When we moved in, we bought a room-darkening roman shade for the master bedroom from the former tenant. It has worked out well since the morning sun, especially in summer (NOW), a 6:30 sunrise can be a bit bright.
Well, we got a visit from the gal renting on the third floor, same apartment layout as ours. She is heading back to the states and wondered if we would be interested in buying her window coverings.
Although we still weren't sure we wanted anything, the bright afternoon sun was drivin us away from our desks every day. So we went down to her place to look. As soon as we saw them, we were sold!
When pulled up, you can't even tell there are window covers, other than the beaded drawstings. When you pull them down...that's where the magic begins. They work like roman shades but they have alternating panels of light and dark. Thus you can let some partial light in or not. Hard to explain and harder to show in photos but we LOVE THEM!
There is a smaller blind for each of the windows that open and a wider one for the rest of the window. Now the all the rooms except the kitchen have blinds AND a view!
