I used a board-mounted box pleated valance on the box bay in my dining room. I screwed the board right into the soffit above the window. The way mine was framed, there wasn't enough room to hang a rod high enough to cover the top of the window trim. I made long panels of the same fabric for my living room windows. I used honeycomb shades on all the windows (not room darkening, but I did consider them). Most of the time I leave them up, but we don't have a guest room and the sleep sofa is in the living room, so privacy is an issue when we have overnight guests. Totally Confused

Hey There: How about bottom up top down operating honeycomb blinds...there fabric is black out and there is only very little light leakage on the side (compared to roller shades for example). Furthermore, you can leave the top part open during the day while preserving your privacy...check us out at www.PleatedBlindsStore.com for more ideas or call us for fabric samples. Photo Shown is a Day and Nite Blinds with two fabrics...

I'm wondering if there's another idea I'm not considering. Are you open to painting the room (including the ceiling) a dramatic, dark color? In my first house, my husband and I painted our vaulted master bedroom a deep cool green (kept the trim white), and we *loved* it. We were pleasantly surprised at how much it darkened the room at night, something we hadn't even considered, but were thrilled with. I also really like curtains, and if it were me, I'd mount a single rod over the tallest window, extending it 8"-12" past each flanking window. Color would depend on the look you were after. Thoughts? :-)

If you do drapes, you will need to keep them within that deep frame so the baseboard heat doesn't get trapped under them. The hems would stop at the sill. Or you could do floor length drapes that are kept open all the time. This is to simply trim the window if you feel like shades alone are too plain. I've looked into top-down cellular shades for my large windows and determined that they would be too fussy and hard to keep straight. They break easily. The bigger the window, the more annoying they will be to deal with. Besides, top-down is more like for homes where people are trying to get some privacy from the street, not a problem in your high rise. For you I recommend room darkening roller or honeycomb shades. (or blackout if it's east facing, but otherwise I don't recommend blackout if you don't need it.) Don't get the "pull down" style. Get the ones that can be operated with "continuous loop" cables, or even motorized if you are feeling fancy. If you need to filter the light (like to keep the room cool), some people get two sets of shades -- one opaque, one sheer -- and install the the opaque ones in front. Your frames appear deep enough for that.