I think sheers behind drapes is a timeless, lovely look.

{{!gwi}}

I just put sheers in my kitchen because of the black glass at night problem. They are polyester and they really make the kitchen feel better at night. They are flimsy enough that they can almost disappear into the window trim during the day. I like them, even though I don't like polyester sheers, you know? The cabinets are painted milky white so it's kind of a continuous look. I don't think it would work as well with stained cabinetry.

In the living room I have linen/cotten sheers that I never draw, but they create a hint of layering behind the linen drapes and add a little fullness, much like interlining might. I think I might avoid polyester sheers in living areas because the way they reflect the lamplight at night, to me, screams cheap, and the icky texture makes me uncomfortable. Love 'em in the kitchen though.

www.burrows.com has wonderful scottish lace.

I have sheers in my main living area behind some drapes. They are on a travese rod and I can open or close them. Dated? I like to think classic. It works very well for me as there are three windows next to each other.

I think the quality of sheers makes a difference. A few years ago I had (cheap) rod pocket sheers in my LR and now I look back at that and cringe. However, the photo above that Jen posted it an example where it looks very nice. I think the whole window set up as well as the other curtains is important. I'd personally rather have bamboo romans for light filtering but it all depends on the look you're going for.

In my previous home, I had Rue de France lace behind linen drapes in all the windows. I loved the look for that house, but I feel differently in this home. I'm having trouble finding a sheer that has the right texture. I can easily make them, but I'm so burnt out from looking at fabrics that I just want to buy ready-mades. Can anyone recommend a specific sheer curtain from JCP or Country Curtains, or elsewhere?

I'm not familiar with your place, but Ikea has a variety of thin panels in natural fabrics that could work as a cost-effective base layer. You could even get colored or patterned ones that might work ok; they are often very loosely woven and very transparant. They come with hemming tape.

Thanks jamies, I hadn't thought of Ikea. But I need something I can purchase online. (Too bad they're not available on their website.)

bb&b and sears have rayon-rich burnout panels that might interest.

I have sheers over blinds and under a valance in my DR. I wasn't going to do the sheers at first, but the valance over blinds looked unfinished, and the blinds need to stay. I like the look.

Unless you need/want sheers under panels for privacy, I think it's a dated look. I much prefer simple panels, with Roman shades for privacy.

We used to have custom panels/swags/jabots in the DR w/ sheers on a traverse rod. They seemed so heavy to me. I couldn't wait to get rid of them!

I have them in my DR and in all the windows in front of the house and I don't think they are dated at all!

Not dated, classic IMO. Wihtout a pic of your rooms, hard to say whether sheers or romans would be the best choice. Like deborahnj, I have sheers (JCP) under my drapery across the front of our home.

Not d----, classic. And not necessarily for old ladies either, depending upon the construction:

I also have sheers in a hallway. There's windows on both sides, and glass doors, plus a skylight. During the day, it's really pretty, but at night, it becomes a black hole. The sheers are textured, so they provide a hair more privacy than just regular sheers. I've also seen pinch pleated sheers that I thought were very cool.

This is one of the rooms. It's still in the works...paint, new fp mantle, a tall bookcase for the corner, new curtain rods w/rings, side chairs, etc. I tried ivory Lisette sheers from JCP and disliked them. Alot of neighbors take walks down our street and some actually stop in the road to look in our windows. I know they can't see much because I've tried it, but still!
{{!gwi}}

I was wondering the exact same thing! I had a designer from Penney's at my house last week and asked her your exact question. She said they are not dated at all. She recommended another option for me because I was trying to avoid any kind of formal look. She said it does tend to dress up a room. I think they would look great in your room.

Charley, I have the ivory Lisette pleated sheers and my panels are similar to your in layout. Here is an example of the DR.

My LR drapes are not just sheers, they're pinch pleats behind drapes on a double traverse rod. And I am not even that old. [grin] I have no idea if they're dated; I put them up because I got rid of all our blinds when we had kids (the blinds were old metal ones and the cords were not child-safe) and it was the simplest way to deal with a triple window. In the DR I have the same style of sheers/drapes but the windows aren't wide so I used double rods and clip rings instead of traverse rods. Mine are from JCP. They look great in my opinion -- well, they did before the ones in the DR got spatters of grape juice on them... (reminder to self to put "clean the drapes" on the list). It is certainly a look that leans traditional, at least in the incarnation I have. We LOVE having separate sheers by the way. We use them all the time for the reasons you mentioned.

I got mine from Restoration Hardware. They have rod pockets, which I like behind the french pleat drapes. I generally keep mine pushed to the sides to have some bare window showing (& more sunlight), but it is nice to be able to pull them over for some filtering at night if desired.

I made natural colored scrim sheers for our family room in the cape up north. Floor to ceiling. Four sets of sliding doors/windows. The fabric was 117" wide, so one panel equalled two bought panels, and I only had to sew up eight panels to cover the two sides of each window.

The "natural" color matched perfectly the ONLY NATURAL Behr paint above the chair rail. And the texture was coarse, the weave was fairly loose. Really fine casual look perfect for a family room.

I wanted almost no WT because our view is what we want to look at, not WT. So I have very simple straight wood cornice boards with narrow sheer panels at the sides which soften the hard lines of the wood a bit. We never close them.

The key question is, though, how much privacy do you need?

It is nice to have some privacy without having to close a drapery during the day. If you live in a private setting with a great view thats one thing, but if you don't you may need a light sheer to keep from being in a fish bowl in your own house. I do them for people because in most instances there may be a sidewalk or other windows within feet of the house, and sometimes it is off putting to have people look in at you while you are eating or watching TV and painting your toenails.

If you are in the situation where you feel you need some screening from the outside but you still want a lot of light to come in, they are a great option.

I made natural colored scrim sheers for our family room in the cape up north. Floor to ceiling. Four sets of sliding doors/windows. The fabric was 117" wide, so one panel equalled two bought panels, and I only had to sew up eight panels to cover the two sides of each window.

The "natural" color matched perfectly the ONLY NATURAL Behr paint above the chair rail. And the texture was coarse, the weave was fairly loose. Really fine casual look perfect for a family room.

I just wanted to say I think sheers will look really nice in your room.

I don't know what your budget is, but The Shade Store has a number of sheers options and are fairly customizable. After looking at your room and reading your comments again, I think they are an appropriate solution.

charley, what color are those draperies? I love it.

How do you plan to hang the sheers behind the rod/ring set up, btw? Will you switch to a double rod?

Thank you all!
I've decided to definitely use the sheers. I plan on switching to a double rod that will be set higher & wider than the existing rods.
I am going to order some samples today. Do you think ivory would be best?
awm03: The fabric is Terracotta.

I'm home sick, so I'm playing around with my windows. Just trying to get an idea of how the sheers & rods may change the look of the room. This is a rod I'm considering and the Lisette sheers. I think what bugs me about the Lisette is that they have no texture. What do you think?

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

Hope you're feeling better today, charley. I'm done cooking, so I'm waiting until we leave for the in-laws. I keep thinking the sheer would definitely need to have some texture, not a smooth nylon fabric. But I also keep wanting to see what bamboo shades would look like. If they are unlined, you would be able to see through them somewhat, a little like sheers. Or if they are lined you could keep out the sun when it was really hot! I'm getting ready to do some similar in my living room, and our floors look almost identical, and I do love the light/dark bamboo-woven-wood shades with my wood floors.
You home is lovely, and has such a nice, tailored style that is very appealing.

Unlined bamboo and other grass blinds are almost completely transparent at night, particularly the darker grasses. I don't think that some people realize this, given what I have seen of some of my neighbors :(

We found out that bamboo shades did not provide privacy at night the hard way. eeek.

Regarding the bamboo and other natural wood type shades for your LR, Charley....I don't think the "natural" or "rustic" look behind your drapes would work. It's a different style and has a different tone/feeling.

Your drapes seem somewhat silky and have a traditional, somewhat formal look to them (not REAL formal, mind you). So that's the background treatment you would need, IMO.

If you go with shades, I think a more traditional or formal type of shade, like a sheer Roman shade, would be appropriate. If you go with sheers, I actually like the Lisettes you try out in one of your pictures. You mentioned you wanted some texture in them; that would be fine, but it depends on how busy your room decor ends up being. If you end up with paintings and prints and books and armoires with stenciling, etc., etc., having texture in your sheers wouldn't be necessary. But I agree that because you don't have a lot of busy stuff in that room, the plain silky sheers do seem somewhat plain behind the solid color drapes. (although the drapes have texture) Sheer drapes also come in subtle stripes, which I find very attractive.

As for sheers being old fashioned...nonsense! There's a reason that sheers have been used on windows for eons....they serve a purpose like almost nothing else does. I plan on hanging sheers behind my new drapes, as soon as I can decide on the whole formation and types of rods to use. But I can go classic (the plain lisette), or I can go with some texture to modernize the look. If I owned a victorian house, I'd use a lacy sheer for a REAL old fashioned look.

I wouldn't use blinds, personally. I have quite a few shutters in my house. I prefer to call them dust catchers. Just like blinds, the thing they do best is collect dust, and they are a pain to vacuum or wash.

Good luck! You have a lovely room!

Happy Holidays! It is so nice to come on here after Christmas & read all of the comments!

sallymo: I am feeling better, thanks! I haven't quite figured out what my style is...it's sort of evolving as time goes by. :) But I definitely do like a tailored look to things. Thank you for the kind remarks & for doing that mock-up; looks cool to see my room w/wood blinds. I still feel like I want textural sheers hung from rings behind my panels though.

palimpset: Thank you for your opinion and the link! The sheers really will only be used on the rare occasion that I feel like I need some extra privacy. We have the "new house" in the neighborhood & hope that the curiosity will die down soon. Luckily, the house is set fairly far back from the road. The front porch and the way the rooms are laid out also helps.

bpollen: Thank you for your comments! Yes, I also feel wood blinds are not the look I want for this room. The drapes actually are not silky at all. The fabric is a slubby faux linen with a very slight sheen. But anyway, I am going to keep looking for the right sheers. When I said "texture" I guess I really mean more of an open weave, not necessarily something with a pattern.

As I continue to shop around online for sheers, I'd love to hear any other opinions or critiques any of you may have!

Does anybody have JCP Linden Street Textured Sheers? I am considering the Solid "Soft Cream" color. My local JCP didn't have a sample to show me. (I know these have grommets, I would redo the tops to my liking.) The price is right but the fabric quality is important to me. The sheer fabrics that I do like are in the $30 per yard price range ($90/panel for sheers!)and that is way more than I can spend right now. I need at least 14 panels.

Here is a link that might be useful: Linden Street Textured Sheers

A few months ago I found some lovely sheers with a nubby texture at Target. I was considering them for my DD's room, but opted against it. While I love the look of bamboo shades, I don't think they achieve the same function as sheers. I have sheers in my MBR to allow for privacy at the same time let in natural light with our sliding glass door. They are almost never opened unless we wish to access the door. Bamboo shades would not have served the same purpose.

You have such a beautiful room! I think textured sheers in ivory will be lovely or you can even get them with a neutral damask or paisley pattern too~

Thank you loribee! I am waiting on some swatches I ordered from Restoration Hardware & Country Curtains.
I also ordered a few colors of the JCP textured sheers to try out; but of course the cream color is on back order until late Feb. & I need them now! My local Target didn't have anything.
I may reconsider sheers with a pattern or embroidery of some sort. I guess I won't know until I try them out!