thanks natal...i didn't realize the kitchen window was only 38"...i thought that one was much wider than the keeping rm's windows! i was wondering if the ease of opening/closing was more difficult than the cords--sounds like it is. i have 3 ~36' windows and one 64" window that i want to get wovens for in bedroom...anticipate that we'll be raising/lowering them fairly often...will probably save the extra$ and just get corded.

We are not window treatment people either, but have started to add some as we've reno'd/decorated a few of the rooms in our house; two bathrooms and our office. They really do help to finish off a room. That said, we're not covering our kitchen bow window, or the DR bow window, though I might consider something for the DR window at some point--just for the window panes themselves, not to cover the whole bow-unit. We used Hunter Douglas' Designer Screen Shades in the Roman Shade style (ours are mounted inside the frames becuase of our window style/frame depth). The shades are very clean-lined and range in sheerness. With the sheerer weaves/fabrics, you can see outside with them down and they allow a lot of light in.

I'd be interested to see a photoshop of what chelone described with the arched rod; otherwise I'd keep them just as stationary panels and not connect the knobs/rosettes as it's starts looking busy and since they are not operable, I'd be concerned how much light you will be cutting off if the panels come in too far. I think you were on the right track with your first picture--it just needed to be fuller and/or perhaps a more decorative look across the top--basically not have such long loops from the knob to the drapes. I think the long loops are what detracts from the look.

llucy - Thank you for your kind support!! I felt so much better after reading your post. You are right, having to sacrifice the nook and eat at an island is never something I wanted to do. It would feel like a sacrifice, but if I was getting something otherwise fabulous in return, I would at least consider it. If I could snap my fingers and have the perfect solution, it would be to still have a kitchen table and any island seating would just be 1 or 2 spots for perching, not for dining. So, the U shape really does start to make sense. Thank you for the link to the Houzz ideabook! That really helped me and actually got a few new ideas flowing in my mind. The pantry doors will be changed, so that section can be made to look very different. sena01 - Thank you again for more options! It is so helpful to see things in 3d. The one with the bar table actually looked good - I just can't see needing the duplication of another table. But, it visually made the most sense probably. I'm going to play around with your idea of moving the dining nook! It's something else that I never considered and at first the new kitchen looked quite small, but then I saw the section against the dining room wall, so that might give me enough storage. Thank you again! tracie.erin - Thank you for drawing out this layout idea. It's actually fairly close to an idea proposed by a KD I met with. At the time, DH was not open to losing the U shape, so he kinda nixed it, but I'm going to explore this idea further. I like that I can still keep the kitchen table as the more I think about it, the more that seems important to me. Thanks everyone for your continuing advice and ideas! I can't even tell you how much this is helping me. DH is very busy and doesn't want to be too heavily involved in the details, so it's so valuable to me to get to talk things out with all of you! I'm having a GC over on Monday to discuss. I will report back once I have a better sense of my construction limitations.