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Window treatments

4 years ago

Hello!
We just built a new house and are trying to figure out window treatments for our kitchen / family room area. Our windows are a variety of sizes:

Medium-sized kitchen windows with transoms.
French doors with transoms (note: there is no space for curtains or anything vertical here due to light switches and kitchen counters on either side).
Large family room window with transoms.
Small windows on either side of fireplace.
Our main concern is privacy- we don’t really need to cover the transoms or the small fireplace windows, but I’m not sure what would look better (I am leaning toward not covering them because then I could reach something cordless). I am also wondering if I should use the same type of treatment on all 4 windows, or if I should mix it up, given that all the windows are so different.
I have attached pictures- please excuse our moving mess!

Featured Answer

PRO

JAN MOYER

4 years ago

last modified: 4 years ago

Maple trees shed their leaves: ) They are a deciduous tree, hon

I see no reason to cover transoms UNLESS the light is annoying, shines in your eyes, makes it impossible to see the tv.........

You JUST MOVED IN, you have not unpacked. Go to Home Depot. get five dollar Ready Shades. Tack them up. Relax for a bit, get the house call.

Or " decorate in haste and repent at leisure".

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Comments (7)

PRO
JAN MOYER
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
No matter WHAT you select, you want them all the same. Your best bet is a call to a local shop who carries Hunter Douglas. Ask for a house call. You could have woven shades, you could have Silhouettes, you could have wide blade plantation shutters. The point here is solve the privacy and light control issue, ( and the continuity issue ) SEPARATELY from any curtain panel concept in the family room. You want these neutral, lasting, and for the long term, no matter what you may later add as your decorating scheme evolves.

Stay away from blinds. They never look finished on their own, collect nothing but dust, and raised...............? The stack is hideous.

You "mix up"........ nothing. : )
Susie
Original Author
4 years ago
Thanks for your reply. I like the idea of keeping it all the same, and think that a woven wood or fabric shade would work well for us.
Should I cover the transoms? I’m not sure how I would do that over the French doors. I don’t need the light control- we have a huge maple tree in the yard, which blocks a lot of light already.
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Sorry I disappeared. Regarding the main objectives: Our location is SoCal, and a majority of our windows face the South. So a lot of sunlight. Blocking the direct light falling in house is important, but we don't want to cut it out completely making the house dark (for the living room, kitchen and other common areas), And in the bedrooms we do want the blackout. The house is not fully furnished yet as we moved from a small apartment to this place, and that project is a separate work in progress. But from a general preference standpoint, we like the Earth Tones in colors, simple clean lines with the styles, and natural wood options as much as we can. In the kitchen almost everything is stainless color. And currently the flooring is a combination of dark brown and grey, and the carpet is tan. But we want to change the flooring to a lighter brown+grey type of LVP when the budget permits. So, any window treatment that is kind of neutral and can work with the current flooring as well as future changes would be great. Not sure if it is possible to give any ideas based on this info. And I know it is difficult without the real pictures.
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Brown Dog
4 years ago
I agree with Jan. Do a temporary window cover for now and live in your new home for a while before you make any permanent window covering decisions. See how the light passes through your rooms all day long. Do you get direct sunlight during the hottest part of the day and will this be a problem in summer? Is fading furniture and flooring going to be a problem with direct sunlight? Do you need full privacy at night? Once you have an idea what your potential issues might be then find window coverings to deal with those issues. I think your windows are good candidates for California shutters and if possible, leave the transoms bare.
PRO
BeverlyFLADeziner
4 years ago
Susie
Original Author
4 years ago
Thank you all for the advice. Jan, I am aware that maple trees lose their leaves (though I realize I sounded like a bonehead in my earlier comment!).
I think I will get something temporary as Jan and Brown Dog suggested. I was rushing to get something up because we back onto a public walking trail, and the partial privacy our maple tree is giving us now won’t last much longer.
Thank you Beverly for the visual. I think your setup of leaving transoms uncovered, but covering the small fireplace windows (which face south and let in a lot of light) will work well for us.
Anyway, I will put up some paper shades for now, focus on unpacking, and take my time on the window coverings.
PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
4 years ago
I agree too soon to think window coverings .

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