Anonymous wrote:If you mostly use the dining room at night, you also want to think about the nighttime view. If you have landscape lighting or a lighted streetscape that can be nice to look at, but if it’s super dark out the windows can become black holes and it might not be very cozy without the curtains drawn, which might feel weird and look odd. In that case you probably want a sheer or a woven shade. My favorite is a combo of a woven shade (Conrads if you are super rich) and curtains that you never or rarely close. That gives you the flexibility to have the shades open or closed and it always looks nice either way.

Here’s an example:

For you: https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/315/848468.page#17046512

The last one could be done affordably! Lowes and Home Depot both sell that style of shade.

Anonymous wrote:

I was shocked at how much of the windows the curtains were blocking, and thus how much brighter the room was without them.

You haven't hung them properly if they are hiding the window. Your drapery panels should FRAME the window when they are open. They should not block your windows.

thanks for the illustration! That is exactly the problem -- they weren't hung correctly. But the window frame for window #1 is just 3 inches from the corner of the room. So there isn't room to lay/stack the curtains off to the side. Its a bit frustrating that the windows aren't centered along that wall. So that is making me think I have to something that is always closed (like shears) or something like blinds/shades.

I was shocked at how much of the windows the curtains were blocking, and thus how much brighter the room was without them.

You haven't hung them properly if they are hiding the window. Your drapery panels should FRAME the window when they are open. They should not block your windows.

If you mostly use the dining room at night, you also want to think about the nighttime view. If you have landscape lighting or a lighted streetscape that can be nice to look at, but if it’s super dark out the windows can become black holes and it might not be very cozy without the curtains drawn, which might feel weird and look odd. In that case you probably want a sheer or a woven shade. My favorite is a combo of a woven shade (Conrads if you are super rich) and curtains that you never or rarely close. That gives you the flexibility to have the shades open or closed and it always looks nice either way.

Really depends on your decor style. I hate sheers but like simple panels even if I never close them. We have french doors in the dining room so have no window treatments.

Maybe a roman blind that's hung high so you can close it when you actually want privacy? Or if more casual a woven wood shade?

If you like the look of the curtains but don’t want them blocking the windows, you can install a longer rod that will allow them to open so they’re just covering the trim but not the glass. If opening and closing them is a pain, I might combine the drapes with inside-mount light filtering shades that you can close for privacy when you want it but won’t make the room too dark, while the drapes stay open all the time and are purely decorative.

In general, what do you think is the best type of window treatments for a dining room? What is the primary goal -- privacy, decoration, other?

Now more specific...our dining room is its own room. It has one doorway to the front hall and one to the kitchen (but no doors). It has two windows on one wall that are each about 3' wide by 6' tall. The windows face the front of the house and people walk by them when going to our front door. We only use the dining room maybe 3 times a year for big family dinner (like Thanksgiving). The kids sometimes do their homework there. So, I'm thinking privacy is not a big deal but the windows are right at the front of the house. I'm getting ready to paint the room and took down the existing curtains which are simple panel curtains in a heavy fabric. We nearly always have the curtains open but I was shocked at how much of the windows the curtains were blocking, and thus how much brighter the room was without them. So, I want to replace them. I'm thinking of maybe something like sheer panels. One of the windows is right up next to the corner of the room so there isn't really room for a curtain to be pulled off to the side. The windows are such that they don't really allow for anything to be installed inset - so, blinds or shades would have to be installed on the window frame or outside the window frame. Any suggestions? Thanks!