window treatments

[samstress]

desperately looking for something new to do with our windows.

we mostly have white and off-white vinyl mini blinds throughout the house.  they're ugly, difficult to clean and i hate them.  not to mention, our new kitten chewed on many of them, so now we REALLY need to get rid of them.

in addition to those, we have mostly valances on all the windows.  not too fond of those either (especially the ones in my daughter's room).  in a couple rooms we have nothing but the blinds.

anyway, just looking for some inspiration.  what are other people using?  one item or a combination?  i've looked online a little, but am now just overwhelmed.  and it's hard for me to figure out what will look good in each room.  i'm really open to anything at this point.  looking for something interesting and inexpensive.

any ideas?

[amma_mama]

For the bedrooms, I would just go with curtains - they make the rooms feel much warmer (tone not temp but you can get insulated ones if it is cold where you live). There are a lot of great choices to match any style - Target has a decent selection that is not too pricey.

For the rest of the rooms, it is harder to say without knowing the rest of the decor and the window style (we have really big windows in our living room which did not work with some types of window treatments). That said, there are a lot of options in addition to curtains - different kinds of shades that look modern and sleek or can be made to look more traditional (roman shades). But if you are looking for off-the-shelf options then choices can be more limited. Again, curtains are always a nice choice but maybe not with a cat with claws!

[Ola_]

We're finally putting up and replacing some of our window treatments, and I've found that prices really seem to vary.  I was hoping for some nice roman blinds for a few windows but I think we'll be going mostly with regular curtains.  The curtain rods are not too expensive and it seems you can get them at any department or even hardware store.  Curtains themselves really vary - if you want custom sizes they are pricey but you can get inexpensive choices and with a little sewing or iron-on hemming tape you will get the right length.  I think we'll be getting most of our curtains from IKEA - they have some nice weight cream ones with metal grommets at the top and they are machine wash and dry, which I figure we'll really appreciate once we've got little ones.

[bezark]

I am a huge fan of bamboo shades with simple curtains. Kmart has really nice bamboo shades that fold like a roman shade rather than roll, for $15 for 27" width.

I've paired them with simple white "curtains" in most rooms in our house. My curtains are really just $2 flat sheets from Ikea, folded and sewn to make a rod pocket, or hung with inexpensive clip rings.

I like roman shades a lot, too. We have them in our family room, bathroom and kitchen. I even have the ones in the family room paired with our white curtains, but that's mostly because I'll be moving those shades to DS's room soon.

Family room:

[img]http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs069.snc6/167897_722017598886_10501663_39174992_208593_n.jpg[/img]

These are actual curtains from Ikea

[img]http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs145.ash2/40606_683493741006_10501663_38249942_1018279_n.jpg[/img]

[img]http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs372.snc4/45518_683854542956_10501663_38259996_4993930_n.jpg[/img]

[lifeguard]

I like curtains, despise blinds quite frankly. I have made curtains for most of our rooms 'cause they're just too expensive to buy imo (I've used sheets too in the past - they work great). I like curtains that don't go to the floor (& most premade seem to be long) 'cause we have  animals & they would just get hairy. In our main living areas I have lace sheers under a heavier curtain so that if we have the main curtains open we can get light in but people can't really see in.

[columbusmomma]

I'm going to do something like this at my house:

http://www.thenester.com/2008/01/window-mistreatment-101.html

[mum5]

LOVE THAT BLOG, BY THE WAY.