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Windows Home Decorating

Window treatment help for ground floor

last year

My family recently purchased a new home and all of the bedrooms and common spaces are on the ground level. I’m trying to figure out the best window treatments that will still allow light in but also give us privacy. I also have young kids so I’m trying to ensure the window coverings are functional, easy to use, and dark at night.

For the bedrooms, I’m considering:

Black out curtains with shades (roller, cellular or Roman). Pros: Looks great; Cons: shades are impossible for little kids to open and close since they can’t reach them, which means they’ll stay closed all the time. Would I do a sheer shade to help with this issue?
Black out curtains plus top down bottom up shades (either light blocking or sheer). The only con of this is how it would look. Would this look okay?
Double curtains with black out curtains and sheers behind. Pros: easy for young kids to open and close the sheers; Cons: are double curtains with sheers acceptable and in style?

Same general questions apply to our ground family room that faces the neighbors’ house, though we don’t need light blocking here. Shades vs curtains vs both, top down bottom up vs standard.

Would love any and all feedback! Thank you.

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Comments (3)

Andee
last year
This is such a huge question - and probably difficult to answer as we have no idea what your house looks like or what your style preferences are. Where did you live before this? What kind of window treatments did you have? How did they work for you? Have you looked at pictures and thought about style of curtains/draperies?

Could you think about one room at a time? Which one needs immediate attention because of privacy or light control concerns?

Yes, you can do sheers and draperies on a double rod.
chispa
last year
If you don't want kids to operate the blinds/shades, then consider getting battery powered ones. I have used the Hunter Douglas Power Rise Duettes (with battery pack) before and they work great. You get a palm sized remote that can operate 1 to 6 blinds. All my HD shades are botom-up/top-down versions and I have room darkening and light filtering versions.
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For a clean, modern look I would suggest looking into solar shades. They come in different weave thicknesses - from the very transparent to tighter weaves offering more privacy. They come in a variety of neutral colors (lots of whites) and textures. Typically, when I style a room, I do not begin with the window treatments. I design the window coverings around the room's style and floor plan. The window next to your fireplace has very little space on the left, so be careful when you do an outside mount. Also, I would mount the solar shades, or fabric roman shades (another good option) right up to the ceiling. For the sliders, do draperies - make sure to mount the drapery hardware at the same height as the top of the shades to balance everything out. Without the window treatments, my eye goes straight to the differences in height between the doors and side windows. Beautifully designed window treatments will correct that flaw and make the room look taller. Best of luck!
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First off you have beautiful home and congratulation on your new home. I'd suggest going to the floor if you're going to go with curtains on these window and if you're okay with going above the picture rail i'd suggest that. Going above the rail will just add height to your room. 1/4'' is going to be too narrow to do an inside mount. If you like the idea of having some of your trim show you can always mount on your trim, but just don't cover it all. Honeycomb and roller shades would be good pairing options with curtains. A roller shade will project out farther than a honeycomb shade.... just something to consider. If you're open to suggestions on an alternative option consider an Illusion shade. They have a modern look and give you versatility with light and privacy. The illusion shades are beautiful on their own or look nice with panels as well.
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PRO
Fenstermann LLC
last year
Hey There: You can use cordless bottom-up top-down shades for these rooms. This is the most versatile window covering that allows you to manage privacy and light at once. Open the top and let the natural light flood the room while the bottom portion of the shade still gives privacy for the room. Use light filtering material and layer it with a black out curtain. This way, the little ones can open the curtains in the morning while the light filtering shades provide natural light and privacy.

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