Curtains, window seats, shelves - not being cooperative

I am SOOOO close to wrapping up a bunch of projects for the nursery. But as usual, am running into some last minute snafus. Below you see the left side of the window in the room (and a first glimpse of the new paint color, though this pic is not doing it justice!). Taped on the ground in some very stylish duct tape, I have the dimensions of the Expedit bookshelf that I was hoping to use as a window seat in the room. I've drawn in where the curtain panels would hang in this existing configuration.

So I have 3 problems (that are all inter-related).

1. The window seat is almost the same width as that of the window...which a window seat should be in my opinion. BUT...

2. In order to hang curtain panels that don't get "bumped" out by the window seat, I have to push the rings all the way to the end of the rod. The result is what you see below. The panels barely graze the edge of the actual window and are mostly condensed in an 11" area (yes, I measured). When I put the curtains here, I solve for my desire to have them hang straight and not interfere with the footprint of the window seat. BUT...

3. The panels end up encroaching on much of the space that is left to the right and left of the window. On the right (which you can't see here) is my glider and lamp. The panels in this position basically sit on top of the lampshade. On the left (shown below), they don't leave me with enough room to hang my IKEA bookshelves that I wanted (and have purchased). I could cut them to be less wide but as you can see below, I would have to cut about 1/3 of the width which I really don't want to do.



I think I've decided to proceed with the curtain panels as is, hang them normally, put up the shelves and then see just how much space I have available between the panels for a window seat. It won't be the Expedit unfortunately but I think that should solve my dilemma right?