Pay No Attention To The Man Behind The Curtain...

Confession time: I have very few fears. In my house, I can face-down the fury of a toddler, take care of the bugs that threaten terrified humans and bravely investigate the strange noise at 3 A.M. However, I am truly afraid of 3 things: Praying Mantis, arrogant ignorance and the prospect of decorating with window treatments.

It may be the result of living through the '80s with all those balloons, jabots and cafe styled pieces. JJ had a cottage industry making curtains for all of her friends and they were great for that time, but like most daughters, I veered a full 180 degrees from her style and went modern. Give me clean lines or give me death. No fuss, no fluff. Just a solid drape that breaks, thank you very much.

Now I have these windows in the house that truly need some dressing. I have enlisted JJ to execute whatever it is that I settle on. She's game, even though I suspect she would prefer to add fancy trims. So I'm doing what I do best: researching what the experts say and gathering images for inspiration.

Elle Decor offers great advice and it seems I'm on the right track.....
http://www.elledecor.com/decorating/articles/how-to-choose-curtains

Inspiration for the Kitchen:



Since this kitchen resembles ours, I'm a little more comfortable with adding a roman shade over the bay window by the sink. But, happy chic notwithstanding, there's no way I'm going to with a print.

This is going to be more difficult than I thought.
I have better luck finding inspiration for the living room.

Inspiration for the Living Room:

I like the continuity of the rod.

 

The Winner!