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?

I've been going back and forth on your post for awhile now just looking and thinking. I have oak cabinets too and we changed out the hardware to ORB. I love it. I hear your pain on painting the cabinets! DH is the same way but has always been fine w/ me painting our cabinets. We've just never gotten around to it though. Leaving the cabinets as is until you cajole your DH into painting I think that white is a good decision for table and chairs. But Let me toss this idea out to you: Should you eventually paint your cabinets would you consider painting your table base in a pale shade of grey/ blue? I suggest this just because I think that those curtains need something a little 'weighty' in the kitchen w/ the addition of the brown sectional being in the other room. Or maybe not. I forgot that you were painting the wals green and I don't feel like erasing everything that I just typed!

We purchased Phase II solar shades for our great room in 5% openness. We opted for the dark color, and only use them occasionally when watching TV during the early evening in the summer. The windows are west facing so get the afternoon sun. They definitely block out enough glare to see the TV clearly. And you can still enjoy the view. When rolled up, the are not noticeable at all. We've been pleased, they function as we expected. Now that the sun sets earlier, we don't use them. We got them at Penneys, and they had samples of the fabric. I brought them home and held them up to light before making my choice. They definitely are not decorative. If you want something decorative, these are not for you. I love wood blinds, and plantation shutters too. But now that we in a wooded area with beautiful views, I wanted it to be wide open when we didn't need the shades for TV viewing. Here is a link that might be useful: Phase II

For the kitchen - roller or Roman. But I can’t really see what aesthetic your after. Roman shades are and will take on a much more traditional style. For what seems to be the living room. I would leave the triangular window open and either match to the kitchen. Or do a roller shade with curtains over it.