@ sena01 - Thanks for the personal experience with this kind of thing. It always helps hearing from people who have been there. And for your vote! @island - Aunt lives between Naples and Ft. Myers. I haven't been down there yet, but it sounds beautiful. The pics are great. They have a floorplan I would love, with the whole house centered around the back in a big U. That would so not work in Alaska, given you need every inch of sun here you can get. But, I just love that kind of floorplan. Now that I understand what you are liking, I can mock some things up. I do want to make the point, though, that those 18" cabinets are slightly over 1/2 the size of the 30" uppers. Isn't that what you said you preferred? @mpagmom - Well, I gotta say, that's a pretty cool sink. I don't know how hard it would be to find a sink like that or how much it would cost. Also, not sure if it really works with what I am doing here? I can sure look into it, though. I assume you are talking about the greenish kitchen when you say dark gray? That is a nice kitchen. You know, Marcolo used those exact words on me - "think slate". I'm just not really finding one I like - except the one on the back of that peninsula in the pic I posted again above. And, my neighbor friend directly across the street has a slate BS and I don't really want to do the same thing... Good question, Deedles. I know we don't have any current problems with that, but the cabinets are raised up. I want whatever is in the punch bowl, though. Monday morning or not. My partner mocked up what it might feel like at the sink last night by clamping up a board. I'm not having any problems with it, being short. He wasn't loving it. We are going to leave it up for a while and see how it feels over time.

From the angle of the photo, the room has very strong horizontal lines, drapes would break it up with the needed verticals, which you might consider hanging tall as in the metal rod examples provided by gr8day, for a stronger vertical. Someone else suggested roman shades and end panels, but you might consider both shades and curtains. As far as being too close to the far wall, I don't see that as a problem, per say. You have a lot of window in this room, if the drapes had to be brought in on that side to cover part of the far window, I don't know if that would be a crime. The room is a bit stayed and bland for my taste, and I think introducing a more vibrant color might help the scheme. Or an accent color, like a dull green or blue. As far as cats and blinds of any kind. It isn't just the fact that they are vertical but they are in the way of prime bird watching. It may not be so much that they are ignoring the other blinds but that only certain ones are perceived as being in the way. There will be nothing you can do about that no matter what shades you introduce. Are you suggesting there are only a couple of blinds that are being damaged and the others left alone. If so, those may be thought of as being in the way. You could try making a compromise with the cats and leaving those blinds up enough to peek out of while the others are down all the way. I suggest one of the many aerosol deterrents on the market to spray on your currant blinds, to keep from possibly staining the delicate material, you could spray on the back (window facing) side and the bottom edges.. Perhaps do a test first. switch out one of the scratched blinds with a good one rehang the bad one so there isn't a window without a blind, then spray the undamaged blinds with Cat Deterrent Spray, and proceed as you usually do. If the cats don't attack the sprayed blind, you will know it works and can purchase the replacement blinds and treat the whole lot with deterrent. Here is a link that might be useful: Cat Deterrent Spray

I would vote against a valance of any kind. Have you thought of adding a couple comfy, colorful club chairs to the space? Or a small round table with seating for breakfast (if looks like it might be designed as a breakfast table area)?

Very pretty room--I love the French vibe. Yes, there are designers and companies who sometimes only do window treatments as a specialty. I am sure that you can find a company in your area to do them for you. They may be able to do an "inside mount" if there is room, so that there would be no drilling holes in your wall or ceiling as you mentioned. They will be able to help you with the style, fabric, hardware, etc. Good luck--it will be gorgeous.