After discussing drapes and pillows for weeks the Queen and I have gone round and round. I never thought that such a seemingly benign decision would take so long or be so difficult. With more expensive items, like furniture, there are fewer high quality options. When it comes to pillows and drapes that is NOT the case. There are a multitude of options. No, a plethora of options.
That in mind, we have been searching for the Holy Grail of pillow and drapes combination. It's as if the world is depending on our correct choice, with the wrong selection sending the world out of orbit, hurling us all into the sun. It's a momentous decision. Right? 
The picture in the upper righthand corner shows the white cellular shades I ordered (this is not my room). While cellulars aren't the greatest shades they offer a few things we required.
(a) The single pane glass transom allows some serious heat transfer, and the sun coming through that window blasts you when sitting on the couch. The shades will offer some insulation and filter the direct light. I thought about replacing the transom above the window and my door with newer double pane windows, but the current ones are too darn pretty and newer versions are poopy looking. That and I'm cheap.
(b) My lower window is at about head height if you are walking down the street. If the shades were open it offers a lovely view directly up at the 50" plasma. I live a couple of doors down from a bus stop - I don't need everyone looking in. Hence, the cellular shades here will provide privacy ALL of the time.
(c) They allow in light, but hide the view. Shutters give you privacy but some since I have windows I actually like to have light coming through them. Crazy how that works.
Ok, enough about cellular blinds. After seeing a post on Apartment Therapy I knew we had to find drapes that would actually go with the cellular blinds. After some hunting, the Queen found the leafy looking stuff in the upper right. I think it's HAWT, and it satiates my need for some pattern in the room. After much back and forth we think the pillows shown, or something similar, in the lower left will go with the furniture and our 'sterling' walls. The patterns may mess up the mid century vibe but it helps to mix things up a bit.
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P.S. We ended up ordering the Exhibit A vanity for the upstairs bathroom.
5 comments:
Hey Corey,
Thanks for dropping by my blog and leaving a comment! I like yours as well. Since we're doing our own renovations, it's always cool to see what other homeowners are doing.
Elizabeth
That's why we have cellular shades as well. Alas, my cats have almost completely destroyed the one in the front window, and at 4'x6', it was horrendously expensive. I'm trying to come up with a cat-proof anti-look-at-my-giant-tv yet still allow-the-light-in window covering, and have yet to find one. I'm thinking it might involve some construction and a cat door. to a window. It's so wrong. So very wrong.
Luckily Cat (that's my cat's name) is declawed, but we'll see if Loki decides to make them a chew toy. I'll be interested to see what type of anti-kitty tampering device you think up. You get bonus points if it uses electricity. :-)
If you do go with more cellulars, check out selectblinds.com. 4x8 cellulars are around $80 after all the discounts.
Hey Corey...
Jennifer in Chicago again. :)
I was wondering how tall your living room windows are and what size cellular shades you bought? (ie 1/2, 3/4, etc)
We have REALLY tall windows and I am looking to do what you are...let light in...keep flat screen thieves at bay. I dont want too much bulk and want to keep it to scale.
Thanks again!
Jen
j.kletzel@sbcglobal.net
Hi Jennifer,
I have 9' ceilings, with the top transom roughly 48" x 24" (w x h), and the lower window being around 48" by 48".
For the shade size I buy, it's whatever is cheapest really. Since the cellulars aren't my showpiece I'm not going for the best ones. If you are looking for a lot of light filtration, sound and thermal insulation choose a thicker multicell blind. The most important dimension I looked at was the depth, as I want to mount the shades inside the window frame.
We'll be putting the drapes up to essentially go floor to ceiling to hide the old poorly done trim, as well as make the window a true visual anchor point in the room. To help keep things "in scale" we chose a pattern that is smaller in scale, so hopefully the drapes will fit in the scheme instead of standing out TOO much.
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