marcolo, that's the plan!! athomeinva, they can look chunky pulled up, but on these small window... not so much! Wood blinds are definitely classic and period appropriate! thanks everyone.. all the responses have been very, very helpful! We have been living in the house for over a month now, and living here is what really finalized my choice. I see I need some light control as well as privacy - yet I do want to be able to pull them up - if I desire (I may not even feel I need to). I usually sacrifice function over looks... but in this case, I am picking function over what I desired for looks! I'll post pictures when blinds go up!

Thanks! This room has the only windows that allow for an inside mount, sadly! Otherwise I would be doing it that way everywhere. The hardware projects 1.75" total by itself, and my husband had to install the brackets just a tiny bit forward in order to get the screws in. But I just took a look, and from the side, the shade looks just about perfectly flush. With just the hardware and the shade un-velcroed, the hardware seems to stick out more. I knew it would be close, because we had an extra piece of the header that we cut off the dining room shades. I confirmed all of that before I got started on these shades. :)

You could also hang the curtains on rings that attach with metal clasps. That makes them easy to remove to clean. Most draperies and curtain rods have "returns" on the sides. You could run your blackout curtains on rods underneath the outer ones. Putting them all on rings allows for them to be pulled to the side and opened. A curtain that has a rod pocket and is threaded onto a rod is not able to slide open. You might be able to slide them back with some effort, but that is awkward. I recently put my grand daughter's curtain on rings so that it could be opened. Her mother and other grandmother are more attuned to closing themselves and her up into the house. They never cared nor questioned that the curtains were permanently closed. That was back in September and the curtains are still open as I left them. The curtain is a very nice custom made one that I made. It was hung on a temporary basis that never got addressed for two years until I put it on rings. She is only three years old and I don't think she even knew that there was a window there. Now there is a little more than just an overhead light in the room. Now there is some real daylight. If you use separate blackout curtains it leaves your outer layer of curtains to be changed when you feel you need something different and you still have your blackouts. Have you looked at buying blackout lining at Joanns? Do you sew? You could do one solid panel across the window, as opposed to one on each side, and just have it slide to one side when you wanted it opened. I used to do draperies and they used to sell one by RocLon that worked quite well. That was some time ago and things may have changed.

Sometimes the sag is intentional. If that's not what you want, you need to be clear about it. Fabric must be stiff enough to be straight. I've even seen where they insert sticks at each fold to support them if the fabric is too light. You need to know if you want the shade to stack or if you want it to be 'hobbled' so each pleat shows even when lifted. stacked hobbled This sag is intentional... called a relaxed roman shade Note real roman shades do not have a return on them...the bit of fabric that wraps around the end of the mounting rod. Instead it is just flat and the end of the rod shows. See left end below You need to decide if you want a separate valance above or not. This one has a valance Depending on fabric choice, you will need to decide if you want them lined or not. You might look into what's available from a blind store like Blinds to Go which has regular store hours including later night and weekends which might fit with your schedule. That way you'd see what you're selecting before you order it.