There is nothing wrong with cellular shades, but having them in black-out version means your room is always either very bright or very dark.

Generally speaking, dressing windows is a two-part process, functional and decorative. You seem to want something that will give you privacy but let the light in. You can do that with Silhouette shades (or a knock-off), cellular shades that are not blackout, slat blinds (wood or faux wood), drapery sheers, roller shades, or stick blinds. And probably some others I haven't thought of. Plantation blinds are probably not appropriate for bay windows.

After you address your privacy issue, you could add stationary panels or a valance, or do nothing more.

If you give us a photo of the room that shows the window and your decorating style, we can help you more.

I had the same concern. I purchased the white wooden blinds from J C Penny. I love them. They give you the look you want, let the light in during the day, and are closed at night. They look wonderful both opened and closed. When the slats are open, they provide you a look to the outside (I, too, am close to the street where people can walk by and look in), but the slats provide a degree of privacy on the windows eliminating that wide open "stare into my house" kind of look.

PS: I went to JCP to purchase the faux wood but learned the wooden blinds were actually lighter and easier to use because the wood itself is very light.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the replies! This is my window in living room

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j244/Melgar901/LR.jpg

Your window
{{!gwi}}

Your cellulars are opaque, but not black-out. If the window gets lots of sun, you would miss the insulating property of the cellulars. You could get a top-down/botton-up version, which can be lowered from the top for light and privacy. There is also a duo-lite version, which has a sheer and opaque fabric. Use the sheer during the day and the opaque at night. Can you tell I've been researching shades!!

Whether you choose blinds or shades, the window would look nice with an additional layer of drapes/panels on the sides. It would add some softness and color/pattern.

It looks like the window is right against the wall on the right hand side. That complicates using drapery panels.

There actually is about a 1.5' of space before that right hand wall, so I could use drapes. I guess the problem I have found is that with the cellulars, the drapes don't look right. My preference would be to have drapes along the sides, NO sheer panels in the middle, but instead a type of blind that would work with the panels alone. Maybe wood blinds? I really am clueless :(

Have you looked at houzz.com? Use the search box with terms like window treatments, blinds, drapes, etc. and you will get lots of pictures. See what catches your eye.

You can have cellular shades and drapery panels together. But you might want to use individual cellular shades on what I presume are the 3 windows behind the current shade. Could you take a photo of the shade raised so that we can see what's behind it?

I have sort of the same issue.. I have wooden blinds with stationary drapery panels to either side. I love the blinds for their function, but something is missing.

What I am considering is placing those bamboo woven roman shades OVER my blinds (in your case, the cellular shades), and leaving my drapes to each side. That would finish my look off, and would bring some nice texture in for you.

The roman shades would be are just for looks and won't be pulled up and down, so they would be hung so the cellulars are hidden under the romans when the cellulars are pulled up.

I can't tell if your cellulars are inside or outside mounted. If they are outside like my blinds, you are going to have to put a 2x4 or something behind the romans before you put them up so that the romans stand proud of the cellulars.

Additionally, the drapes may also need to come forward in order to clear both.. I am considering buying a double curtain rod and using just the front rod, OR using those plant hook brackets. I've used them as drapery rod holders before when I lived in an apartment, and they worked quite well. Actually, I used a spray painted length of iron pipe as the actual drapery rod. Can you tell I had a tiny budget then? :)

This was kind of long, hope it makes sense!