apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

As you have learned, Off-white cellular shades are about the most sterile-looking window coverings out there. No matter what you put over or around them, they will still be what they are.

I would have chosen inside-mount Roman Shades in a nice patterned fabric...
http://www.bluesage.biz/roman/roman_ideabook.html
...or woven wood shades.
http://www.bluesage.biz/woven/woven.html

I agree with bepsf, white cellular shades can really kill a room, especially a dark one with nice woodwork. I like the idea of a roman shade, maybe a pattern, but you could probably get some sort of matchstick shade that would look good too. The nice thing about roman shades is they have a built-in valance that gives them a more polished look. I don't think I've seen them available in top down bottom up though, do you need that feature? Best of luck.

BlindFINDER.com
"All you could ever want to know about window treatments"

Agree - inside-mount flat romans in a nice graphic print - nothing too small or fussy. Wish I had an example picture ... If you go with matchstick blinds I'd do a nice dark brown to match the window trim.

Please, please no swags - they just scream, "I didn't know what to do with this window." And no ruffles.

Maybe like the Bloom Chocolate - Ginseng print at:

www.sewmamasew.com/ccp0-catshow/CLGINSENG.html

Thanks for the suggestions, but like I said, I just bought these shades (but thanks for telling me what I *should* have done). Short of buying new shades, do people have other suggestions to improve what I already have?

Kaye

I'm also interested to hearing what people have done. I am using white cellulars because people can't see through them, yet they allow light through, and they help thermally and acoustically insulate the house. For drapes I'm at a loss at finding something to add interest! Looking forward to hearing what others on here say.

Well -- I'd personally find some sheer curtains that I really loved and hang those -- it fits my personal taste. I have lace sheers hanging on all the blind-covered windows of my home, partly to detract from the blinds but also because I love lace sheers.

You don't have to like lace, but you could find something else-- either a netting weave or just an opaque solid sheer -- something like that.