apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Roman shades.

I love the idea of a top down shade which will allow light but keep privacy --- providing the building across from you isn't too tall of course!

I think the white shade you have now looks a bit stark but keeping the color light would be good --- maybe shades in cream/natural. Or bamboo?

Good luck!

PS - I love the glass in your door . . . it's retro without being tacky (imo). If you don't actually need to look out your window maybe you could do a window film to give the same textured look as the door?

Also maybe some kind of valance (sp?) with orange in it to bring the cool panel color up the wall? Or a stripe of matching orange paint above the window?

Shade stores can often make custom shades for this type of thing.

But, selfishly - I LOVE your couch, the lines, the buttons, the color - everything! Care to share where you purchased it?

i'm not sure what to do about the window, but you have such a nice rug -- why not pull it out from underneath the couch, so that the edge of the rug is a few inches from the edge of the couch...it might give the couch-side of the room the appearance of more space, and your nice would floor would be a good accent to the great rug on all 4 sides, AND tie it in with the other side of the room where you have the buffet(?)...just a thought.

love the couch, btw!

I love your sofa!

Ah yes, this post is not about that. Anything horizontal will update the window significantly over vertical blinds. Have you looked at Ikea's wooden blinds? They're a great cost-effective option that would work well with your decor. You can do two of them if the window is too large, or get a similar custom-fit set made elsewhere.

"but you have such a nice rug -- why not pull it out from underneath the couch, so that the edge of the rug is a few inches from the edge of the couch..."

Amanda--

Bad advice - One of the first basic rules of decorating is this one: No floating-island rugs.

The OP has correctly placed the front legs of the sofa on the edge of the rug, and the size is alright as the carpet helps define the sitting area from the walkway through the living room from the front door to the back of the house.

ha! so sofa-obsessed these days. that's crate and barrel's petrie, no? it looks great in that color! would you happen to remember the name?

as for your windows, rice paper shades - or just rice paper - could be a good alternative. the diffused light is really nice and you'll still have your modesty. plus they're cheap!

I'm pretty sure that color is Hydra, because we just ordered one for our house (and I can't wait for it to get here after seeing it in action!).

I have/had the same problem. I had metal blinds from HD for a while but they got dusty and I just didn't like the look of them after a while.

I went to blindschalet.com and order some roller shades that offer some sun screening when down but I can roll them (almost) all the way up to get the view of the woods across the street from me. They have a nice color selection and styles with different options of privacy. Check them out.

BTW I really like your sofa and the door is awesome.

Honeycomb blinds (from Smith Noble or wherever) mounted on the inside of the window that open from the top and bottom would look nice and clean.

I really like the little wood & metal tables. Where are they from?

Honestly, I like the window the way it is.

We have a solar shade from the Shade Store, is a great way to have total privacy (or filtered light, depending on the weave you choose) with a very modern look. Another window we have a roman shade on, and while I like it, it's really not modern looking at all. Honeycomb shades are looking really 80s to me now, but the top down feature is nice.

I really like our cellular window shades - you can get them either light-diffusing or light-blocking, depending on your needs. They're very energy-efficient, and can do top-down bottom-up too.

We got them from http://cellularwindowshades.com, but they have stores you can go to see them in person.

I really like IKEA's Kvartal system - http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/range/10374/13289/ there are lots of different panels, and you can layer them for different levels of privacy / light. Seems like it would be easy to put your own fabric in, too, and have it be less IKEA-y.

I'm a big fan of celluar shades. They are clean looking, and help your house both thermally and acoustically. You can buy lots of differerent styles based upon your needs (acoustic, thermal, blackout, whatever).

I second Fjorder's suggestion about the Smith and Noble honeycomb blinds. I have a similar size window and I got the honeycomb blinds with the top-down bottom-up feature, I love them! There's also a big color selection for the Smith & Noble honeycomb blinds.

Window film.

What is up with your door? I love, love, love it. Did you do that yourself, or can you buy it somewhere? Or are you just that lucky that it came with the apartment?

That's definitely the Petrie from C&B--it's at the top of my list right now, too. :)

As far as windrow dressings go, I would suggest Roman shades, and I think you're space could handle a lot of different things depending on your tast--you could go neutral, or a pop of color (orange, yellow), or maybe a modern pattern. Another option might be bamboo/matchstick looking blinds.

I'm a big fan of Smith & Noble though they can get pricey. Their shades are super easy to hang and come in great colors/natural materials, plus you can order free samples first. We just ordered a bamboo valance from them for about $60 and it looks terrific.

I've seen that front door a lot on mid-century houses in Massachusetts - don't know where it comes from though! BTW, here are a couple photos of the cellular shades in our house:

Living room sliders
Bedroom shades
(not the greatest shot since the insulation is sticking out)

I liked that CellularWindowShades.com manufactures the blinds right here in VT, so it's not shipped from all that far away.

I second the Ikea Kvartal system. I just picked up a bunch for my kitchen to replace the horrid vertical blinds on the sliding door. Now I just need to find the time to install them.

Solar shades or romans.

Top down/bottom up can get really sloppy with all those strings.. And, if they get slipped off track slightly...They look terrible.

You can hang sheer curtain from a rod over the vertical blinds. This gives you a lot options, while allowing you to use the curtain to cover up the blinds when you want to use them for more privacy and light control.

When you just want light to come in through the sheer curtain, you can draw the vertical blinds to one slide.

I've seen this setup in a resort suite.

bepsf, is this really a rule about rug placement? I've seen rugs placed in both ways that look very good.

i think solar roller shades would look nice, they're clean and modern.

This may be off the wall, but I've seen Hawaiian barkcloth in MCM-style patterns (atomic geometrics, etc.) on eBay. You might throw caution into the wind and do drapes.

Our decor style is similar (MCM/modern) and we have bamboo roman shades from Home Depot that look really nice. Just be SURE to buy the privacy liners, otherwise you can see right through them.

Or some fabulous modern window film (a la Emma Jeffs) would be cool. That was my first idea for our own living room, but that stuff's expensive!

And I am in love with your door. Tell me it has a reasonably priced twin out there somewhere.

Your room is awesome. I'd do a green bamboo matchstick shade. It'll jive well with that swell sofa.

Another in love with your sofa! EQ3 or Urban Outfitters, or ?

wooden blinds definitely! cellular shades are nice but not totally functional if you still want to "peek" outside the window...

FYI: matchstick roll-up blinds look pretty but offer ZERO privacy. Boy was I ever surprised to see my entire living room from outside my home one night - Hello!
Sadly, my cute wooden blinds went back to the store the next day.
I'm considering the roll up shades I remember from my childhood but am concerned about how they'll weather cat abuse.

Pale citron yellow roller shades. cream (or another neutral) is too boring and will just give you a large blah space that you have now. Yellow would work well as a contrast with your couch color and an accent to the brick wall (and is such a good mid-century modern color).

And your couch is fantastic! If only we were in the market for couches...

actually, the more i look at it... a darker cream or tan could work well.

What a lovely room!

I also like cellular shades - privacy, some insulation, light still gets through (depending on material). For our rumpus room, I bought cordless cellular shades, very simple, no messy strings. Our window is large, and custom sizes can be expensive, so I got three (36" wide) and mounted them right up next to each other, no gaps at all. I ended up with the total width about 1/2" too wide to fit. I was able to trim the plastic header easily (but slowly), and the shade itself is very easy to cut while it's stacked flat. For the almost-108" window, the difference in width on a single shade doesn't show at all. I had not planned to trim the shades, btw, but had to solve the problem when the shades arrived.
Anyway, I think cellulars would add a nice texture and still look sleek, and they'd especially look good with the brick.

PS - we recently got the same ceiling fans - love them! they really move a LOT of air, and they're so quiet.

I know some people have been knocking cellular shades, but I think for your room, given that you have street traffic outside and you want to let light in, a top-down / bottom-up window treatment is the best option. Cellular shades are great if you want to diffuse light, but if you want to block it completely then you either need blackout shades or roman shades. I personally think the blackout shades would look too "heavy." Also check out justblinds.com and blinds.com they have some of the lowest prices available.

Good luck!
BlindFinder.com
"All you could ever want to know about window treatments"

ive been having the exact same problem, but my largest of three windows is about 100 wide and are now covered by 30 y.o. BROKEN blinds. ew. needless to say its going to take a nice chunk of change to get all three windows in new coverings. yours look waaaay better than mine... even if they arent your ideal look. haha

Thanks everyone for all the tips/advice & positive feedback...really appreciate!!!

Yes, the sofa is Crate & Barrel's Petrie (fabric is a custom color, honestly can't remember name...but room & board also had in stock... but when we ordered a year ago - told the distributor was going out of business, fabric/color no longer avail - we were lucky to get it)...

door came with the place.... :)

wonderful living space...I want it!! I'd put window film up. I found some at window film and more.com and it looks modern...but not too modern at the same time!

For a window that big and where you sometimes need total privacy you may want to consider a soft vertical blind like those made by Levolor... They are like two products in one- The look of a drapery but with the functionality of a blind. The cool thing is you can 'tilt' them open and the light will come through a sheer fabric for a cool effect. When you want it dark/need privacy, you can 'tilt' them closed like classic mini-blinds. Like traditional vertical blinds these can be 'traversed' or 'stacked' to open to either side or you can order them to open in the middle. Check 'em out here- http://www.levolor.com/products/soft-vertical-shades/gallery.php