Laurie, Thank you so much for your warm compliment about my house. As far as the paint...we used Benjamin Moore throughout. I remember the white was called "Linen White" which is on BM's website. There are actually two beige colors used in the greatroom. "#1031" is written on top of the lighter beige paint can. When I looked at BM's website it shows "Carlisle Cream" for that number but looks very lavendar on my computer. Not like the real paint at all. I wish I could help you with the name of the darker beige we used but the store kind of tweaked that color for us. It was BM's Moorecraft SPEC paint and on the top of that can is written "MC #47" if that helps. bristlingacres, Thank you too for your compliment. All of our interior doors are stained with white trim. They are knotty alder. I'm posting one pic of the stairwell door which shows color and trim pretty good. I got some samples yesterday of Hunter Douglas woven wood shades. They seem very light. I can see through them easily and they come in a host of patterns. I downloaded a picture (sorry it REALLY tiny) and a darker color than I would choose. What does everyone think of this option??? Do you think I would need cloth curtains on the sides like in this picture?

Would shutters interfere with the crank for the casement windows? Where would they be mounted and where would they stack? While I am no great fan of them in general (and that's my personal taste speaking), I think this may be a perfect place for neat, clean blinds or shades. Something transluscent, if you opt for the latter. A neat Roman shade might be an alternative, but you will have to think carefully about how you plant to mount it and how its lower edge will "mesh" with the cranks for your windows. Also, it's likely that an inside mount Roman will create more stack than a commercially available blind or shade. You could also do sheer panels (shirred or otherwise) on tension rods, but you will lose visibility to the sides of the window opening if you opt to "open" them. You have to decide how important it is to have the view completely "open" to the view, THAT is going to lead you to the best choice for your kitchen. In my opinion...

This is a tricky one. The integration of window treatments with window design wasn't something I'd fully appreciated until recently. We've lived in our house for 16 years or so, and with a replacement window I'm currently ordering, I am actually starting with the window treatments we need for privacy and sun blocking and designing the windows around them. The idea above with one curtain for both windows is good but more designerish than functional if you want to open/close the shades on the windows separately. My sense is that you need to identify just what your functional needs are for each window and go from there, and you may or may not have perfect design, but a functional room. Here's where I think I'd start: not having any knowledge of your house design process, I'd have to say those upper windows were just a mistake. Maybe there's a reason for having them that I don't understand, but to me they only look like a problem on a sunny side of the house. So I would look into something permanent to cover those, such as your sheers which are designed to be permanently closed, only better. Options now would include painting that fabric (see posts here about painting couches!) if budget is a driving force, or something like external roll-shutters if you can afford them. The roll shutters are great because you operate them with a switch on the wall, and they insulate as well as block the window. They wouldn't even rule out doing stained glass as well, which was my first thought - if you get an artist to make you stained glass windows (using mostly dark glass if for cooling), you could get some awesome artwork up on those windows while blocking light, but I am not sure just how cooling dark glass would be on its own. Inspiration website below :-) For the ground level windows... On the windows we need to block in summer we have old-fashioned metal venetian blinds. I hate them in principle, but boy are they functional; I'm addicted. A simple twist open and they almost disappear, yet they block a lot of heat when closed. Mine are augmented with some curtains, but that's not even necessary. But I think there is a glaring need here for something that isn't interior design: a tree or two outside. I don't know the lay of the land or the space you have there, but a tall columnar tree might even shade those top windows a bit, while a spreading type would shade the side windows, allowing you to keep them uncovered to watch the kids while remaining relatively cool (and they'd have shade to play in too!). (Funnily I'm recommending this on two threads today). KarinL Here is a link that might be useful: Stained glass windows

With how nice your home looks and what appears to be a good amount of window frame depth I would, if I were you, install interior window shutters. I'm a huge fan of plantation style, but traditional shutters would look amazing as well if you prefer smaller louvers. If you prefer stock size panels you may want to check into www.shutterland.com. They have great shutters, both Traditional and Plantation. Also, they come unfinished, so that really keeps the price down. I've dealt with them quite a few times and they are a great company when in need of quality shutters. Good luck! Here is a link that might be useful: All About Shutters and Treatments