I want to change the window treatment on my bedroom windows, but I am completely out of my league and need help.
It is a 70’s apartment complex, and the windows are very modern. In the bedroom, it is a single inset window taking up much of one wall. Four large panes with two sliding sideways. Total size is 4 feet tall by 8 feet long. Massive pain to deal with.
Currently, I have a big fluffy thing (valance?) across the top, and a rod with white lacy things about halfway up. Inherited from the previous occupants when I moved in a few years ago. Anyways, this leaves an uncovered gap of a foot or so, and I really want to do something to cover that for privacy. I wouldn’t be averse to replacing the whole assortment either.
Any thoughts on what would be good here? Ideally I’d like something that gives me privacy, lets in a lot of light, and doesn’t have to be opened every morning and closed every evening. Tricky!
Have you considered blinds?
Just twist them open to let in light, twist them shut at night.
You don’t need a valance, though you may want to keep one just for decoration, since blinds mounted inside the window kind of look plain.
Hmmmm. Well, this is what I did, in a similar siutation:
I have a 4x6 window in my room, 4 feet high by about six feet wide, half of it slides sideways. I ended up using some nice fabric shower curtains: more than long enough, without being too long, and two of them covered the width wonderfully. (One for each half of the window.) Topped it off with a nice black wrought-iron pole style curtain rod. The only real clue that they’re shower curtains is that I’m using clear plastic shower curtain rings to hang 'em on the rod with! 
It lets in a decent amount of light, while keeping people from seeing what’s in my room, plus it’s easy to take care of if you pick up machine-washable shower curtains.
Just make sure you hold up the curtain to the light in the store to see how well it lets in/blocks light, and how much can be made out if a shadow falls upon it. (So at night, you aren’t giving a shadow-puppet show to anyone walking/driving by!)
<< Good. Fast. Cheap. Pick two. >>
I’m not saying this isn’t a good idea, just that I’ve had blinds before and they always stay closed. So not a very efficient thing to spend quite a lot of money on. Plus I don’t even know if they make 96" wide blinds.
They will make any size blinds you want but you may need a second job to afford them. We looked at custom blinds and they were $300 bucks for one small window.
My suggestion is to check out JCpenny or some other like place… I got drapes for my awkward windows there and they weren’t too expensive.
I like the shower curtain idea but they do have other rings you can use 
Even patio door panels would be wide enough but might need a little hemming.
You can also layer things for privacy… if you find you want the shower curtain and it is not quite as light/privacy blocking as possible put some sheers under it. The combo will do pretty well.
Good Luck… I hate stuff like this but it must be done 
Most home improvement stores carry sheet blinds (the kind that pull down from a rolled up tube type thing) in a lot of light filtering/privacy varieties. Theyre fairly inexpensive. Also the wooden shutter type blinds… they look really nice, can be a little pricy but are worth the cost from my experience with them and you have control of the light and privacy level since they open/close the same way mini blinds do.
You can go to Walmart or Target (or somewhere more expensive if you prefer) and pick up one of those decorative (carved wood or metal) curtain rods.
Then add large skeens of your favourite materials to sort of drape from one side to the other, making the appearance of both a valance and a curtain panel on each side… or your fave kind of drapes if you must.
Sheers work well for lots of light as well, though they dont give too much privacy at night when all the inside lights are on.