My fiance and I just bought a 1917 craftsman bungalow in Gloucester, MA. It needs some serious renovating - mainly fixing botched jobs by a handyman who didn't do things properly. My fiance told me he read that wooden blinds and roman shades are very historical window treatments for the living and dining room. My windows in those rooms are not standard sized and customs shades and blinds would have to be made. They are very expensive! I was wondering if I could take a slightly less expensive approach - curtains. What kinds of curtains are historically approproiate to bungalows? I am particularly interested in the living room and dining room. We have close neighbors so a little privacy from the window treatments would be nice. Is lace appropriate? Thank you so much. I will be checking this board a lot - this is my first home and I want to make sure we do things correctly

Bungalows had a wide variety of curtains, including lace. So there is no reason to spend a bundle on custom window treatments unless you really want to. If you are thinking about lace, keep in mind that the 1917 lace patterns tended to be simpler and less fussy than Victorian lace. If you want to get an idea of what to put up, I suggest you look at the reprints of the period Stickley books of house plans and interiors. I found these at my local public library. For me, the Stickley books were much more helpful than the gorgeous, but intimidating, American Bungalow photo spreads. <br> <br>&gt;My fiance and I just bought a 1917 craftsman bungalow in Gloucester, MA. It needs some serious renovating - mainly fixing botched jobs by a handyman who didn't do things properly. My fiance told me he read that wooden blinds and roman shades are very historical window treatments for the living and dining room. My windows in those rooms are not standard sized and customs shades and blinds would have to be made. They are very expensive! I was wondering if I could take a slightly less expensive approach - curtains. What kinds of curtains are historically approproiate to bungalows? I am particularly interested in the living room and dining room. We have close neighbors so a little privacy from the window treatments would be nice. Is lace appropriate? Thank you so much. I will be checking this board a lot - this is my first home and I want to make sure we do things correctly <br> <br> <br>

Bungalows had a wide variety of curtains, including lace. So there is no reason to spend a bundle on custom window treatments unless you really want to. If you are thinking about lace, keep in mind that the 1917 lace patterns tended to be simpler and less fussy than Victorian lace. If you want to get an idea of what to put up, I suggest you look at the reprints of the period Stickley books of house plans and interiors. I found these at my local public library. For me, the Stickley books were much more helpful than the gorgeous, but intimidating, American Bungalow photo spreads. <br> <br>

Thank you all so much for your input. I think I will just go with my instincts and see what feels right. Thanks again. This message board is a life saver. <br> <br>

We opted to go with some muslin panels that we found at IKEA. Length was an issue for us; the panels had to be quite long. Pottery Barn had some tab top sail cloth panels, but they didn't read right on the windows. We took them back. The IKEA panels look terrific, and they didn't cost a fortune. We use arrowhead, black curtain rods (again, not a huge expense). The overall effect is very nice, and the ability to close the panels for privacy, or to keep the room cool, is great. Good luck. <br> <br>

I own a 1914 bungalow <br>I have lace curtains hanging in my front diningroom window <br>I love lace and the contrast with the dark trim is very warm and inviting <br>the more gathered your lace <br>the more privacy <br>any way I have gotten lots of compliments <br>and even if they are not "historically acurate" <br>they do not take anything away from the house <br>they look like they belong and as long as there were women living in bungalows I can only imagine more than a few hung lace curtains <br>

I have a 1917 Bungalow too.The windows in my living room have 3-5 divided glass panels on the top window and just one solid pane of glass on the bottom. I decided to hang a wood rod across the entire bank of three windows and hang inexpensive insulated muslin type (color) curtains to window sill lenght. I added stenciling to the bottom and hung them from wood rings. When they are open, you can still enjoy the window style. <br> <br>

I think its imprtant to remember that bungalow decor wasn't frozen in time or stuck to one style. The Victorian period was not that far in the past from the Craftsman bungalow, and I'm sure many homes had decor and furnishings from that style. People had old things and new things in their homes, as we do today. DO what looks good to you. <br> <br>

Exactly...who wants it to look like a museum...I think as far as architecture, yes keep it accurate, but furnishings, do what you like...I don't think curtains, or interior colors or minor things like that necessarily need to follow some historical guideline. For example, I have an 18th century style bedroom set in solid cherry. I am certainly not going to get rid of that expensive set because I moved into my bungalow. And it looks very nice...do what makes you happy! <br> <br>