There are "bottom up" shades out there that close from the bottom first. Smith Noble make them as do others. You could also try simple cafe curtains hung on a small tension rod mounted in the middle of the window (what is pictured above, I think). I haven't seen roller shades done at the halfway point, but that doesn't mean it wouldn't work.

Yes! I did this in my apartment and I love it. I got the "top-down/bottom-up" feature on the Smith and Noble Honeycomb shades. I wanted this feature so that I could look out my window and see tree tops and sky and not a busy street. I only wish I had done this in my bedroom and other rooms too...

I prefer opaque window film. LOVE it.

I second the window film. I need to find some time to do that as well. I hate that my windows expose my bed.

Lovers of opaque window film, please share brand recommendations and tips! Am thinking of doing this and keep going back and forth about brands and installation types.

Jennifers - I use solid transluscent 3M film that I got from a sign-making company. There are lots of different versions that let different amounts of light through. They probably have a minimum order size - I was lucky and got an end of a roll from another job. They cut it to size for me with their vinyl cutter too.

Installation is pretty easy - you soak the backing with windex until it starts to peel off easily. Soak the window with windex. Peel off one end of the backing and stick the adhesive side of the vinyl to the top of your window pane. Keep peeling the backing down from between the glass and the vinyl until the backing comes off entirely. As long as you keep the whole thing soaking wet with windex, you can move it around and lift it as needed. Squeeze out any bubbles with a squeegee, or the flat edge of a spatula. Let it dry and you're done.

One thing that I did - I had the film cut 1/2" narrower and shorter than the pane of glass - that gave me a 1/4" border of clear glass all around the film. It made it a bit easier to install and gives you just enough clear glass to peek through if needed. That goes both ways though - someone on the outside could peek in too.

we have film on the bottom part of the windows on the enclosed porch and on the window overlooking neighboors' driveway.

Actually, ReadyMade had a whole thing on it... which inspired me to make café curtains (but less cutesy). Love the fabric they used in the tension rod ones...

http://www.readymade.com/project/privacy_policy/

they make decorative window film, if you want to explore pattern/texture/color options. we used to live on the bottom floor of our apt. building, and covered the bottom half of our kitchen window with a frosted film with a polka dot texture. It allowed a lot of light in, and provided plenty of privacy.
I can't remember where we got it...try googling a bit.

here's a link to some window film similar to what we used:

http://www.windowwallpaper.co.uk/osb/showitem.cfm/category/1

Home Depot has a fairly good assortment of inexpensive window films. These films apply with a soapy solution rather than windex as mentioned above. I prefer this as I am trying to detoxify my home.

Someone above mentioned cutting the film 1/2 in smaller than the window dimensions to ease installation. I second that motion. Getting a perfect fit is difficult because windows are not necessarily perfectly square.

I've had this window film on the windows of my 1st floor NYC apartment for 2.5 years. The film uses static cling to stay on, so it's easily removed. I *love* this stuff.

http://www.scandinaviandesigncenter.com/Products/usd0/Accessories/Decorations/1117/Window screen film&VariantId=3

I got the window film from Ikea aout 4 years ago, its still on on all my windows incl the bathroom.

A "top down/bottom up" is definitely the way to go - we've got those for our street-level living room, which is also adjacent to the common porch entrance. Consequently, the five sections of the bay window often look like a Verizon commercial ("more bars...") but they're still translucent enough to let in lots of light.

Also, they easily allow for spontaneous bouts of exhibitionism . Just sayin.

I used a window film I got at Lowes and had a lot of difficult getting out all the bubbles. This was the kind that you applied by misting water on the window. Also when I went to remove it, it was really difficult to get off and involved a lot of scrapping.

We bought half shutters from Lowe's and installed them in our house - lets in a lot of light.

test

test2

On my short (28" high) bathroom windows, I used tension rods at the top and bottom. This way I can easily raise just the bottom or lower just the top to let in light or views, or leave them covering the window for privacy. I used lightweight (but not sheer) fabric, a slubbed linen in one room and a ribbed cream-colored almost-velour in the other. The "shade" was made to fit the window exactly, so it looks very neat and tailored when the rods are in top and bottom (closed) position. This probably wouldn't work well for a very large window, but it's nice for shorter windows that are narrow enough for one person to reach across. Also, it can be inexpensive and washable, depending on the fabric.

Woah Lynn, thank you for that link! I am so in love!

I like it I must say but you still cant beat opal frost window film like this http://www.windowfilmsdirect.com/opalfrost.html

sue x

This shade looks like one of ours.