I just put up some bamboo shades to add texture to a living room window and to hide the roller shade behind. I have a bamboo shade with a liner in a different room, and it's really annoying. The liner is fabric and the same manufacturer of the shade, but it always looks messy and misaligned. I also made a faux roman shade for my kitchen and just left the roller blind behind it. So I'm a fan of that option.

Becky - don't know if you remember my room and link from up-thread but I've continued to follow your situation and thought I'd give you an update on mine since we have similar large, private settings and goals for views. Much as I love roman shades whether fabric or some kind of woven wood/bamboo, I just didn't want to cover up that much glass with the stack height. We did a test run with a textured roller shade on 2 windows in our living room. That way if we hated them it wasn't an investment in every window and we'd keep looking. Here's what we have, a roller shade behind a cassette. You can see the texture, it's not room darkening but offers excellent light/glare control and privacy. When they're open, they are very unobtrusive and leave the glass bare. The cassettes aren't invisible but if you match your wood they will disappear as much as anything can. Mine are in between my wall and my wood color so they have a bit of warmth to them. We are probably going to use these throughout the house where we need light control. Some of those windows may get additional decoration with curtains, and that's an opportunity to add some pattern and color. Personally, I don't think these have a modern look or really any definitive style look because I chose a neutral to basically disappear. If you chose a wood tone or a color of course they will be a focal point and that to me is where the clean lined modern look comes in. But as a first layer with curtains or even on their own matched to your wood, IMO they can work with any home or decorating style. Hope that helps. It's a tough decision and a lot of money, that's for sure!

I actually like them. they give the windows some contrast. you just need to get other elements into the room here's just a quick mockup w/a white panel on one side w/a corner plant and chair other ideas if you want to use drapes. just make sure to hang the rod halfway between the two windows I like these without anything hanging. bring in the right furniture and accessories and it looks ok

Actually, Pottery Barn has a cordless navy roman blind. The color could match his comforter, there are lots of dimension options and has 75% linen. Skip valence. https://www.potterybarn.com/m/products/custom-emery-cordless-roman-shade-navy/?cm_sp=reducedpip--default--fulldetails Found these on Etsy and thought he might like https://www.etsy.com/listing/181210467/airplanes-set-of-4-8x10-cream-navy?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=navy+and+cream+posters&ref=sr_gallery-1-8&organic_search_click=1