I love the look and, if you have a simple room, the combo will look wonderful. I'd go with cream or very light tan roman shades and white sheers. Are you going to make the sheers or do you have a place where you'll buy them. I'd like to buy some myself for my studio.

Hi. Thanks. The sheers that I posted are from Country Curtains. I think that's what scares me about them. For the most part, I find Country Curtains to be too frilly for my taste.

The sheers are 40 inches wide and two of my windows are only 27 inches. I wonder how they will look if they are gathered to fit the space.

Here is a link that might be useful: link to sheers.

I think it's a very pretty look, romantic, not country or cutesy.
I'd go with white if it is to coordinate with the bed.

I don't do anything cutesy although I do like some modern country accents, i.e. a huge dough bowl, pottery... I would use those curtains in a guest bedroom although maybe not somewhere else.

Another option would be a sunscreen roller shades behind the Romans. It's a much different look than the pictures of the sheers but I've seen others do this and it with good results.

I think that another issue here will be proportions. In the last picture, you can see that each section of window treatment takes up app. 1/3 of the window, and the human eye just plain likes things in threes. If I were you, I would take the measurements of the room, the window, and major items in the room, and then make a few copies of that basic drawing. Then I would draw the treatment options on top of the copies to see what proportions work and what doesn't.

On the country/cutesy note, I'd have to say that it depends on what you have going on in the space, and what kind of look you're going for. I know that's horribly vague, but I'd love a pic of the room you're considering it for, plus one or two inspiration pics for the style that you're after.

Oh, and they definitely look way more cutesy with the little bows in the second pic then without them in the third. Those little details can be a deal-breaker, so attaching some alternative way to keep them up (buttons, grommets, leather straps/belts, something with nailhead trim) could push them into a whole different area stylistically. I've included an inspiration pic:

Note that in the pic you posted, the sheers are essentially flat, not gathered. Also tying bows, IMO, is a PITA. And if they are tied up, they won't provide privacy.

You might consider getting a textured woven and hang it from a tension rod to cover the bottom portion of the window.

I did this as a temporary privacy solution in my master bath. My long term solution involves cutting up what remains of my wooden carved screen from the old house and turning them into privacy shutters....or a window film...or a stained glass piece to hang in front....and that's why the temporary solution is still there!

It is a bit cutesy for my tastes, but my taste runs contmporary. I would prefer a sheer roller shade behind the natural roman shades you have, or a solar shade like bobtheblindguy suggested. Here's an image of 2 shades on a window, not exactly what I am proposing since this image is 2 roller shades, but perhaps it will help.

In the past I have had tie up curtains like you are considering. I did not have them under Roman blinds so I can't speak to that but by experience I can agree with Annie that they are a PITA to raise back up after they have been lowered. It is difficult to get the folds/ gathers to look neat and even.

Great ideas here. I would post a picture of the room but it currently has toys from when my grandnieces were visiting, my son's snowboard, and about three quilts that I am considering for the bed, along with their packaging scattered about. It is a pretty ho-hum room. My house has location, location, location, but what it does not have is charm.

The ceiling slopes down in one end of the room, so the two windows at that end are smaller than the one on another wall.

As far as privacy, what I need is something to make it more difficult for people to see in at night but that allows sun in during the day. I feel like I am in a fishbowl when I go in that room at night, but I don't want to pull down the roman shades. They are room darkening and work very well for sleeping or when complete privacy is needed. However, they must be up during the day.

Another problem I have is that the interior window molding is very narrow. I was going to use narrow tension rods to hold the sheers, which I now think will not work due to the width. The ties would not be an issue because I would not be putting them up and down. The bows were really putting me off and I was hoping perhaps the tails could be cut off after tying, or perhaps tie with simple knots.

Okay, I just took some photos. Here are the two smaller windows. Please ignore the antique Fisher Price toys!

And here is the taller window. I grabbed some semi-sheers from another room so you can see how that looks. I'm not crazy about it.

AND, while I've got your attention, would you add some sort of valance to these cellular blinds in my den? If so, what style? This room tends to be dark, so I don't want to cover the windows.

I could hang the valance at ceiling height so it only covers the very top of the shades.

"Please ignore the antique Fisher Price toys!"

That FP castle is one of my favorite childhood toys... hard to ignore. I saw it in the photo and got a little excited. ;)

I don't think your semi-sheers from the other room work at all... Your roman shades are very crisp w/ straight lines. I think a sheer underneath needs to be similar to complement it. (As such, your inspiration photo wouldn't work to my eye.)

Will you have the sheer solution down all the way? I imagine you would want to if privacy was your goal... but your inspiration doesn't suggest that? I agree to just get a simple sheer roller shade and keep it down.

Thanks. Yes, that castle belonged to my son who is now 40. It remains a favorite, even though the pink dragon was lost long ago.

I don't go in that room a lot. It's on the second floor, so people walking or driving past have to look up to see into it. They get a great view of the ceiling fan and anyone walking around. If the view into the top half of the window is reduced, that solves the problem. I think I tend to avoid going in there at night with the lights on because I feel as if I am in a Broadway show. You can't see in during the day because of reflection.

The sheer roller shade is sounding good, plus the old hardware from previous roller shades is still there.

Can anyone suggest a place to order sheer fabric roller shades online? I'd rather not go running from place to place looking.

Also -- any ideas for my den window, posted above?

You all are good!

I see what you are trying to do....but just want to add my two cents and it isn't worth much but......if you put sheers under your blinds, it looks backwards to me. Sheers should be outside and blinds inside.....Maybe that is because I have sheers with roller blinds under them....that said..could you put a sheer on the bottom half of your window for privacy and when you need total privacy (at night) pull the blind down all the way over the bottom sheer? How will what you are trying to do, look from the outside of your house?

An alternative to sheers is that textured plastic privacy film--easy to apply and remove, like a decal, no adhesives. I like the rice paper texture, but the different textures have different privacy degrees. It might look interesting with the Roman blinds. T

There are a number of good places to buy solar shades online. But if you don't want to shop around too much, check out selectblinds, shadesshuttersblinds.com or stevesblinds. Some solar shades are more transparent than others. If you want more transparent, look for 14%. The lower the % the more opaque it becomes. I don't think you will be-able to re-use the old roller shades brackets you have up. The new ones will most likely be different. The 3 cellular shades in your den look fine the way they are. Why were you thinking of adding a valance, to soften up the look?

I don't really know why I want a valance in the den. I guess I just thought it should have something? I'm glad you think it looks okay, since leaving it as is is certainly the least expensive option.

Thanks for the tips on the solar shades.

There's no way I could put sheers over the blinds in the bedroom. The bracket protrudes very far out into the room now, and having yet another rod in front of it would end up looking kind of ridiculous. I do love the look of sheers over natural blinds.

The problem I see is, if you want light, the blinds are blocking the best light which comes from the top of the window but you need the privacy from the bottom....and it doesn't look like you have any room to move the blinds up and expose more glass. It looks like the long pleats on these blinds were designed with taller windows in mind....

Thanks for your thoughts. Nevertheless, I own them, am satisfied with them and have to work with them. The room gets sun from mid-morning until sunset. I want to continue to let the sun in while making it harder to see inside in the evening. Sounds like a sheer roller shade will work.

The sheer roller shade route certainly sounds like the simplest option to me. For the den, have you considered a cornice where the shortest part of it is just low enough to cover the blinds when they are all the way up? It could be painted to match the window trim, so it doesn't have to be a statement if you don't want it to be. Google some images to see if something strikes your fancy. Perhaps an arched one like this: