apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Define an arm and a leg. You should be able to find a good custom shade online in the sub $200 range I would think.

Try Smith+Noble shades. Reasonable price.

http://www.smithandnoble.com/sn/home.jsp

Use the same shade hardware you currently have but get a pretty fabric. I saw this on the home of Paul and Liz Galbraith in a magazine recently. They create these beautiful hand-block printed fabrics.

http://www.galbraithandpaul.com/home.php5

If you're a cheapskate like me, try Pearl River Mart. They sell lovely, simple shades in rice paper and fabric at many widths, very inexpensively:
http://www.pearlriver.com

A how to for adding fabric to a roller shade:

http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/dc_windows_shades_blinds/article/0,,HGTV_3543_1374275,00.html

smith and noble will run you a hefty bill up to 500 dollars.
as will anything custom at that width
stick to being creative.
keep the white shade and cover it with affordable good looking curtains.

Once again I will advocate for blindsforless.com. We have a wide window also (about 65") and got both a venetian blind through them, and then got a woven grass blind with privacy lining for under $200. They are really good and have excellent customer service. Both blinds were of the highest quality.

Unless the catalog I was looking at was priced in Euros, S+N roller shades (not solar) are quite cheap. I think the low grade (linen and polyester, say) shade, size 31"w x 71" L is about $78. For a wide window, it may be more. I have no idea about quality...
Clearly Pearl River is cheaper, however.

Have you considered hanging two 36" roman shades on the outside of the window frame? Two clean-lined jute/poly shades from West Elm would run you around $70.

I once lived in a studio apartment with a wall of windows that was 10 feet wide; the apartment came with an enormous Venetian blind that was extremely heavy. After it broke, I replaced it with three smaller shades, and united the whole setup with a window scarf-style valance.

This might not work given your window setup however, you might want to consider painting or stenciling the shade you have if fabric is too much of a hassle?

Is it possible to find a top down/bottom up blind that allows for light from the top of the window (and eliminates peeking by nearby neighbors) I have a like-sized window but want to be able to get some light without personal exposure.

What about paper blinds from Chinatown?

Lose the shade. Don a flesh-toned body suite. Hit the strobe light. Put on any James Bond soundtrack and have a dance party.

Now, that is some real Apartment Therapy.

S

www.justblinds.com

I have Standard Sheerweave Solar Shades in Pearl White and love them. They block 86% of UV rays and create a sense of privacy, but still let in plenty of light so my space feels bright. It was a cinch to measure everything and I thought the prices were very reasonable.

Looks like a PCV/ST window. I have the same issue, especially in the bedroom window with the a/c. Have tried to speak with someone at Blinds and Beyond and even emailed them a pic but no response. Looking forward to comments.

I had exactly the same problem and here was my solution. I made fabric shades that worked with the room. (I actually did this twice.) I started with my ugly old shade that had a strong roller. I removed the plastic and used a heavy duty stapler to staple the fabric onto the roller. Before stapling the fabric, I prepared it by (a) cutting it the same size as the shade and adding about 2 inches at the bottom (b)fixing the sides with some stuff you can buy so the edges won't shred; (c) creating a casing at the bottom (sew or iron on tape) to insert the original wood dowel from the shade. I used gorgeous designer fabric (only needed about 2.5 yards) and had a unique window cover for under $50. I get lots of compliments on these shades. The tricky part in all this is getting the fabric stapled so the shade pulls down properly. If it's not done perfectly, the shade will pull to the side. Medium weight fabric (like the kind used for draperies) seems to work best. I prices custom fabric shades and they were fairly expensive.

Oops. RE my post above to create a fabric shade. You would need about 3" extra for the fabric length to create the casing at the bottom.

CP

I'm feeling a Roman shade might be the perfect solution. You can try Pearl River, Pier 1, or Ikea for ready made. If they don't have quite the width you need, making one yourself wouldn't be too difficult. There are lots of window treatment how-to books around... I think you could wind up with something more beautiful than what's available on the market. Good Luck!

Yea, I would second the motion for Pearl River. They have assorted shades of varying materials and sizes and are relatively cheap (below $100) for extra wide windows. I know because I have a wide window too.

Try attaching a fabric you like to the shade...I believe a fabric/sewing notions store carries items to adhere fabric to shades.