I have lace curtains that are hung from a pressure rod at the top inside the casing. You can see the glass and the wide trim. The play of light through the lace is beautiful . I got them here :

http://www.burrows.com/lace.html

I don't own a Victorian, but I love them and have stayed in many and toured hundreds. It is said the 3 elements of Victorian window treatment design are fabric, tassels, and lace. I like trailrunner's idea. Her home is lovely.

Here is a link that might be useful: HGTV Victorian Design Episode

Mactn, any chance you might post a picture or two of your windows? We're in the process of building a new "old home" and what you've described sounds exactly like the sort of windows I want for my house. I'll probably wind up having to fake the stained glass effect with glass paints but I'd sure love to see what the real thing looks like!

I have the same issue in my house. I also live in a fairly urban area so privacy is very important. What I've done so far is to layer translucent/transparent window treatments so that I can get the level of privacy that I want but still be able to see the beautiful stained glass.

I started with just some burrows lace patterns, which provides plenty of privacy when it is light out and dark in the house, but nothing when it's nighttime and just the opposite. To that I added a roller shade that I put down at night. It's translucent enough that from the outside the windows still have a beautiful glow and the stained glass sparkles, but we have complete privacy. You can even see the pattern of the lace behind it through the shades. During the day I pick up the roller shades and just leave the lace. My windows are deep enough that I was able to inside mount BOTH of these treatments. I don't have any great pictures though.

I am planning to put drapes up also though because now that I've lived with it for a while, I don't mind blocking some of the woodwork so much (there is a lot of it in the room) and would like a little softness there.

texan : thank you that is very kind.

lisa: I like the idea of the translucent shades ,at least for the bedrooms. I will look into that. What brand are yours? Don't you love the quality if the Burrows?

Here is a pic:

{{!gwi}}

I would love to see pictures of your windows and the room they are in, Mactn. Can you post pics?

The Burrows are GORGEOUS. IMO worth every penny they cost over generic sheers. The lace patterns are just so pretty, and if you throw even a little bradbury wallpaper in there, they coordinate beautifully. In my living room I have Neo-Grec panels and bradbury's olympia border from the neoclassical roomset. For my dining room (not yet hung up) I have the kelvin rose panels.

I think for the shades I used plain old hunter brand. I used the kind with the "chain" rather than roller shades because one of my shades is very large - 5' wide by about 7' tall.

I did find a couple of pictures, still not so great. Here is what my windows tend to look like during the day (before I got my panels shortened):

with the shade down:

that's during the day of course. At night you wouldn't see any stained glass showing through but from the outside you get a warm glow through the shades to light up the stained glass.