I tore down our vertical blinds in a fit of pique the other day - the mechanism to open and shut them was broken, the blinds themselves were falling apart, they came with the house and were really pretty ugly even when they were new. And clearly they were not meant to last 20+ years.
I did not want more vertical blinds. And I've spent years pondering what I would put there when I finally got up the nerve to take them down.
What did I decide on?
A shower curtain.
Seriously, it's just enough to filter the bright sun streaming in during the mornings, easily taken down and washed, on hooks (decorative ones) so it can slide all the way open with basically no effort, bright and cheerful, and did I mention easily washed?
It's about 4"-5" inches shorter than the window, so if I run across some cheerful striped fabric that coordinates, I may add a border on the bottom. But for now, I absolutely love it. It won't win any decorating awards, but I don't care!
I used a bounced fill flash to combat the backlighting.
