Lovely new space! Congrats. I think romans would be lovely in there - there are already so many wood elements I don't think texture or bamboo romans would "soften" the whole room - I see a pretty print with some color punches for the space If you keep them down to keep sun out in summer - I would rec getting insulated ones Plenty of places sell them here's 2 Country Curtians has excellent quality at reasonable prices and are very customer svc oriented + you can return at any time. - http://www.countrycurtains.com/index.jsp Smith & noble has lovely fabrics but there price points are way up there - you can request fabric swatches free to get a feel which I would recommend I'm going to attempt to make my own as I really didn't find the right size/fabric that worked for my application A couple of places to oogle over lovely fabrics my personal fav http://www.fabricguru.com/cart/index.php good luck Here is a link that might be useful: house of fabric

ceiling mount hardware would allow for something to slide back and forth-little clips/rings that fit into a slide suspended from ceiling. Anything that rolls up and down will have some stack-between the stack and the lack of space at the top it just might look awkward. However, go look at levolor or bali,etc and see what is out there with minimal stack-I think that's the issue.

Try posting on the Home Decorating Forum. This Windows forum is more about the actual windows. Though I personally prefer the curtain rod to be closer to the ceiling. http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/decor

You go with what you like...don't care what is in today because it will be out tomorrow. Vertical blinds are available in hundreds of beautiful fabrics...most of the time the same fabrics you can use for roller shades. Pricing depends on the quality of the fabric of course...there are cheap ones available at Ikea or even HomeDepot but their quality shows. If you want to spend a bit more for custom made shades, please check us out at www.PleatedBlindsStore.com or give us a call at 619.665.9446 Vertical Blinds