I'm kicking off my "What Would You Do?" series with a question from Sonja:
Hi Emily,
I have a bay window that faces East that is also shaded. For almost 20 years I have had just the bottom half covered with lightweight curtains. I am sick of them and want something different, but don't want to block the little bit of light and yet I need privacy as the windows face the street.
Help.
Sonja
I decided to address this question first because I just tackled a similar problem in our breakfast area. Bay windows seem like such a great feature, but they can be a booger (can I say that?) to decorate. Here's what we recently did in our breakfast area. As with most of my projects, I was looking for an inexpensive--but stylish--solution.
Like Sonja, we needed privacy but didn't want to block a lot of light. I used simple bamboo shades (from Home Depot) that we keep pulled up during the day but can lower at night. The window never seemed "finished", however; so, I found 4 yards of one of my favorite fabrics (in a remnant bin) and decided to make curtain panels by using Stitch Witchery.
To hang the curtains, I used three inexpensive IKEA rods and sawed them to the desired length for each window, pushing the ends up against each other.
Since the curtains aren't for function, but just to make things pretty, I didn't have to worry about the curtain rings going over the brackets. In other words, I used shades for function and curtain panels to give the area some style.
The entire window treatment--rods, shades and curtains--ended up costing approximately $150.
Back to Sonja's window for a minute. . . Although I used shorter curtain panels, I would actually opt for full-length panels (mounted close to the ceiling) on the sides of the windows here since she has the board and batten on each of the adjoining walls. I think a shorter panel would make things seems a little "off" balance.
Hope this helps. Now, it's your turn. "What would you do" to Sonja's bay window? Feel free to share your ideas or blog about it, leaving your link in the comment section.
Have a design dilemma you want me to address? Email your question, along with 1-2 clear photos, to info {at} emilyclark.com.
