I have some ideas, but I’m looking for more. Our bedroom has a 30″ diameter round window over the headboard of the bed. Its center is maybe 5-6 to 6-0 off the floor. I like to have the window clear so that I can see out in the daylight, but at night, I’d rather not have it so transparent. I’m not an exhibitionist, and neither is DW. The street goes gently uphill in that direction, so it is quite noticeable at night if you drive up the street and the bedroom light is on.
I’m searching for some creative ideas for window treatments, prefer something moveable. If curtains, I guess they’d have to pull back far enough on either side to expose the whole window frame when open, or else they’d just look funny. If you want an idea of what the exterior looks like, you can see the round window just above the porch roof; the main window is on the front: (Note: we don’t have the lawn (just mud), no trees (darn contractors), no brickwork (darn budget))
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On HGTV, I saw a woman who had an unusual house and many of the windows were round. She created an ingenious solution to make round curtains. I don't have all the details, but she used a long rectangular piece of plain white fabric. The width was about the radius of the circle and the length was the circumference. She had a round curtain rod around the edge and she must have had something in the center. She was able to open and close them very easily. It was gathered in the center and loose around the edge. It was really pretty and simple. I am having a hard time remembering what it looked like when the curtain was open or how the mechanics worked. I'll post more if I can remember. Good luck!
Don't know if this would work, but when we had some very ugly windows to cover, we devised a solution that was both elegant and cheap (my favourite kind!) We built simple pine frames, inserted bamboo blinds (cut to size and laid horizontally so that the finished product didn't read "cheap bamboo blind"), painted the whole thing white, and used them as screens over the windows - easily moved and removed as the occasion warrents - the overall effect was very light and airy, with the white paint adding texture and some semblance of opacity - letting light stream in, while preserving privacy, and covering up a dark, ugly hole at night.
HOw about an interior set of shutters, fabricated to match the circle of the window, that you can open back to the sides in the daytime, that would coordinate with the decor of the room?
"Our whole American way of life is a great war of ideas, and librarians are the arms dealers selling weapons to both sides."
-James Quinn
The curtain I tried to describe is two of these curtains put together.
http://www.sew-whats-new.com/projects/sunburst.shtml
I was thinking the same thing, but using thin flexible pvc pipe."Whiskey for my men, and beer for my horses"Willy Nelson and Toby Keith
Do you suppose some body in Gatherings could have some useful input to offer?
Who ever invented work didn't know how to fish....
Gatherings does have a folder for home-dec sewing discussion. Here's a link for a recent discussion about a half-round window:
http://forums.taunton.com/tp-gatherings/messages?msg=1906.1
There's a link in there to a website that has "alternative" window treatments. It might be helpful.
Any time you have a question about fabrics and fabric treatments, you should feel free to ask in Gatherings. Most of the sewists there are most interested in high-quality garment sewing, but their interests range all over the place, and they love to help out. It's the way Taunton readers are.
Edited 11/18/2003 11:16:16 AM ET by Tish
Could you repost this to Ten-Penny so that he can catch it for sure....
Who ever invented work didn't know how to fish....
Have you looked around for fans? I have a wooden and cloth one that opens to, I'm guessing, 36 and tops out at 18. I have had it for ever but may have bought it at a garage sale. If you got two, even one opaque and one not, you could flip them up or down, or sideways - heck you could even have them open out, like a flower petal.
I know that many Chinese markets have fans, although I've never looked for anything but hand fans. There's tons of places when I googled cloth paper fans, but in a very cursory look it appears the largest is 19".