thanks for the responses! ratherbesewing, i like the idea of roman shades, although the word "custom" makes me nervous--that sounds expensive!! would you leave the little windows with nothing over the shades? would that look funny/unbalanced if there are panels on the big window and door? sujafr, i wish i could see a photo of your DD's room with the shutters! i wonder if they'd be room darkening enough? also i wonder how they attach? there is no room to mount them inside. kristinekr, thank you for the bathroom compliments! we LOVE how it turned out! now we have the bug to do the rest of the house. :) I didn't think of the grommets without sheers, because I need *something* behind the curtains when i pull them aside so i don't see the neighbors house (or they don't see me). what would you suggest if not sheers? do you think it would look ok to have panels on the one window and not the others? i don't think i can do an inside mount because there's only 3/4-inch of space for the hardware. i'll have to look into it. THANKS. anne

I think this is one of these things that should have a "post-game analysis" of sorts. I don't mean to be critical, but this will be analytical and it may help someone else who builds a house in the future. The idea here is nice, and the essentially linked windows are similar to a true palladian window, with the tall window in the middle and subordinate windows on either side of a height equal to the bottom sash...fine. But you've kind of backed yourself into a design corner because these particular windows need to be covered, and yet you don't want to cover them too much, or all the time. A palladian window in an 18th or 19th c house would be treated like this: The walls would be thick enough that shutters would fold over the small windows and fold back into shallow pockets in the jambs when you wanted them out of the way. The larger window would be elaborately draped because of the curve or possibly mostly left bare,depending. If you were to design this over again---or if your architect does do this again in another house---a peak that was wide enough to allow a single rod or top mounted treatment that was wide enough to cover all three windows completely should be one thing considered, or more room for shutters to be folded back would be another, a shorter or differently proportioned window in the middle another. I think that windows are often designed as if they can all be left uncovered because nobody's windows need to be covered for privacy or light control. And really the opposite is true. Almost Every window should be designed if it will need to be covered for privacy or light control, and if it doesn't great, but if it does you are not faced with several less than ideal options and possibly some really awkward options but no perfect options.

They are two different things so they don't need to exactly "match" -- only coordinate -- same material and/or color .... generally the same style. One idea could be to use the standard two-rod -- top and bottom -- idea for the door to add your curtain to the door -- hem at both top and bottom with rod inserted through them -- .and then replicate that on the windows ... using the same length fabric on the door as you need for the windows, visually creating three windows the same length. With the bottom of the fabric secured at the bottom hem, you'd avoid fabric heat/ac issues. To the extent possible, keep the lengths the same -- affix the top and bottom of the door curtain to the door at the same level the top and bottom of the window curtains are affixed beneath the window. https://www.amazon.com/Aquazolax-Blackout-Pockets-Treatment-Curtains/dp/B01ID2241Y/ref=asc_df_B01ID2241Y/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=191933259563&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1829654607197935271&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9011062&hvtargid=pla-300456409386&psc=1  Alternately ... Consider wood or faux wood plantation shutters for the two windows so you have no fabric issues around the heat/ac areas. Use wide slat wood or faux wood blinds for the door. To the extent possible, keep the lengths the same -- affix the top and bottom of the door blinds to the door at the same level the top and bottom of the plantation shutters are affixed beneath the window.

Maybe some kind of frosted privacy film is an option. It could probably just go 3/4 of the way up the window so the top could still be clear while still providing privacy for anyone in the room of normal height. Window film alone won’t be enough to block street lights that may be distracting for anyone trying to sleep. What about some kind of room darkening opaque drapes that block glare, provide privacy, but still let you see out through them enough to be able to determine if the window is open or closed?