. We like the lamp, we like the giraffes.

I agree that we should move the picture over and put something smaller with it and I'd love to frame the window. That looked beautiful the way squirrel did it. Oh and a new light fixture, that's a given, we're just waiting for xtra cash to do that. That was at the bottom of our list since there were so many other things we wanted to do in this house.

dgmarie I like the different materials you posted.

I think this space would look really terrible if there was nothing up there. It needs something.

I'm wondering if the pictures I've posted don't do it justice? If you stand in here and look up, it's really a nice look and we've gotten so many compliments on it. I just wanted to soften that window up somewhat but didn't know if we should or not.

Now I'm just as confused as I was when I first posted my plea for help. Plus now I'm aware that my decorating skills lack. Cheap, a shrine, cluttered...... eek.

That said, you have not scared me off! I'm staying right here. I think this forum has many talented people on board. So,thanks again for the help.

shaun, don't be confused. It's par for the course, sometimes. Tastes here vary widely, but imho there is no "right" way to do anything, no "set" rule. The best thing you can do for yourself is glean tidbits of info offered that appeal to you, and discard what doesn't. It's your home and your space, and you and your DH being content with it at the end of the day is what matters most!

Wow am I late to the party! lol

No way to possibly read everything so I scanned.

Last summer we walked a few Hov homes that had similar windows, wish I would have taken pictures. What their designer did was beautiful. One had florals, think it was a fireplace screen that was painted. IIRC, they softly draped the window with some sort of light scarf.

To do WT or not, depends on what else you have going on IMO. If you go with less stuff, a light treatment is nice.

I like the two toned walls.

FWIW (for what it's worth), I think you did a great job with your arrangement -- and I adore those two giraffes munching up there :) even with a grand chandy, lol. I'd just keep the center pic off-center, back in the bushes a bit : ) not smack dab in the middle. As far as the light, it's like they're basking in the Sun :) And if you're enjoying it, too, well, that's why it's up there! I can imagine after trimming and getting an appropriate fixture, for many, it would still need something on the ledge. Esp if it's maybe a foot deep. I'd also imagine it was intended for display or it wouldn't be quite so deep.

Anyway, do remember, you are actually in the space. Not only can you see the bigger picture, but you can also see and feel what it needs much better than anyone sitting out here lookin' at some tiny little photo : ) And it's obvious from reading on GW that the people who contribute here vary in their preferences and style widely. Just 'take what you need, and leave the rest' as they say : ) Apply as needed.

I don't know why some people need to 'sting' with their comments to make their point, but they do come around here. Grain of salt.

And you're so right -- pictures never do justice : ) (Unless, of course, they're selling something :)

It does sound like you've figured out what you want to do now, though. If it's the sill you're confused about, you've figured that out too -- you like it up there! and don't without : )

Enjoy having made somewhat of a decision with dh about the treatment -- trim at this point : )

I am a firm believer that you do only what makes you and your family happy. After all you live there!
Naturally by asking questions here you will get many opposing opinions. Which one is right? How do you know what then to do?
You must decide, regardless of everything posted here, to do what feels best to you. I think that's something most of us here do agree on.

Exactly! Thanks for helping me get the feel.

I came away with wonderful ideas that's for sure; ideas I wouldn't have thought of on my own.

Great forum. I hang out on the Cooking forum if anyone ever needs help with a recipe! haha! xoxo

i personally am not a fan of "right" and "wrong" ways to decorate. your home should reflect you and your family. it's cool that you have giraffes up there....it's different and obviously something you like. a home, imho, is supposed to invite the guest to get to know you better.

i find rooms where every detail is coordinated a bit too perfect for me, but i can appreciate how pretty they are. i like things to look collected. viva la difference or something like that.

As one of Shaun's Cooking Forum buddies, I have been eager to see how this works out for her. I'm glad that so many of you have been so helpful.

P.S. I can verify that she has cooking skills!

*Shaun really prefers frogs to giraffes! Not!

I DO NOT!!!!! STOPPIT! hahahah!!!
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