Romy, I'd have to agree with the shops opinions that you need at least a 1 3/8" rod for a 10' rod. While I seriously dislike big for the sake of Big, and have never liked the oversize furniture trends put forth by the PotteryBarn type places, I believe that you do need to keep your rod in proportion to the size of the room and the length of the rod. Honestly I'd probably be looking at a 2" rod for your room. a 10' rod is a long rod, and you don't want it to look like a pencil. How wide is your trim? Remember that with a round rod you're not seeing 2", or 1 3/8", you're seeing whatever the face is that is visible, and if my math skills were a lot better I'd be able to tell you. I do love the Titanium finish, and I like the Amboise finial better than the pine cone one. Your panels are fixed right, you don't intend to open and close them? When you buy the rings make sure to buy the rings that have another little eye ring screwed into the bottom of the ring, as that is necessary to put the hook into and allow the decorative ring to still hang vertically, not go crooked. You can buy wood rings and paint them yourself then screw in those eyelets, but I'd really recommend buying the ones that go with the rod you choose. Then how much of the ring shows is totally dependent on where you put the pin in the pleat. If you put the pin half way up the pleat so that the turn of the hook is just below the top edge of your drapery you'll get the look in your inspiration pic. You don't need to hire someone to hang them for you. **Make sure to put the pin in the pleat, then measure from the inside of the curve on the hook to the hem to determine how high to hang the rod. Then measure from the screweye on the bottom of the ring to the floor. You'd be surprised how many people who hang their own forget about the height of the pins and the length of the drop of the ring.** Thanks for the link to ParisTexas rods. I'm not finding any provision for curved pieces for bay windows. I'll give them a call after the first of the year.

I like drapes to look like they are operational. And it will be possible to close my drapes, but I don't think they will be easy to move and I don't have any reason to ever close them. I currently have four inside mounted mini-blinds on the window. I have to be able to keep out very strong sun in the summer and I prefer to have something right up against the glass as opposed to using curtains, which trap the heat between the windows and the curtains. This window creates many problems for me, lol. I plan to hang the drapes just below the ceiling and the stack back will probably be 1.5 - 2 feet on either side. Since I've got plenty of room to do so, I want to hang plenty of panels to help absorb sound in the room. I dragged my 38 x 58 gold mirror into the room to see how it was going to look with the yellow walls. It does not look good! Now I think I have to paint the frame of the mirror. Any suggestions on colors for that? The photo of the window was taken when the walls only had primer on them. Then I painted the room with Behr's (I will NEVER EVER depart from my previous policy of using only BM again) Gold Buttercup. I took the photo of the mirror tonight. The walls are much darker yellow than they look in the photo.

Actually had two shower curtains on my alcove shower. One was a fixed shower curtain that was hung on an exterior rod from wall to wall. It had a valance and two fixed panels, one on either side. Then, I had another shower curtain. This was a plain white cloth curtain that was on the rod. It was on rings that also included a plastic curtain for water protection. So....two rods. An exterior one. That was covering my end walls/tiles. Then, a regular bath rod that held both a fabric outer curtain and a plastic one. We no longer have this system or I would post a photo. But, yes...it can be done!

Once you have the actual curtain, and the mounting hardware is in place, you could try one of each if desired. Borrow a black rod from the next room, and try a gold style as well. Black would repeat your chair color and bring more contrast. However, gold would provide a little bling, and won't look as heavy against a light drape and wall. The white and gold balloons in the photo look good, and give some idea of how that combo might infuse a little life. Whichever you choose, I'd find a way to add a bit of color the dining space to break up all brown wood. Perhaps painting the mirror a fun color? Or switching out the white lampshades for a colorful shade. A table runner is another easy fix. If your budget allowed, you could do a more colorful rug, and also a size larger.