Sara, I'm afraid that by having so many requirements and stipulations, you've pretty much excluded every tree that might possibly work for you . Maybe someone will yet provide you with a tree suggestion meeting all of your needs, but until then I suggest prioritizing your "must haves" and working down from there. I'd also take another look at the list of native trees you've excluded. As an example, you've eliminated all maples because of the following: "1. weak wooded, or 2. won't get big enough. Or 3. won't get big enough in my lifetime" Red Maples (Acer rubrum) are vigorous and wind firm trees. Unless you're already a long-time member of AARP, it should get decent sized in your lifetime. While Silver Maple has a reputation for being weak-wooded and shedding branches, I don't think this is true for Red Maple and has not been my experience. My soil is sandy and tends to be on the droughty side, but Red Maple is native here and does quite well. Regarding oaks, Northern Pin Oak (Q. ellipsoidalis) is tolerant of alkaline soil, grows fast, and can have fall color rivaling that of Red and Sugar Maples. It is simply a misnomer that all oaks grow slow. Finally, I'd take another look at the Honeylocust cultivars. Skyline is a very nice tree with more upright growth and very good fall color. Mine has averaged 2'-3' growth per year, and I just don't see any indication it is weak-wooded. Is it possible you're thinking of Black Locust (Robinia)? BTW, have you considered Yellowwood (Cladrastis)? Native, surprisingly fast growth for me, still fairly uncommon, beautiful flowering, and above average fall color. Tends to branch low, but I wouldn't exclude it based just on this. Good luck! Bob

I am building a transitional leaning modern home and am installing roller shades to filler the sun in my 12 3'x8' windows stacked 2 high and 6 wide that face southwest. My shades are 7% so I can still see through them when they are drawn. I didnt need privacy or blackout shades since I can't see another houses or civilization from my house. I purchased my shades from a local company who makes shades for the RV business. They can make shades of any size so the 8' height wasn't an issue. I priced out my shades with budget blinds and blinds galore and mine are going to be about a quarter of what the other companies cost. I stopped in at the local company on a whim to see if they would sell to the public and they do! I was delighted. I recommend going to local companies or calling RV suppliers if they aren't local to you to see if they can ship.

Each price was the ENTIRE cost for the motorized blind. When they go on sale, it’s usually 30-40% off the regular price. I was able to get 50% off because a few months prior I got a couple of rooms full of blinds and the woman who worked with me kindly took off another 10%. It was like $2400 for nine motorized blinds (including remote and installation). It doesn’t get much better than that as far as price goes. Go to Lowe’s and they will walk you through the entire process....and make sure to ask when they’re going on sale (which happens quite frequently).

If the is sun coming in the windows go 80% screen fabric, if south facing 95% screen. You can still see the trees through them somewhat. That's what we did and it's a nice effect. Order from Steve's Blinds online. Order fabric samples, measure, order, install so easy and great value and quality. We got chain pull -- no remotes to lose lol and they work so easily. Color snap won't let you paint curtains so I did the fireplace to show my concepts.