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you should post this over on the decorating forum, there are a lot of creative people over there that love to help.

Will do! Thanks! (of course, anyone who still wants to give me input here is more than welcome :))

I forgot to mention that we are getting ready to sell the house so this question is for resale reasons :)

Since this is a staging question not a decorating question I'll give my 2â:

Get rid of them! Yikes. Especially the blue one with the kitchen curtains underneath. Because you have a valance on the brown one it is not quite as unattractive. If you decide to do away with the brown shade, the valance might be something to keep. No matter what you decide, when you have a showing, make sure that no shade is down to allow for the most light possible (unless you have some eyesore next door).

I would either take them down or cover them with a treatment that will look nice on the windows leaving them as a shade

Having put these exact same shades on the windows of the 1870's Victorian we used to own (including ones in that blue in our DR) I can vouch for what a good job of insulating they do. If you are in a cold climate and/or don't have storm windows I would say keep them but just put valances over the ones that don't have them.

The shades don't have to be down except at night so they won't show at all. You can put up drapes or curtains in addition to the shades for decorating purposes.

Taking them out not only loses the insulation value but will leave you with a repair job on the window trim.

Barb

We live in MI and there are no storm windows, only screens. They are casement windows and it is amazing when I pull up the shade in the winter the cold "draft" that comes through them.

You are right, the shades are only down at nighttime (or during naps for our kids during the day). I just have them half down for illustration purposes :)

I think the previous owner worked nights and that is why he had them on all of the windows.

I'd buy some inexpensive fabric and do a simple valance to cover the insulated shades. Given that you have no storms those insulated shades are going to make the new owners life a little easier when they move in. If for wahtever reason you choose to remove them...be kind and leave them behind in a closet for the new owners.

Remove them at once. They are beyond dreadful! Put up an inexpensive valance and leave it at that.

Due to their insulating value, I'd definitely leave them, but cover them with a nice valance. I'd probably also add curtains if possible.

Well for selling I would remove them. You want the house to make the best impression it can. If you were staying I'd say leave them for insulating value. You could always leave them behind for the new owner if they wanted them for insulating purposes, but I would think that would be seen as a negative too for the house to have the need for it as an impression.

Oh my! You're right - they're not attractive. If you're selling, remove them and tell potential buyers that you will leave them for insulation if they so choose.

Just leave them rolled up under a valence. Why remove them? Buyer's won't even know they're there. Take down the frilly curtain.
I've never seen these before. They are sort of interesting.

If you are handy with a sewing machine, you could easily cover these with a more modern (meaning current) fabric so that if you rolled one partially down to showcase it as a "green" feature it would look nice. Still do the valance though.

This is the first (and only) time I have ever seen these things. I do attribute the reason that our children do not usually get up before 8 a.m. is b/c of how dark it keeps the room in the morning.
In terms of taking them down and leaving them for the next owners - it's not that simple. They are made specifically for each window and the "rail" that the shade slides up and down in is attached to the jamb with a sort of high powered sticky tape. You pretty much render the thing useless if you remove the rail.

The former owner was a big smoker and we didn't realize how much these absorbed the smell until we unrolled the one in our kitchen by our big glass sliding door -ewwww! that's when all the others came down. We managed to get the ones in the bedrooms off of the rail so that I could give them a good soak in the tub.

I don't think I could change the fabric on the shade but if I can figure out a quick way to do the valance, I may do that and leave the rest up to the next owners.

I'm the one who installed these in the mid-80's. I looked to see if the company still exists and it does. Might be a source for the valances that attach to the roller frame. I think that's how they were attached.

Here is a link that might be useful: Window Quilts

I had those years ago when we were stationed on an army post in upstate NY. Every window had them. They were great for keeping out drafts, but you could lose all sense of time if you keep them all closed too long.

We weren't allowed to remove them since it was military housing, so I just covered the box at the top with wallpaper border. It wasn't the greatest fix, but it peeled right off when it came time to clear housing. I used the wet & stick type.

Some people attached spring rods inside the boxes with lightweight sheers to cover the quilts.

Wow! What would I do without this forum! I called the Window Quilt factory (I didn't even think to look and see if they were still around - thanks barbag!) and I can order the valances from them. She is going to get back with me on the cost. If they aren't too expensive, then I think I'll go ahead and order them. The next owners can decide if they want to rip them out. When they are rolled up, you really don't notice them too much and they really are great at room darkening and insulating.
They make them look so much more appealing on their website :)

Yuck. If it were my house, I'd burn them. Not my style at all. I know that's not helpful to you, so I suggest building cornice boxes to hide them while they are rolled up.

Why would you spend money on fixing them when you don't know if the next owner even wants them?

Man, I'd toss them-you want your house to look light and bright and neutral, and those curtains don't qualify!

I had to take down the cornice boxes in my last house because they made the room look much smaller...

When I lived in Colorado Window Quilts and Warm Windows were rather popular. In Michigan, I would leave them there, but put a valence of some sort over them. Keep in mind, though, that they may draw attention to drafty windows. BTW, I'd despise storm windows even more. (had those, too, in Colorado)

For resale I would absolutely remove them. As this is a bedroom, I think people will want to know what window treatments there are, as a bedroom is not a room in which people typically forego window treatments.

If you are concerned that future owners will have draft issues (or that you'd end up with them if it takes too long to sell), I'd replace the quilt shades with an insulated fabric shade that is more neutral style-wise. Country curtains is one site that sells insulated fabric shades, and I suspect other sites sell similar items.

Here is a link that might be useful: Insulated shade