It doesn't look like you have room to have curtains stack back - definitely not on both sides. In a situation like this, I would have the curtains stack back on the left side, but it looks like you've got a fireplace really close to the edge of the window. I don't think 108" is too high (and you could hem them if they were). The real issue to me is that there isn't room for them to go anywhere to go when you open them. Even if you just do a left side stack back, you'd have a lot of the window covered when you opened them.

What about something like a solar shade from the shade store? I love these.

This is similar to what was there originally! But they were very dark & took a lot of the life out of the room.

I’d love to do something like this or Roman shades, but my wife is dead set on curtains, so trying to find a way to make it work! But I’m what the professionals call in legal terms “an idiot” so definitely need y’all’s help on that.

Well I love me some good curtains any day of the week, but unfortunately they don’t seem to fit in that space. You have a fire hazard to the left and a dead end wall to the right. IDK how curtains would even look good. Perhaps there is another place in the home where she can put up some curtains where they’ll actually look amazing? Sending you good vibes.

I think you could put up curtains, but they will end up covering a fair bit of the window even when open. They will also interfere with the door. Having said that I think they could work. If your wife would like pattern, you could consider a cornice or a valence as another option.

Agree that curtains are wrong for this space

Jenna, you’re probably right. But before I give up… Nellie - do you think that would matter too much if part of the window is covered up? They’re massively wide. But I’m just not sure if it would look funky.

You could try sheers. They require less space, but you would still cover the fixed window when they are open. Here is a link to a stack back chart below. For a 96” window and a one-way draw you need 32” of space for the curtains to stack. With the wall so close to the right side of the door, I’m not sure if you could get the curtain to completely cover the window on that side anyway.

https://www.designerdraperyhardware.com/curtain-rod-stacking-chart-for-pleated-draperies/

You aren’t the idiot - the architect or builder who designed that wall is the one to blame. It happens frequently, I think that’s why we tend to see so many vertical blinds. You could always call a local blind shop and see what options they have for you.

No room for curtains there. Solar shades come in lighter colors.

If you don't mind most of the left glass door being covered by the curtains, then curtains could work there. If you do decide to go with curtains, I would suggest dead-ending the rod into the wall on the right. You could hang a regular curtain bracket on the left side, and a threaded flange on the right side for the rod to screw into. We did this in 2 places in our basement where the windows are very close to the side walls and it works great. I can take pictures to show you what I'm talking about if my written description isn't making sense. Also, I don't think 13" above the doors would look odd, but give it a try before you hang the hardware.

Eastautumn - yes if you’re open to sending pictures I’d love to see! I think I understand what you’re saying, but would be helpful to see it.

I don't have close-ups of the hardware, but here you can see the curtains I mentioned in my previous post from a distance. We made the curtain rod and brackets with the black and white curtains out of steel pipe and fittings so it was easy to just use a plain threaded flange on the left side to screw the rod into. In our guest bedroom I wanted something less industrial looking, so we used normal Pottery Barn hardware on the right, and on the left we repurposed an old flange that was part of a wall bracket and I spray painted it to match the rod and other hardware.

In your situation I would suggest hanging your curtains from drapery rings (rather than pole pockets) to make it super easy to open them when you need to access the door and close them when you want privacy. I guess because I have curtains hung against walls, I don't think it would automatically look bad in your case, especially if you used something light and airy. It won't be obvious that the door is so close to the fireplace if you hang the bracket in just the right spot so the curtains cover the edge of the left door but don't overlap with the fireplace. I actually hung our curtains in part because I didn't like how the windows looked kind of crammed against the walls. The curtains allowed me to make the windows look more balanced, at least to my eye. I'm not a pro though, so take my advice for what it's worth ;)

You claim not to be a pro, but this is so innovative and looks awesome. Gives me a lot of faith we can pull the look off. Really appreciate your help — I’ll share some photos of how it turns out!

I think you could trick the eye into thinking there is a bit of wall behind the curtains. They would have to be thick enough that light doesn't come through. People often do the reverse and try to make a window look bigger by putting the curtains further out on the wall. Do you have curtains you could hold up to see what it would look like before you actually put them up?

Found this example of a curtain near a fireplace

I went ahead and took a shot, and I think it turned out really well! Need another panel on each side, but otherwise pretty happy with this. Thank you everyone for your advice!

Good job!

Wow-- I'm impressed at how quickly you get things done! I agree that another panel on each side (or wider panels) will work even better :)