Looks great bare. Nice view.

Agreed re: nice view as bare, especially If privacy not an issue. I don't do drapes b/c I'd get tired of them quicker than I could afford to have new ones made.

I like the room without curtains. My livingroom has no curtains, but I do have window blinds (albeit the cheap vinyl kind) to pull down at night. My house is in the country but very close to a busier-every-year country road, and I feel too exposed at night. However, your site sounds as tho it would be ok.

I don't like overly-done window treatments, but a panel on each side of the window softens and finishes a window nicely, I think. If the window had some nice framing around it, I could see going bare. But in this case, I agree with your husband.

LOL! Your photos might not be just a teensy bit biased, would they? They remind me of before and afters when the before shows a bad angle, no makeup and a scowl, and the afters include better lighting, a big smile, make up, jewelry and styled hair!

Any way, curtain-less looks great, but what about at night or crummy weather? That's when some softening or covering the 'black hole' might be helpful.

Edited to add there was only the first reply when I started. I type slowly. I was going to add solid panels instead of patterned would be less busy or cluttery.

You have nice looking windows and a beautiful view. I say let them go nekkid!

We live near the far end of a dead-end street with only a few houses beyond us on acreage so there's very little traffic, and we have trees beyond the deck. I'm glad you like the look because I'm beginning to love it. The curtains are so narrow that they never covered much anyway, but privacy has never been an issue.

I like it better without . . . but then again, I have no curtains or drapes anywhere in our home except the bedrooms, so I'm used to it. Like you, privacy is not an issue here in our mountain community. We have several acres between each home. But, I do know that for a lot of people, curtains and drapes help make them feel more secure and safe. I have a large male Doberman for that, though (LOL)!

Like you. I don't like my views covered up and the light blocked. I also don't care for busy drapery and absolutely hate those frantically froufrou ones. If your DH insists on drapes of some kind, perhaps you can find simple ones that blend in with your walls. Maybe extending your rod out so that the drapes don't cover any of the window unless closed. I did that in our MBR.

gramarows, you made me chuckle, but honestly that is the only picture I have of these curtains at all. I go through and edit my photos periodically, and my last clean-up was recent, and I didn't know I would need curtain shots. My husband took everything down without my knowing he was going to do it, or otherwise I would have taken a pic today that would have been a much better "before shot".

Mine is curtainless and I love it.

I dont mind bare windows during the day, especially if there is a nice view to look at, but I really dont like that black hole look at night. I would also feel exposed at night with lights on whether there are neighbors around or not, because these days you never know.

This room is not our main sitting area since we have a large room (with curtains and a nice shade) that we use for TV watching, reading and sitting on the couch with our laptops and cat. We enjoy walking through the living room to get to our bedroom and viewing it from the kitchen and dining room, but other than that unless we have company it's only used intermittently.

Lynn, my husband is not the type to insist about much of anything we me (and vice versa), and definitely not in the area of decorating. He voiced a preference but after a week or two I doubt he will notice the difference.

I do agree that drapes that blend into the wall and that are fuller would have a much nicer impact, and that may be an option in the future, but for now I like it as it is. We have drapes in every other room except the kitchen, and most of them we don't draw at night because no one can see us (except the master bedroom even though no one can see us).

I thought I was going to see my husband cry when I started talking curtains/drapes after he created the beautiful, wide window trim I asked for. So our bedroom just has 2" white wooden (look) blinds. I like the clean/unfussy look in the bedroom. I do have tie back drapes on the 8ft dining room window tho and they don't go all the way across, so, you can see 1/2 of the trim on top. In fact, the window is much like yours. The drapes are a two toned stripe that pretty much blend into the wall color. We also live in the country. If I feel the need, I can unhook the drapes and cover the side windows.

I like the window without the window treatments. — but I'm not opposed to panels that are purely decorative (don't close for privacy)

I like the curtainless picture better, but get that they're just a little to bare for your husband. Maybe a simple valance would help soften the barren look and give you the look you like too.

I really liked the toile! I don't think they look too skimpy just as panels. Maybe what I appreciate most is how they tie together the pink in your room.

I much prefer it bare.

I think the panels are too skimpy for your size window. That size window dictates 2 panel widths. I also think the toile is a little too feminine for your room.

For years I had just wood cornices DH made, through out the main living spaces in my home. I inherited vertical blinds on all windows; ISH. They are functional for the very few times I would choose to pull the closed, so it would be a HUGE waste of money to remove them. The cornices hide their ugly hardware. Like you, privacy is not an issue. I finally decided I wanted the punch of color hanging drapes added and decided I HAD TO hide the vertical stacks. I had dummy panels installed. I love the way the outside arch shows through your widows and the green beyond. The big BLACK rectangle at night is an issue, one gets used to it, and my guess is your room is not overly used, evenings.

If you do leave them bare, you might want to give some thought to removing the current window trim and adding more beefy trim to give the window more architectural "interest" on its own if it's going to stand there on its own. Not a difficult or expensive thing to do, but what a difference.

It is funny, as I usually am all about curtains. However, I really your room without them. It makes everything in your room seem more dominant and that is a good thing as you have great furniture and decor!!

Like!! I'm a fan of windows without treatments.

i don't care for the curtains you had there, but i think i would want something on either side of that window- i love some bare windows, but agree with what graywings wrote... i would look for other panel options if it were my room :)

I don't like curtains and only use them if I have to (shades in the bedrooms for privacy). I don't think they're necessary in your room at all.

When it became dark I found that the living room looked a little more stark and I decided to change two of the paintings to warm up the room. The abstract water color went into my office (yes, I know it's hung too high for the moment) and I took the fancy frame off an oil landscape. I love how it looks over the mantel without the frame, although I tried it with the frame first and it looked odd perched up there.

Like the landscape leaning on the mantle a lot!

Ingrid, I think a window treatment finishes the room, is it possible for you to try different colored drapes? It's difficult to find the right balance/color when the window and fireplace share a wall.

Beautiful, beautiful room. Love that fireplace!

If insulation from cold drafts in winter and beating sun in summer is not an issue, I'd forego the faux-drapery for a bare, streamlined look. But I would also consider some outside illumination so you have a beautiful evening view. I see a tree that could be uplighted, for example. It will be far more dramatic than a toile panel!

Keep them bare, I have two large windows on each side of my fireplace. I like them bare, but have 2 inch faux wood blinds for privacy at night. No curtains in any rooms, just the blinds for privacy at night.

After studying the room for a good long time in every kind of light including the evening, I came to the conclusion that I needed curtains after all, but not something with rings but rather shirred for a better appearance, but still with only one panel on each side.. I'm not sure that what I chose is the right thing, but it's an ivory sheer with a pretty vine pattern to lend some interest. It may not seem substantial enough and I'm afraid I didn't think it through, but I can always return it.

I don't consider windows bare if they're covered with faux wood blinds.

I reconsidered the sheers and bought another pair with opaque material.

I agree that windows aren't bare when they're covered with blinds but you don't have the soft, "dressed" look that curtains impart. I tried going "bare" but somehow it's not working for me, and I know my husband prefers curtains.

I think you were right to reconsider the sheers. You need something with heft to really make the window look "dressed".

Even though I've ordered new drapes I decided to put up the old ones and shirring them instead of having them on rings like before. I like that look much better and changed some pillows around and put up the abstract painting again to try to get some color coordination going. I still don't know if the toile really goes with everything else. Should I keep these or go for the new ones that are all one color?

the toile doesn't look the best in your room... what color solid panels did u buy??

I agree with busy, I dont care for the toile.

Unfortunately I now realize I chose the wrong color, named "egret" when I should have chosen the next darker one "porcelain sand". I called but it's too late to change the order. Will have to exchange it after it arrives. It looks tan-grayish. The egret looks one shade darker than white.

I tried going without panels in our LR. Ended up putting the ivory silk panels back, but with different rods and rings. I think a solid will look better than the toile.

Without reading any replies, my answer is to keep some type of covering on your windows. Having something horrid happen to a family here who lived in the country, along with having a stranger who was drunk show up on our doorstep at midnight, we'll always keep our windows covered.

Well, I think it's unanimous, it should be solid curtains, and I agree. Oakley, I can well understand your concern. One advantage we have is that ours is a dead-end street and criminals don't like to be trapped, without a second road out. Our community also has a reputation of being heavily armed, although we're not, and those kinds of people seem to stay away.

K9

What I was saying was, I LIKE them bare, but they are not, I have blinds.

Our last house was in a neighborhood in a rural area. There were farm fields on two sides of the house. I put curtains on the living room window that faced the street, but in 12 years of living there, never got around to window coverings on any of the other windows, not even the one in the bathroom (it faced a cornfield). I didn't mind it, but Mr. Hammer's OCD brother who lived in a city was deeply disturbed. I thought the bare windows brought in a lot of light, didn't collect dust, and gave us some gorgeous views of the countryside.

I dont know if my idea has brought up….but what if you just got a longer rod and pulled the curtains so they hang on the wall framing the window? that way you would both get what you wanted (right?!) 😊