Up until now, I have been satisfied with our undressed windows. I'm getting the urge to cozy things up a bit, though, and I want to add some color at the same time. (I will show you the fabric I chose later ... that's not part of my dilemma.) I have simple panels in mind, gathered on a large rod ... floor to ceiling, pulled back beyond the window glass so we still get maximum light. This plan falls apart when I try to figure out how to accomplish this in the family room bay.
This is a photo taken at the end of our renovation of this room in 2007 ... right after the heartpine floors were refinished.
To give you an idea of the scale of this room, the windows are 5 feet, 7 inches high, they are 3 feet from the floor, and the ceiling is 9 1/2 feet high. Little cute curtains will not do in a space like this ... it's going to take something with presence ... Here is my inspiration photo:
source: The Gardener's Cottage
The 4-sided bay windows in our house are a very distinctive Gothic Revival design feature, both inside and outside. The previous owners of our house made very traditional, old-fashioned choices with window treatments ... attractive, but not my style.
Here is a floorplan, to give you a visual on the space I'm talking about.
There is a mere two inches between the edge of the window and the side wall. I would love to treat the two windows as one unit and put a long panel on either side, on the same plane as the windows, but there is so little room in which to do this. Panels hung this way would cover the window more than I want.
I thought about putting a panel in the center, to perhaps help with the balance, but that still doesn't solve my problem. How do I design and hang panels in this space with its odd angles and close clearances?
The other three windows in my plan will be very straight-forward to deal with ... rod across the top above the molding with panels hanging on each side. Easy peasy.
The bay window has me in fits, so I'm asking everyone for suggestions. Any ideas you have on how to do this will be extremely appreciated. In my mind's eye, I see this requiring a weird multi-angled rod system in the bay, but there has to be a simpler way to do this that I am overlooking.
Thanks in advance for any ideas that you have to contribute.
Now I'm off to work outside. I have a special visitor coming this afternoon and I have to finish getting things ready.
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Edited to add: We have little need for privacy here, being out in the country the way we are, and these drapes will never, ever be closed. They will be gathered dummy panels, for decoration only, so function is not part of the dilemma.
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11/26/12. Edited again. Still haven't made the drapes for the family room, but at least I know where I'm going with them now. The ones in the dining room are finished, and they are beautiful. Click HERE to see them.