I am replacing most of my curtains and with so many different styles to choose from, its rather confusing, what style <br>do you use in your homes. Looking for ideas. <br>

French windows &amp; doors should have french window curtains and should not be covered by drapes, (French windows meaning all windows that swing open inward) Other windows that may be trimmed with fancy casing, stick to curtains that fit onto the window rather than drapes that would cover the casing and trim work. Some traditional bungalow windows are just to fancy and awsome to cover up and depends if you need privacy through them or not? check out Country Curtains Catalog as they have sets that cover all different sizes and shapes. I also stick to white or cream which gives the best appearance from the exterior. I hope this helps, I am still working on my windows too. <br> <br>

You are getting a lot of great ideas (some of which I may have to swipe myself!) I am a fan of Roman shades which do not hide the woodwork and are wonderful if you are considering doing any stenciling on them. We are stuck with a lot of mini blinds for now but thanks to everyone with all their input! <br> <br> <br>

Most of our window treatments are courtesy of the previous owner, who left lots of nice stuff. In our living and dining room we have wooden shutters stained to match the woodwork and they are very nice. They help keep the house cool as well. We also have shutters, painted white, in one bathroom. On one wall across the living/dining we have plain semisheer long ivory panels. Then in most of the other rooms we have either simple, country type curtains or mini-blinds, or both. The miniblinds are suboptimal, but they were already there, and given our hot summers and lack of central A/C, anything to keep the sun out is a plus. <br> <br>I also like the look of a short curtain on the bottom sash, and letting the 3-pane top sash show. I have done this in a couple of rooms. <br> <br>My philosophy is that curtains aren't a permanent fixure of your house, so relax and have fun with it. I'm becoming something of a restoration purist when it comes to the permanent features of house itself, but hey, I don't care to live in a museum so I don't hold my interior design to strict period. If you are inclined to mix other styles with the arts and crafts, then curtains, nicknacks, pictures, etc are items to have fun with. I recently made window treatments for my bedroom, in which I have blended old world and asian themes with the craftsman. The windows have cafe curtains on the lower sash made from a floral brocade, then a valance across the top that has Indian sari-type material, a bit of eyelet trim (a nod to the period), and beaded fringe for, well, just because I liked it! <br> <br>Also, if you sew at all you can make curtains way cheaper than you can buy them. Keep an eye out for fabric sales at places like JoAnn and you can get decorator fabrics very cheap. Other than that, I have seen some nice, reasonably priced curtains in "domestications" and "country curtains" catalogs. <br> <br>On the practical side, you might want to consider privacy needs, the need to keep out hot sun in summer, the need to hold in heat in the winter, etc. <br> <br>

Relax -- this is one of the fun parts! <br> <br>We removed very faded brown mesh drapes and pink-beige nylon sheers from the windows in our living room and dining room, stripped the wood, and installed the following: <br> <br>1) In the entryway and east living room windows (60"x60"): 2" wooden blinds, stained to match the dark fir trim, with sage green twill tapes rather than the ordinary lattice strings. <br> <br>2) In the dining room bay windows: white linen Roman shades, fitted inside the frames. <br> <br>3) We replaced the piano windows on either side of the fireplace (original glass in those two windows long gone; we found them bricked up when we bought the house,) and the narrow upper center window in the dining room, with stained glass and left them otherwise uncovered. They are on the south side of the house, and the light streaming through them is beautiful in the mornings. <br> <br>4) Entryway/living room door: an embroidered cotton/linen portiere, on clip-on antiqued brass rings; we change it for a deep red cotton velvet curtain in the winter. <br> <br>5) Bedrooms (north side): plain white linen Roman shades. <br> <br>It seems very plain, I know, but we've discovered such lovely wood during our renovations that we don't want to distract people from it! If our house leaned more towards the Morris side of the Movement (something I'm looking for when our family relocates to England in a few years), I would use more patterned fabrics. <br> <br>Do please let us know what you decide. <br> <br>