A Post for My Mom

My parents are decorators, and are very talented. I try to ply them for tips when they're here, but they're also sensitive about this being "our" house and don't want to impose. To that, I say PSHAW! So, here's the deal. We have this great big window at the stair landing, and it's pretty awesome. It would be even more awesome if it were 100% weather tight (it gets a little drafty in the winter right now) and if it didn't look at my neighbor's ever-more-decrepit house. This has been an ongoing battle. We're in detente right now, but look for things to pick up this spring as the weather improves and we have more sightings of our neighbor in only her housecoat picking up leaves in her yard on windy days. Not cool.

So, we're looking for a window covering. Something that we can pull closed during winter months to avoid drafts, something that will frame the giganticness of it all, and something that will soften up the rather stark wood (which we're going to replace and paint off-white, but will still need something to lighten the mood). So, Mom, I know I've been rather impossible to work with here, as I have something pretty specific in my head, but can't translate it into words. I looked at about a trillion fabric patterns, and here are just a couple examples that caught my eye, both in terms of print and colors. They all have birds on them--this doesn't mean I need birds in the fabric we go with, but I've been thinking about birds, and I like the shapes, so just consider them inspiration.

This one: You know I'm a sucker for yellow, and I like the yellow/gray contrast. However, we're planning on painting the big hallway the same color as the back hallway, which despite being called "relaxed khaki," actually looks kind of green. But I do like the pattern here. I wonder whether it might be better suited to a bedspread than curtains.

The simplicity of this one is what I like. Plus, the colors are nice. It may be too "cute." Although I think it would be too cute in a pillow--maybe with yards and yards, it transitions from cute to striking?

This one is probably my favorite of them all--the birds on laundry lines. Both because I like the way you have to look twice to see that it's actually a specific pattern, and because it kind of looks like piano keys. But is it too small a print for such large drapes? And even more important, is this a cliche? Because I've seen this before in hipster boutiques.

I really kind of hate this pattern, but I like the colors.

And I'm inexplicably drawn to this one, probably for the master bedroom. I think that color combination is really pretty, and would look nice with dark carpet on the floors if we used it for either the curtains or a spread or a headboard (not all of them at once, of course). This is really surprising to me--you'd think after the Kenny Rogers Roasters situation I've got going on in the dining room, I'd be orange averse forever.