My LR is similar to yours and I have no window treatments on my windows and I love it that way. My suggestion would be to paint the walls a more saturated color and paint the trim in the room a soft white (or something) so there is a good contrast between the windows/trim and the walls. I'd also put some crown moulding up. It'd be gorgeous!

I like it bare, especially in the summertime - it adds a nice feeling of lightness to the room.

Tibbix, I am so glad you responded! I did a search last night and one of your bedrooms gave me an inspiration to add simple shades. It is your blue room, with crisp white woodwork and lovely window shades. Please tell me more about your shades. I do agree with painting the LR and am looking at colors. I'd love to add crown moulding too! Thank you so much for your help.

I don't have any treatments on any window but I do have roll up shutters on the outside so that's kind of cheating. My windows are ornately trimmed with dark hardwood and the wall is thick so trimmed out the windows look more like furniture.

You could consider painting a window trim a different color from the wall.

It's a matter of taste thing but I like the bare look. It looks older, like colonial, to me which I like and I think seems to fit the house and the multi pane windows. I'm a guy though. I think window treatment are favored by more women than men. True?

Alexamorrie, thank you. It does lighten up a dark room. I am not sure how I will feel about being "bare" in the dead of winter, especially if it's like the one we just endured!

Oh, the sheers for summer look so nice. I love the look as if the windows were open and a gentle breeze were ruffling the light sheers. Even if in reality the windows are closed and the AC is on lol. I do think the bare windows in your traditional room look too bare. It looks like sounds might echo, KWIM?

Both of the bedrooms are blue. Do you mean the one with the white slat blinds or the one with the white cellular blinds? I don't think I'd put cellular blinds in your LR. Your LR has a sophisticated air to it, and I think cellular wouldn't work very well in there. I think, though, that you are referring to the cellular blinds.

IMO, those old windows are decor in and of themselves.

Bpathome, it really doesn't echo, but I do understand your concern. Would it be softened by blinds of some sort?

Waterbug_guy, I understand about woodwork that has special features, which our does not. I do agree, as Tibbex, suggested that paint is the key to pulling off the "naked" look. Either the walls or the trim need a change. Thank you!

RoseAbby, I hear you about the night concerns. We are usually in the FR at night, but I do wonder about that issue in the winter.!

I appreciate the comments and points of view. Thank you all!

Tib, it's the one with the bathroom. I did a search of blue paint!

Yes, those are cellular blinds.

They look so nice in your room. Now I have to search for your LR. I do remember your beautiful sofa and the new paint. Thanks so much!

I really like bare windows. I prefer them over most window treatments. However, I really dislike the "fish bowl" feeling of being on display in a bright room at night with no window coverings. I compromised with inside mount wood blinds. You'll have to see if you're comfortable with it. I agree that a darker paint color would look very nice. Maybe painting the beams as well would make it feel a bit cozier.

The sheers look very nice!

I'm going to put very simple, plain shades up at some point since this room often is used as a bedroom. If I could get the cellular and slat blinds again for the bedrooms, I'd get the cordless kind. Btw notice I finally had my grandfather's chair (gold and old in the last pic, redone in the first pic)! Yay! Desperately needed it.

jlc712, Thank you! I painted the beams once to blend in with the low ceilings. I'm not saying I couldn't do it again, but it was quite the job! Privacy is not an issue in this room, even at night. We are in a wooded area and are set back from the street. It would take a "Peeping Tom" to see what we are up to in that room at night, and he/she would be bored!

Tibbex, Love your style-so warm and welcoming! You are fortunate to have natural wood ceilings and wood beams in that lovely room, and it does not appear that privacy is an issue at all. Thank you!

The windows are pretty and do look nice, during the day. However, I don't care where someone lives or how private it is, at night, I would constantly feel as if someone were watching and that gives me the ibby jeebies.

My DD and SIL have large open windows in their living room with a view to a beautifully private wooded yard. They too had (as in past tense) no window treatments along that wall. One evening they went to run a couple of errands and came back to the house being robbed. The police said the thieves were probably watching from the woods and could see them plain as day getting ready to step out. When they got home, the house was ransacked, the back sliding door was wide open and their cats were terrified. They think the thieves were still in the house when they came back home and heard them pulling into the garage. But even before that happened, I was so extremely uncomfortable, I would seldom stay to visit after dark.

I think that bare windows look fine during the day, but when the sun goes down they look like big, black holes.

I like it without. You could always use the rollers at night if it bothered you. We had a big black hole in our LR for years and it wasn't a problem. I also like the sheers in your DR.

I like it without.

I agree with those that like it bare in the day but don't like the blackness at night. It isn't an issue of privacy, I just don't like the black walls if I'm in the room with no view.

I totally agree with lukki.......I must have something on the windows for nighttime!

I have one shade in a house of 5 bedrooms and I only pull it down when the moon is full, keeps me up at night. LOVE the look of no wt's and think they are nothing but dated dust catchers.

Ok, I do have panels that can be shut in the guest rooms. And the way they look pleases me.

I came across this house just after typing my response about window coverings. Am I the only one who thinks this house is sad looking, oh not because of no window coverings but when looking at it I thought of this thread. In fact I'm surprised I noticed it had no window coverings with so much else to see! bonnie_ann I think you can have no window coverings is you promise not to furnish your home like this.
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I have a lot of windows and the only place I have curtains is in the bedrooms. For me, it would ruin the look of the house to have coverings everywhere. I like how your living room looks without them.

I'm not necessarily endorsing curtains but rather some type of window treatment so that at night you don't just see big black rectangles on the wall. Rocky bird, do you really think window treatments ruin the look of a house?

I think to say window treatments are dust collectors and dated is a pretty strong comment and well, sort of close minded. There are some really beautiful and functional window treatments available and when used in the right setting, they can add a lot to a room. Surely, it depends on the house, the style of decor and look one is going for.

I did keep the roller blinds up so can close them if I want privacy. I'm not a huge fan of roller blinds, but they are unobtrusive and functional.

My house backs up to the woods, also, so we have no window coverings interfering with our beautiful view. It's just our gardens and then the woods, but it's how we love it... Bare windows on French door in the dining room and huge windows in the kitchen.

I like fussy treatments in the bedrooms, simpler in the living room, bare in our dr and k.

Your windows look beautiful bare.

if you don't like drapes, how about roman shades....something decorative.

I think some bamboo roller shades would look great on your windows. If you mounted them above the windows they wouldn't block any light during the day and if you wanted privacy at night, you could have it. They are very clean looking to me and keep the windows bare. I have some in my FR and love them!

Well, I guess I had valances in mind! lol No, not all wt's are dated dust catchers!

I don't have many window coverings, I'm in a rural area and am not concerned with privacy. And I don't notice "black holes" on my walls by not having any window coverings. Guess it's a personal choice. So I would leave them off and enjoy!

bumble, I was hoping you'd say that! ;c)

A general comment on window treatments: If you are living in town, you need something on your windows at night...so the location of your house is one issue when deciding on WTs. Personally, I would feel the same way if I lived in the country--don't like the idea of people watching me at night. ( Where do you change your clothes at night if your bedroom has no curtains--in an interior corridor?) If you have upholstery, wood furniture or carpets that need to be protected from the sun, that's another issue. A third issue would be sound dampening. I don't like noisy rooms. So, like so many things in life: It depends!

I have cotton panels in my bedroom (slider) that I never close. I change my clothes at night (i.e., take them off) without being seen from the outside. My bedroom has a bathroom, a walk-in closet and enough angles to shield me from prying eyes.

I like the warmth and softness that fabric brings to a room. I find I don't mind the "black holes" as much as I thought I would as many of my windows only have valances. But it depends on the use of the room and the position of the windows. Certainly many vintage colonial homes had no WTs, or maybe had them only in the most formal rooms, because of the expense and because they wanted to maximize light. So you certainly can skip them if you are comfortable with living with it. But if you aren't comfortable, there are many WT solutions that will maximize the open feel while providing warmth or privacy at night.

I love most windows without window treatments and only use drapes for privacy or a design reason. The last house we lived in only had window treatments on the bedrooms, office and bathrooms for privacy. We did have woods behind us and houses in the distance. I never minded how the windows looked at night.

Our house now came with wood blinds which are dust collectors, but I like them for the light control and sense of privacy you have when they are down with the slats open.

Our family room and kitchen on the back of the house feels more private and those rooms have roman shades which I never close.

I prefer bare windows most times.

My new project is "no sew faux Roman relaxed shades". I did one tonight and am still fussing with it. Privacy is not an issue and I am ready for a change. Thank you all for your thoughtful replies.

Yes! I hate all window treatments and use simple roman or roller shades only for rooms that require some privacy for dressing and undressing.

I never understood the "black hole" comment, and it never occurred to me until I read it here.

We have almost total 360 degree privacy. I only have WT in a few spots ... the guest room, in my MBR, and MBA tub area and (where I have had close encounters with gardeners, since it is a free standing tub in a ground floor windowed alcove), in my office (to reduce glare), and in one of our powder rooms (due to the height of the window).

In our last house, we were in an urban suburb, smaller lots, sidewalks, etc. I always noticed how pleasant it seemed when you removed WT to clean or paint or whatever. I love the open and light feel. It's also on trend right now, but I say go as light as you can on WT. Oh plus it saves a ton of dough.

The black hole is lost on me too Mtn. I whipped up some Roman shades, to which my DH replied, "why". Oh my! They give a bit of coverage and the rollers are underneath for full coverage. I'm not sure I like them, so have stopped at 2. Opinions please!

I like the windows better w/o the them. Between the old windows/wood trim and the beams on your ceiling, those alone should shine, IMO, and all you need to do is paint the walls a more contrasting color to bring out that wood trim and beams more. Suggest to also install heftier crown moulding. Move the etagere elsewhere and maybe put a small table with a lamp on it, mirror over it, or artwork of some kind, between the windows.

So, for all of you who don't like the 'black hole' effect, are you going around at night and closing all of the curtains/lowering the shades? Some of you have huge houses. This seems like a lot of work. I have literally eight rooms in our entire house and the only WTs that ever move are the ones in our bedroom (from of the house in the city). Down at night to block street lamps and up during the day.

Thanks Tib! I do think you are right about needing a new wall color. School is almost out, so that may be my summer job. I'm not terribly fond of painting. I did talk to a carpenter about beefing up the mantel and adding crown moulding. Oh, and that curio cabinet belonged to my mother and it's going to be sold on CL this summer. I have never liked it, but kept it because it meant so much to her. Done with that way of thinking!

Oh my, I hope you don't think I was criticizing the curio cabinet! I wasn't at all. Just the location!

We are sooooo lucky, IMO, to have those old windows and that wood trim, as they are going by the wayside in new builds. Hiding that woodwork would be a shame! And a deeper color will make it all stand out even more. It would be beautiful!