I think SOME miniblinds like those plastic ones - UGH! - are utterly wretched, but others aren't so bad, like wood ones in particular are not dated at all. We had wood 1" blinds in our previous house's master bedroom and even though I'm not really a blinds person they did look nice. We have a bay window 6 feet from the sidewalk in our current house and I put up 2" wood blinds, which do look very good and will look even better once we get those dadratted drapes up with them to soften the total effect! Whether 1" or 2" work better depends on your room. Our current windows are quite large and 1" blinds would have looked super busy IMO, as well as being a bit scrawny for the depth of the window casing. The casings were quite shallow in our previous house, so 1" blinds fit those windows better. The 2" ones do let in a lot of light when open, because the spaces between the slats are wider, and it's nicely possible to tilt them at just the right angle that people can't see in from the street but light still comes in. Because it was a big hassle to get at the middle window of the bay (we would be climbing over a chair and table to reach the cords) we sprung for the motorized tilt option on that one so it would ever get opened/closed at all. I am going to disagree with some other folks: extremely functional as they may be, I think the top-down blinds look a little odd from the outside - I think they're best on the sides or rear of a house, not "in your face" right in front. Maybe if you're in a very contemporary building, I don't know. If the view in from the street is only through the lower half of the window (I'm guessing typical double-hungs) and the style suits your decor and architecture, shutters that only cover the lower sash are efficient and attractive. They completely block visibility from outside and still allow generous amounts of light in through the top half of the window, so there would be no hassle with opening and closing a window treatment.

We have a patio door w/cordless, cellular shades (Graber brand). The look is similar to a French door but the panel on the left side is stationary. Consequently, the door part (on the right) opens toward the stationary panel on the left. The problem w/the cordless cell shades is that they stuck out too far from the stationary panel and from the door. This meant they would hit each other whenever the door was opened too far (it couldn't open all the way due to the shades). This happened a lot, unfortunately, because it was the door to the backyard and we go outside frequently. We've had the shades about four years; in the last six months or so, one of the cords snapped on the shade on the door so the blind would no longer stay up. We opened and closed these shade a lot b/c I liked them open but DH wanted privacy. Another thing about these shades is that they clanked against the door whenever it was opened or closed. I found that very annoying. I'm looking to replace these shades with panels on flush mount rods. Incidentally, we have a window with a corded cellular shade purchased at the same time and it's working great.

Hi OP, I would not consider that transitional. That looks pre-traditional, almost colonial. Gorgeous fixture and shade.

Oh how cranky people make me laugh! Thanks Patricia Colwell Consulting & strategery for providing that this morning - I hope you feel better soon. The fixture is an approximently 20 year old Murray Fiess. My parents owned a lighting store back in the day before the big box stores came to be and put a dent in the small mom and pop businesses. That being said, it is a decent piece and I like making due with what I have verses spending money left and right......hence looking for replacment glasses. I thank you all for the recommendations and suggestions. I agree with you tatts - that's why I posted - trying to make it work.....which may not work. It will work with my transitional decor, so I will go in that direction instead :-) Looking forward to checking out the sites that you all mentioned. Thank you.