I think white would be best. Take a look at cellular shades. We have a similar color scheme and went with white faux 2" wood blinds. There are plenty of places online to order from, but I'd suggest going to a store that sells a variety of blinds/shades to see them before making a decision.

Millworkman, Good idea to change to category Home Decorating forum - but will need direction how to accomplish this. Are you able to help?

Hey There: You will be doing great with minimalistic bottom up top down shades in pleated fabric or honeycomb fabric. These blinds are super functional when it comes to light and privacy management and will be inside mount to your windows. They preserve the window look you wanted and don't cover any trim. Check us out at www.PleatedBlindsStore.com or give us a call at 619.665.9446

It sounds as though the upstairs would be used by you most of the time so you want something comfortable to watch television or read a book. And you would also be entertaining adults in that space. Since you have a small space and assuming that is how you plan to use your space, I would opt for a sofa and comfortable chair. I am currently remodeling my apartment and I went with a comfortable chair and a very comfortable sofa. I don't have hordes of people watching television with me so the space is intended to serve mostly my own needs and have comfortable seating when adults come over and we talk :-). I guess in a pinch we could watch television together but that is not typically anything I do with friends. I do have the ability to move some occasional chairs into the space and my dining room chairs are fairly comfortable so I do have the ability to seat more people if I entertained a large group but saw no need to have a lot of seating in my relatively small formal living area.