I'm looking for window treatments for my kitchen, so am in a similar quandry LOL.

I personally am not a big fan of roller shades. However, if you wanted to hide them, you could have a fabric window treatment and when rolled up, you would not see the shades.

Have you considered roman shades or woven shades?

tina

I usually just come here FOR advice, not to give it but since I have solar shades in one room and seriously considered them for two other rooms here goes.

There is a big difference in solar shades from brand to brand and even within a brand. Some do look cheap or commercial. Others look more woven and fabric like. Hunter Douglas would be one brand you might want to look at - their whites have more of a linen look to them. As a reminder people can see into your house at night with them as well as you can see out of them during the day. If privacy is an issue, you will still need an additional window treatment.

I posted a similar question a while back and people offered up alternatives such as using window films, awnings, and silhouette blinds. In the end I am going with both a TDBU lined natural woven shade and a traditional pleated curtain. The solar shades I have work great but they just weren't going to work with my decorating in the other rooms.

The roll-up shades without a valance can look just fine with the right decor - Shabby Chic, Coastal, MCM, ect. It depends. I think they look best that way on very large windows or very small windows.

What is your style? Do you have wood trim around the windows? How high are the ceilings? These things make a difference in the overall outcome with the look.

Hi flseadog
I say go for it. I've seen many roller shades in homes without valances and they look great. Some companies offer what they call a cassette to cover the shade.But they can be very difficult to install. I don't think you need them.

Dilly's right. With the right decorating style having roller shades with no other window treatments look great.

That's what I have on three windows in my kitchen and dining room. They're scalloped trimmed with lace at the bottom, and are a cream color. They come in all sorts of colors.

But my style is farm/country so it fits in. Now I find that blank shades like mine are becoming trendy. I guess I'm a trendsetter, lol, because I've always wanted them since we first moved in!

I have no idea what solar roller shades are though. But these are great to keep the sun out and you can also buy them with a backing to use as black-out shades.

same dilemma here. Looking for window treatments for 2 windows in kitchen and adjacent family room. Kitchen is modern style, so I thought roller shades would be appropriate, but am wondering if the roller shades in both the kitchen and family room will look too industrial. I don't want to do a top treatment, so now I'm considering roman shades. I think it's more of a "transitional" look without being "too much".

I'm considering a blackout roller shade for our bedroom, and possibly the guest room. The master has a southwest facing window, and there's a utility light outside, so we need some sort of blackout... something.

I bought pretty drapes that coordinate with our bedding, but they're not light blocking, and adding a liner would ruin the silky drape.

There's tacky, rusted metal mini blinds on there now. I've thought about faux wood blinds, light blocking plastic blinds (ugh!) pleated shades, etc.

I think the roller blinds are the way to go. Easy to clean, blackout for light and heat reduction, not nearly as dusty as louvered blinds, and a classic. I know lots of people who would think it's cheap or tacky, but fortunately, they don't live here.

I really enjoy the look of an 'undressed' wood window. Especially if it is well made and has some interesting details. Good wood framing around it and multiple panes. I like to allow a lot of light into the rooms, except on the hottest days. We just painted a bedroom and need to focus on the windows next. I'm considering either a plain room darkening window shade, with a valance or some very filmy lace panels. If I don't do that and if I only wanted some sort of shade for privacy and to block some sun and cold in the winter, then I'd probably make or buy some kind of fabric shade, maybe roman or the like.

But basically, as little on the window as possible and something unobtrusive that will block light etc.

Thanks for all the suggestions, the pictures, and the encouragement. Gobruno, I couldn't tell there were shades on your windows. Wow! That's how I was hoping ours could look. Maybe my feelings on the subject of window coverings have diverged from my northern sister's since I've been living in Florida. She has a much more formal attitude and probably the layering she does helps a great deal with blocking cold in the winter.

DH wants nothing on the the windows since the view is so good but the Florida sun is brutal and even with double paned tinted windows the room temperature rises noticeably between sunrise and 10 am. Since our house tends toward the Key West style I was thinking that the solar shades would block the sun and preserve the view without adding a lot of visual weight to the look of the house when they were pulled down. Then when the sun moves over the house and we raise the shades I was hoping the raised shades would blend into the background. I think I'm going to go for it as you all have said. Thanks, again.

Oakley, I would love to see pics of your shades. I ended up chickening out of the roller shades I wanted for our bedroom (I was afraid of mismeasuring and not being able to return them) and went with curtains, but I am thinking I might take down the curtains and go back to the shades. The roller shades are just so much more practical, IMO, especially if you want to put a fan in the window or leave it cracked for the breeze.

I had this inspiration pic saved for a while - I think it came from the smith & noble website.

For downstairs, we left most of our windows bare (no privacy needs) but the windows in our breakfast nook get brutal direct sun in the winter and we needed light control to avoid getting blinded. We went with inside mounted woven wood blinds that pull up like roman shades. They work well - when all the way up (the way they stay all summer) they only take maybe 6" of the window. When down, they block the direct glare but still let in light and you can still see out of them for the view. I've been quite happy with them. I thought I had a picture online in one of my photo albums, but can't seem to find one - sorry!

I did find a picture - I don't know what the heck I was photographing here (the stuff on the shelf, I think) but you can see the woven wood shades in the background. Ignore the fact that they are at different heights and one is crooked -- they can look really good when I try, LOL!

On our view windows we have inside-mount Hunter Douglas silhouette shades (honeycomb)which can't be seen through at night and in the daytime they're completely hidden by a simple wooden cornice board in the same color as the window frames. This way the view is the story, and people invariably gasp or make a positive comment the minute they come in the door. We did have sheers at the sides of the windows but took them down so the view wouldn't be interfered with at all. It's dramatic and brings the outside into the room, which we like. Good luck with your selection!

Susanka, are you able to post a pic? We are getting rid of drapes (came with the house) and installing Hunter Douglas honeycomb shades. In my mind I think it will look plain so maybe later I can install a cornice.

I also was contemplating solar shade in the back and also a honeycomb in the front but my window depth would not allow it without a protrusion from the sill. We have south/southwest facing windows and the heat in the summer is brutal.

goodbyekitty, I don't have a photo of the "view" windows because I've always taken pictures of the view without showing the window and I don't know how to get pix in this computer. I can take one tomorrow and ask DH to get it in the computer tomorrow. I do have a photo of the other end of our living room where we don't have a view and so left the sheers at the side of the cornice board with the honeycomb shades pulled up. I'll post that in case it helps. These small cornice boards were super easy to make with materials from Home Depot. You might want to make the cornices taller, although they appear smaller on the photo than they are in real life. Here's the photo of the small "non-view" windows. (And here's a photo of one of the views out of the big windows just for fun.)

Gorgeous! Making my own cornices might be fun. We have a sunken living room with 3 windows on the south side and 3 windows on the south/west side of our home. When we replace the drapes with honeycomb there is going to be a lot of header room. I think cornices will finish it off really nice.

Really wish I could do both roller shade and honeycomb. But now if I did a cornice, it might work with my skimpy sill depth.

Here's a link to a "how to make a cornice board" site. There are many other sites if you google that phrase. My mom and I made padded cornice boards once that were also easy if you want a fabric to cover the wood. They were massive, probably more than two feet top to bottom. I am not at all good with crafts so believe me, if I say it's easy it really is! These are just flat boards with a nice molding at the top with an incised leaf design. They aren't as short as they look, but I would probably make them a little wider top to bottom if I were doing it again. Ours are 10 inches.

http://www.diynetwork.com/how-to/how-to-make-a-cornice-board/index.html