squirell - Thank you! Thank You! I really appreciate it, sorry I wasn't able to come back to it until now. To answer your question on sitting in the bed. No we don't. I can't even think of one instance when we have. I really like a few of them. We'll never have pillows on the bed though like that although it looks nice they'd never be on the bed, but always on the floor (speaking from experience), however if we have a headboard I could plop up the current pillows. I like this one as the height seems right for those and I like the panel height in this one (but not sure about the shades or a valance with it as I lean towards simpler and non-formal looks) Would this as shown be too much with a headboard? The wall height is 9' and I'm looking at 95-96" drapes if I go that route. It would leave a 1' gap which I think will be perfect once we finally add trim to windows and crown molding. No shutters as I only like them with trim. Though everything looks odd to me on windows without trim. We choose between those and the 2" wood blinds initially and decided we wanted to be able to fully open without having shutters that swung out over the bed or in the traffic path on the other window. We are getting a bed eventually just on a budget at the moment. The one I managed to fit in there is the current choice, though I think my scale is off when I did it. The inspiration pics also have pics with just the flat part on top of the windows. In the ones I posted the dining area has that. JCPenney has some tab tops on sale now so I guess I could get those and return if I don't like it in person when hung. However if I then needed to go the shade route - will that mean I need to move the rod down as they will be slightly higher than the one shown above. I'd like to try to avoid too much stuff. Does the shades work with a headboard?

Please know that solar shades are not meant for privacy. They are what I call "sight to the light." For example, when they are down during the day you will be able to see out, but no one will see in. HOWEVER...at night it is the opposite...you can not see out, but people can see in if there is a light on in the room. My preferred source for solar shades, LAFVB Genesis, offers a dual shade option...solar for view out during the day and a privacy shade for night. You do need considerable depth to install dual shades inside mount. I've used these at a client's lake home, where view is very important, but privacy was a must.

Instead of solar shades, we use Phifer super solar screens on the exterior of windows. The view of outdoors is above average and it allows us to decorate without using solar shades. It's always best to keep the heat outside instead of trying to manage it inside. Once it's inside, your air conditioner has to deal with it.

I live in a high rise with a view and a strong Eastern exposure. I need shades down in the morning before the sun rises sufficiently so that it doesn't glare into my apartment - glare, heat plus damage to furniture and floors were all issues. In addition to my solar shades, I also installed UVA film on the windows. It is not visible at all and is rated to reduce UVA by almost 99%. I know that the bills for A/C this summer were significantly lower than before I had film and solar blinds. I am in Los Angeles so I run the A/C pretty much non-stop.