I think the valances look very nice. Since privacy is not an issue with the smaller transom type window - you would not want to put anything up there to cover them.
IF it was me - I would probably want some type of finial at the ends of the rods. JMHO..I'm a blingy person

The only thing I can help with is the name of those rectangular windows - transoms. I have them in my LR over double windows. I recently covered them with floor to ceiling draperies because leaving them uncovered with drapes at the windows made the window wall look squatty.

It's a Paladion window when it has the arch like that.
I think it looks choppy. I'd be incline to get fabric panels for in between the windows. Get one long rod for the valances and then another rod for the panels. Leave above the valances alone.

I think a scarf type would look great but I'd hang them higher than the transoms and go floor length leaving the center window plain or put the rod above the round-top window and maybe use a different color that the rest. Something like prints on the outside and a plain for the center using a color out of the print.

Here's my 2 cents worth. With the high chair in the picture I would not do floor length drapes in a family eating area. I can imagine all kinds of grubby hands all over the drapes and pulling on them.

I would perhaps extend the rods out so each valance butts up next to it's neighbor. One rod would only really have to be changed not both. That may also helps with the fact that some valances are tightly gathered and some aren't.

Pretty view.

Thanks everyone.

I don't think I can do floor length anything right now with a 7,4 and 2 year old. But maybe scarf style with that go partially down the windows.

I pulled the rods out and rested them on the next one so you can get an idea of it all in one row, I am not sure it looks better. Here is a pick, sorry it is coming out so dark.

I orignally didn't go with finials beacause I felt like the windows were just too close together and the finials would butt up against eachother and looked squeezed in. I could give it a try though.

I think finials would make it too busy.

Do you feel like you need the valances for a bit of color, or to hide an unattractive header on the blinds? If not, I'd lean toward just getting rid of them. To be honest, I think they're just distracting from the attractive windows.

Yes, that fabric does kinda chop up the room. Either do without like sueb20 says & let your pretty windows & blinds show, or complement the blinds with a frothy, tightly gathered sheer valance (textural interest, a finished look, but not as distracting).

I agree - no valances - just beautiful windows and blinds.

I third--take the valances down and enjoy those beautiful windows! The blinds are a nice, clean look, and you have a pretty "village" view that should take center stage, not fabric. Love those windows--

I am liking them in the last pic. All one, no space between.

Wowwww, nothing but blinds huh??!!! Hmmm. I remember so vividly the year I had just the blinds, trying to find the right fabric and how I thought the windows looked so "complete" when the valances went up. Problem is less than three years later I want something else, just don't know that is.....

Maybe you're just reacting to wanting something "more" in the space, but not necessarily curtains. Does that make sense? I can't see the rest of the room, but do you have a rug under your table? maybe add a tablecloth? Just a thought.

tergar, i like the continuous valance, fwiw.
and weirdly enough, your room is very much like my bdrm! my room is even painted a very similar green, bm rosemary sprig.
i have bm grizzly brown trim on the framework of the windows and white trim on the mullions.
anyway, have you thought of hanging the valances on the transoms? or from the ceiling maybe?
the palladian window is a challenge i don't know how to address--i'm glad i only have one transom above the center sliding door!

I think Sue nailed it. I love the windows as they are. Beautiful valances!

I'd go with a pretty table cloth, table runner or a table topper and add a centerpiece. Actually I'd go with a topper or runner since the wood on the table is so pretty.

Adding color to the table takes the starkness away from the room.

I feel your pain. We so much want to decorate but sometimes the windows are already pretty. I have those upper arched windows in dining/living/entry/masterbed. I have shutters on all windows. I have tried curtains and valances and everyone here helped me and they turned out fine. After a week of living with them I finally realized I was covering up the real beauty of the rooms. So I took all down. I did leave panels in my dining room because it looked nice to have one room done like that. I have a rod above the doors with panels on each side. Very simple.

For you, when kids are older or maybe now depending on fabric, I would suggest hanging panels going from the top of the transom (the slip rectangle shaped) windows all the way to the floor. I would do simple pattern on each window. But since it is a kitchen area I would not do this at all. It just does not seem like a place for panels. I do like the individual valances. One long one is kinda like a unibrow to me. IMO.

I suggest decorating the table to bring the eye to it. The window wall is very large and makes the table seem small, especially being dark wood. Even with kids you can do a pretty table scape.

I like it.

I vote for either one solid row of valances OR no valances at all.

To make the look seem more "complete" -- look for a matching runner for the table or simply a large placemat to sit in the middle.

As for future ideas -- like using the valances in the transoms -- that depends on how you like the light in the area. You COULD hang the valances in the transoms and then hang a curtain rod across the top edge of the transoms -- and hang panels all the way down.

Just some thoughts!

Jan at Rosemary Cottage

Hi Tergar.

I wish I had time to hunt up the right phpoto to provide the idea & time to make a sketch of how it could all work at your house, but aftr being under the weather for a while, I'm ready to goout and face the world again, so I'm just going to point & tak here. No pix for you.

Your window isn't a true Palladian window--the graceful proprtions of the originl model got lost in the translation--but that was the inspiation, and somebody did the best he could with stock windows out of a catalog. You work with what you have.

Unfortunately, yourre right:the heacvy valances are working against tyor windows. Tt they cut them in twow and create a stubby look. If a woman with a short, heavy figure wants to create the illusion of greate height & less width, she doesn't do it by wrapping a colrorful scarf around her midsectiont. That just emphasizes the problem. She could have the prettiest eyes i the world and all you;ll see is that scarf.

Same with your windows. Their proportins are aoff--too wide for their height, adnth that hheight needs accented to put he empasis on arched window at the top where it belongs. So yank those stubby valances, and go with your scarf idea. (and you were right about no finials; adding that bling would have made the problem worse not better. On belly dancers jwewwlry at waist level is one thin. On "full-figured" woman,its something else. So forget finails altogether

Ok onto the treatments themselvs As someone observant pointed out. high chairs & scarves don't mix. But somebay, the high chair will be out of the ppoicture. so buy enough fabric to make long floor lenth tails at either side of the side windows and set that aside for Someday.

Then, make shorter scarves (keep the fabric lightweight) that will (eventually) overlap the long pieces, but that in the meantime will only go halfway down, and attach them not above or in the sides, but WITHIN the frames of the upper winows,,and drape them to one side. I drew a similar thing on a thread about somebody's bedroom last night--no time to track it down--and go loook at that for the concept. But piut the whole deal within the frame on each sidde.

In the center, folooow the saame idea: draped the fabric in a single swag pulled to each side, then let it drop down. Nothing should be above the frame. Let the white frame be just that: the frame--not something you cover up with fabric.

To see an example of How to Do It, do a Google search for the terms "Mount Vernon" & "dining Room". Your room is a lot lower than George Washington's was, but the same prinicipes apply, and without the double height room he had to work with, giving your windows a vertical emphasis (once you eliminate the bulky look of what's there now) is even more important than it was for him.

Again, sorry there's no pics, but ecven without going bacjk & checkinging--no time for that--I'm sure there are more than enough typos in ths to make up for it. See if you can spot them all!
M.

Another vote for no valances.

I am, in general, antivalance :)

Like this?
Mt. Vernon dining room:

Thank you everyone for your thoughts and opinions. I googled Palladian window treatments and well... it helped me to realize that I might have only two options... leave them as is or explore the scarf idea. The valances all running together looks to me like a line cutting across my wall. And I guess I am in the minority here but nothing but blinds seems unfinished to me.

I wanted to point out that the small rectangle windows do not have decorative trim ( but the padillian does). And that the small rectangle ones are recessed.

So does it still make sense to hang a scarf within the rectanglular window? I can see why that is the best solution for the palladian in the middle but not so sure about the others. Wouldn't it cover most of that rectangle window?

To the few who said to decorate the table.. you are correct, I need to. Although I think a centerpiece is the only thing I can do at this point. My buffett that is across from the windows is full of art stuff. The kids draw and color and write on that table several times a day. I'll start with a centerpiece for now.

Thank you again everyone, getting your opinions is like taking a little poll, I appreciate it. And getting expert decorating advice!!! I am hoping to go tomorrow and get a scarf to at least play with and get a vision. Who knows maybe I'll pull the valances off and try that out.

If you're still there; I think the pleated valances are incompatible with the windows. You could make the valances out of wood and paint them.

I'd do a light gauzy type of fabric in white. Something filmy that would not add any color, but would coordinate with the trim and blinds. It would look less choppy.
Drawn to the side is a very good idea as well, just do it in a lightweight white. You can do something with a white on white pattern, but make it a light and airy feel.
If you don't do a scarf, you could do a valance as long as the bottom was not a straight line across. Something asymmetrical or wavy.
The dark straight valances cut the area in 2 and don't enhance the look. You may be able to sell them on ebay or CL if you don't have somewhere else to use them since they are nice and almost new.

I like the valances but it would look okay without them, too.

Hi Tergar.

I didn't have the closeup of your existing fabric to see what the colors were really like, but you'll get the idea anyway. I also didn't realize there was NO trim uon those upper windows. It wasn't clear from the photo, and I figured it was there, but that it didn't show up very well. Oh, well.

So, knowing that, instead of doing what I show here, I'd I'd paint the whole vertical pier white--all the way to the top of the upper side windows--which will eliminate the undersized look of the existing trim of the center window, finesse the fact that there isn't any trim on the upper sides, and prevent the skinny green stripe that would result if you were to add trim to the green piers. Most large piers within windows don't have any extra trim anyway, and they're painted the color of the trim, not the wall color.

And I'd carry that white all to the floor, all the way across, to unify the various windows into a coherent whole, which means I'd paint the large beam--where you currently have those valances--white, too.

The curtains you could line in a contrrasting color like I showed, or not, and trim or not, just depending on your taste. Your furniture is traditional & your windows at least alludes to traditional styles, so if you want to enhance that aspect, do trim. If not, don't.

One thing I'd also do is make a new cushion for the high chair, one in a non-lurid color that doesn't stand out like sore thumb in the rest of your room.

Last thing: don't worry about the side swags covering the upper windows. If instead of this arrangement, your lower windows extended up to the top edge of the shorter windows, the same amount of glass would get covered up by the swags, anyway, but you wouldn't think anything about it. You only think about it because those wholewindows will pretty well be covered. But then, that's because they're so small in the first place.

And they're small because that horizintal beam has to be there to tie the whole thing together. In a normal room, there are joists up above the flat ceiling to do that. In an old English half-timbered room, with massive oak beams stretching across the space, the beams may be interesting to look at, but their main function job is to prevent the walls from falling down. Here, you have a high peaked roof with nothing to break up the vertical volume, which means that that beam inside the window wall is doing all the heavy work that, in the other houses, hidden joints or openwork beams would be doing. Basically, it's a trade-off: a large open volume ends up creating odd fenestration. We can't have everything. Besides, with as much window area as you have, even though the whole small window will be covered, you won't be losing much light, and you won't lose any of your view. Hope this helps.

I like the way the Mt. Vernon windows are treated. If you could replicate that, you've hit the mark IMHO. DH hates curtains of all types, so I've had to work around our huge windows in a way that frames them to soften the hard edges a bit, but not so much material that the huge windows and investment therein are lost.

ilike what you have already,.

in my arch window...i had the florist make me artificial grapevine in length of my choice. she even attached some glass grape clusters. and some artificial grape clusters.
i love it.
my home is alot smaller and windows not as beautiful, but i do have the arched window and love the grapevine arched .,

Magnaverde thank you for taking the time to make that visual, that helps a lot.

I took the valances down today and wow I couldn't believe how much more of a view I had! But I still want something up. I am going to try the light, textured, white sheers idea, put them up on a couple windows in a style similar to the mock up Magnaverde did and see how it looks. I'll keep you all updated.

I have a question about the side window treatments... is that a panel or a scarf used to create that look?

MV, you are one of the main reasons I visit this forum. Still pushing for you to publish that book, though . . .

I love MV's idea of unifying the space with white. Work with what you have, right? Your "womanly figure" windows just got a great shape makeover!

I almost wonder what the scarf would look like in a matching/similar color, like the Mt. V window. I think I prefer that-- it would give you softness, I'd add the trim for interest, yet it wouldn't draw too much attention to itself/detract from the view.

Oh, and MV, you forgot to draw the crud that will appear on the cute little high chair cushion that will show up within about a day. (Tergar, I also have little ones, ages 8, 5, 3, and 1 . . .we have an eyesore highchair, too, but it works well and I bought 8 years ago, so it is staying!)

Tergar, those are neither 'panels' nor 'scarves'. They're whatever you want to use. And as far as your idea to use white instead of a color, well, white's always right.

Twenty five years ago, I used some silk chiffon I picked up at a yard sale and hung flat, from antique wooden rings, as a single panel--I had no choice, the piece it was only 45 inches wide & three yards long--to cover up an ugly view of the house next door & let light in at the same time. In fact, after I hung the panel, the room was brighter than before, because instead of falling through the window onto a gray floor ten feet way from the ceiling, when the sunlight hit the sheer fabric, it became a light source of its own. Of course, after six months, the sun had rotted the silk, but, hey, for $5, it wasn't a disaster.

In my old living room, I used hundred-year old linen sheets, also attached with rings, and because they were full-size sheets, I got a much better effect. It was especially nice when the sun fell through the Venetian blinds. Also, instead of rotting these puppies, the way it had the slk, the sun restored these to their white color, which, after twenty years in a drawer, these had lost, even after washing. My grandmother used to hang them on the clothesline, but those are few and far beteween in Chicago.

In my old dining room, I used a set of cheap cotton dotted Swiss sheers from Kmart. No pic for them because the room was too small to back up far enough to shoot the window wall. But you get the idea: think beyond the obvious sources. With everyone buying from the same few stores & catalogs, it's no wonder so many houses look alike.

By the way, to create a perfect top edge along that arch, use a clear plastic corner guard from the Big Orange Store. It will be flexible enough to bend into a curve and it will eliminate gaps & sags in your fabric. Just play around with it: you'll figure out the details.

And Anele, I didn't forget about the inevitable spills on that high chair's fabric. I just didn't take the time to draw the busy paisley that's best for hiding dried Cheerios. Let's face it, solid colors & kids don't mix. With toddlers around, it's color & pattern all the way, baby!

"By the way, to create a perfect top edge along that arch, use a clear plastic corner guard from the Big Orange Store. It will be flexible enough to bend into a curve and it will eliminate gaps & sags in your fabric. Just play around with it: you'll figure out the details"

Ohhhh! I was just about to ask...

Sorry, Awm03. Some people call me crazy for giving away ideas for free when I could be charging my regular customers for 'em, but for one thing, to bring up the most recent example, it's been a few years since any of them have asked me for help displaying Beanie Babies, and for another, as far as my Philopsophy & History of of Interior Decoration 101 lectures go, I talk like that in real life anyway, and I don't get paid for it, so I don't see a problem doing it on here without any payment. Like Jesus said, "You received free, give free." Of course, I don't think he was really talking about decorating advice, but the same principle still applies: some people donate their time to ladle stew in a soup kitchen. I prefer to donate my money & spend my time in relative comfort, doing this. "Need" comes in many forms.

Still--getting back to your comment--there is no amount of money that could induce me to sit here & type out in mind-numbing detail anything as boring as step-by-step instructions for a project so simple, once the materials are in hand. That stuff, people gotta pay me for.

Remember my instructions for my Painted Sofa? I wrote those twelve years ago--the vey first year I was online--and I have no trouble reposting them from time to time. But there's no way in hell I'd do it again. Bo-ring! It was even boring then. much worse than actually doing the work. Even reading them again, after all these years, just about kills me. As I once said to a poster who saw the fitted slipcover I made for the same sofa--and who was (in her own words) "disappointed" that I hadn't provided exactly the same kind of minutely-detailed instructions that I gave for the Painted Sofa Project--"All ya gotta do be smarter than the fabric. If ya got that going for you, the rest is easy. If not, get a slipcover book. They're out there. I got better things to do." Anyway, once somebody actually goes to the store, buys a corner guard & starts to play around with it, the basic idea will reveal itself. You'll see.

Sort of like the shrimp cocktail tray that said to me "In my next life, I want to be a chandelier!" And, Presto! like that, it was.