In part, it depends on what is outside your window. First floor with a busy sidewalk, you need something. I like how in the kitchen on the first row (third from the left) that they used a potted plant outside the window to break up the line of sight. The lack of curtains makes these rooms feel bigger and less fussy. Great idea.

I love this validation!! I have no window coverings on my living room and dining room windows that have a fantastic view of the Mississippi River and the bluffs of Minnesota. My mother in law has tryed for years to get me to cover them up.
I also love that corner window with the recliner. Would love to sit there and read a book.

I love these bright fresh rooms! The only reason we have curtains is that my husband insists on pulling them in the evening. I get claustrophobic and moody when I can't look outside, he feels everyone is watching him when the curtains aren't drawn!

http://www.notyourgoddess.blogspot.com/

that first one has white shades

While I like the idea in theory, it's not practical for me. I live in the northeast, in a rental apartment on the third floor of a building with forced air heat, original windows from the early 20th century and 12 foot ceilings in the living room. AND I don't have a thermostat in my apartment. Curtains are vital for temperature regulation! They play a really important role in keeping the sun out to keep it cool in the summer, and to keep drafts out and heat in during the winter.

That said, I'm always a bit sad about needing curtains in the living room, because of the original stained glass that gets covered up! It's similar to the second picture. I'd love to be able to show it off...

My favorite is the stained glass window. That being said, as much as I love the light, it isn't practical everywhere to go without window treatments.

They look great during the day... but at night you have large, black rectangles that take-up alot of optical space!

http://lapsushumanus.blogspot.com/

I'm a window treatment kind of girl (I don't like the idea of people being able to see inside at night, and it helps with the energy cost of heating and cooling our house), but I do think these rooms look great without them.

"Rooms That Work Without Window Treatments" ?!?!?!? You must be kidding me!! I've never seen a room that didn't work without window treatments--and I've never seen a room that did work with them!

As for people who say they "need" curtains for light/view/heat control, have you never heard of blinds? They come in a many colors and materials, they can be light-blocking or not, they can totally block the heat and the cold, and they roll up and disappear when you don't want them. Blinds can even roll from the bottom up. You should check them out.

Blinds *are* window treatments. But, okay.

Love photo #1. Never thought to put the rug in front of the coffee table. Very cool.

creative license--

Lol. My thoughts exactly.

I think several of these room samples could still be improved by window treatments.

Creative license:

A. Blinds are not "window treatments" at all. Get a grip.

B. All of the comments were about people who said they needed curtains. No one said they needed blinds. Don't be a jerk.

I would love to be able to do this, but I live on the first floor, with an area that gets a lot of foot traffic. Window coverings are a must.

We have an old house with many windows similar to the first and second pictures. I almost hate to put window treatments on any of them, because they are so lovely on their own. But, we are in the city, so privacy is an issue in some rooms, and blocking heat and light is an issue in other rooms. Simple shades (like in the first picture) have been our solution in several rooms, and in other rooms, we have tall curtains that mostly hang to the side (not in front) of the windows, so they usually just act as visual frames, but can be pulled shut when necessary.

From MSN Encarta:

win·dow treat·ment

noun
Definition:

covering for windows: all the accessories required to decorate a window, e.g. shades, curtains, draperies, blinds, and rods

Wasn't being a jerk. Just trying to educate.

Still being a jerk. Use the term "window treatment" and no one will think you're talking about blinds. Trust me. Even AT doesn't use the term to include blinds--hence the inclusion of a photo of windows with blinds in a post on not having window treatments!

Maybe I misread the post:

"So whether they're not that concerned about privacy, love the view, or are lucky enough to enjoy gorgeous daylight, these apartment-dwellers have all chosen to go without cover."

I understood that to mean "bare windows." If I'm wrong, I'm wrong.

AT?

djs, you're the one being a jerk. Of course window treatments include blinds. And all the photos are of bare windows, which was the point of the post.

I want those European wooden slat rolling shutters that you manually crank down over the window. They let in little chinks of light when down & act like a security system, as well. I'm obsessed. They have to be wood though or else I'd feel like I was in a prison.

There are times when I'm not Miss Hospitality and nothing says go the F away like full cover rolling shutters. Ah. The window covering for the Boo Radley in me.

i have blinds & consider them window treatments. when shopping for these blinds online i used the search term window treatments as well. definitely love the position (& color & texture) of the carpet in photo 1. made me look twice.

i've seen too many scary movies and cannot go without window treatments for evening.

also, agree with creative license, and don't see how s/he was being a jerk

I am always defending window treatments to my interior design clients for the exact confusion here... many people hear "window treatment" and think it means heavy layers of dusty sheers and overblown dated drapes, when in fact... solar shades, mini blinds, stationary panels, plantation shutters, Roman Shades, Venetian blinds...all window treatments, indeed. Even those of sheer (pun intended) necessity and function.

I have also, on more than one occasion, added something to a window which the homeowner formerly found sacred, and had them say the window/view/light was actually enhanced by the addition.

I lived in a beautiful old Victorian for a few years; my best friend and I had one half of a duplex. The living room, dining room, and kitchen had the most amazing floor-to-ceiling windows with grand and intricate carved wood sills and frames that looked gorgeous on their own, especially if we had just oiled them. We really wanted to keep them bare of any treatment whatsoever.

But the neighbors on the other side of the duplex made a habit of "accidentally" and continually wandering in front of our windows to spy on us (we heard them talking about us when the windows were open). It wasn't necessarily malicious; they were just busy-bodies, and we put curtains up within two weeks of moving in. So, no matter how great a design can be, you always have to deal with the human element.

Window film, my friends, window film. My windows face my neighbors and also unfortunately (unlike the architecturally graced beauties above) are crunched into one corner of the room above the radiator. I considered blinds but pretty window film never has to be rolled up or down and allows in tons of light.

good thing the cullen house is isolated, otherwise without window treatments wanderers might spy the residents' sparkliness XD

Soft window treatments like curtains and hard window treatments like blinds are both window treatments.