Thanks for all the suggestions. The width of the area I'm working with makes things very challenging, doesn't it? val -- the advantage to your idea of roller shades is not having to worry about any cords hanging down. I did look at something called a solar shade at one time, but I think I may want a softer look. les -- one of my first thoughts was to use some type of pleated or honeycomb shade (because they are available without cords) along with a valance to hide them, just as you suggested, but somewhere along my thought process, I thought it would be nice to have some kind of single-panel panels to soften that side of the room. I probably should let that idea go because it may not be the best solution for the area, especially considering the limited amount of clearance I have to the right. We have Silhouettes in the LR, which I love, so if I have the Luminettes in the FR, that may flow nicely thru the house. One of my concerns about the Luminettes, tho, is when they're open, I wonder how much space I would have to allow for them to stack. deborah -- maybe you can answer my question about how tightly the Luminettes stack when open. sally -- do you also have the Luminettes? parma -- thanks for the pictures. We don't get The Sun Times, we get The Tribune. I looked at the paper's website, but couldn't find the article. I'll try the Divine Design website. The thing is I don't really want a lot at the windows and after having nothing there for such a long time, anything will seem like a lot to me, I think. I still want to have them very open during the day, especially on a day like today with all the snow we're getting. We have some very large pine trees in our yard that look so pretty in the snow. I hope to head out to a local drapery store on Monday to at least get some suggestions there.

I'm a big fan of bosporus flax and love your pillows! I don't know that using only valances would look terrible, but IMHO I think that panels would look better. I recently made bosporus panels for my guest room, and love the way they look. (Before I'd just had faux wood white blinds with very sheer narrow panels. I even plan to make mine wider since my window is really a little big for just one 54" panel on each side and I should have made them wider.) With your situation, I think I'd just pull the furniture (is it your sofa?) out from the wall a bit (6"-8")so that the panels could hang behind--or perhaps put your current layout on here and see if there are other ideas about how to arrange it. Without seeing the room, that's my suggestion anyway and I look forward to seeing whatever you make from your bosporus flax fabric--I'm sure it'll be pretty.

Do you sew or have a friend who does? This is my favorite pattern site. If you look in the Picture Gallery you'll see many wonderful treatments done in different fabrics, colors and styles, some on bay windows. It's a lot of pretty eye candy. Enjoy! Here is a link that might be useful: Southern Living Curtain Patterns and Drapery Patterns

We love our 2 inch horizontal blinds at our house. They allow for privacy and light control. Love the cove ceilings at your house. Those are not modern at all, an example of the character that your home has. Show those things off. They're very sought after. You're lucky to have them. Lowe's has Levelor Dover 1 1/2 - 2 inch wide slat blinds on line (not in their stores). I have used them all over my house. They are an off white that will blend in very well with your decor, and they are very popular now. Perfect for your room and not expensive.