privacy

Selecting the Best Kitchen Window Treatments: Over the Sink

/ Larry Walker

By SelectBlinds

The kitchen and dining room are the heart of any home. Holidays, laughter, Sunday dinners, cooking, homework, late night chats, etc. That’s why so many of your best family stories start in the kitchen.

Custom window treatments provide a fashionable finishing touch that accents and complements the way you design your own interior spaces. Lots of opportunities to highlight with colors, patterns, and texture. Window coverings provide light control, privacy, and peace of mind.

A kitchen is a unique space, and you may have different considerations for how you decorate the windows, based on where each window is located. Your choice of window treatments offer additional opportunities for touches of softness and style in the middle of bulky, metallic appliances and smooth, hard surfaces.

Select Blinds bamboo / woven wood shades for the kitchen window
Select Blinds bamboo / woven wood shades look great in your kitchen sink window,
but be careful about water and moisture in the area.

Maybe you want kitchen window curtains. If you only have one window in your kitchen, you’ll want window coverings that let as much light as possible filter in, while still being able to maintain privacy. You may consider sheer shades. If you have a kitchen window that faces the street, privacy might be a primary concern, with incoming light also being important, but perhaps slightly less so. You may want window coverings that offer a unique view, like Top-down Bottom-up shades. Then there are those windows immediately over the sink. What looks best over them? Time to get cooking. Read on as we serve up a deeper dive into kitchen window ideas and considerations as you find what fits best with your personal style and sense of décor.

Decorative Window Coverings

If you’re thinking about a covering for a kitchen window over the sink, be extra careful that you keep the right kind of materials in mind. You can still go with stylish bamboo/woven wood shades or Roman shades, but be aware that because this area over the sink often involves water splashing, spills, etc., you might have to be extra careful to avoid water damage. Wood blinds are also at risk for getting wet and possibly warping or discoloring, but you might just love the way they look in that window over your sink. It’s always up to you, just be aware of the risks that are involved if you decide on a material that doesn’t take well to water.

Select Blinds light filtering roller shades for the kitchen window
Select Blinds light filtering roller shades allow just the right amount of light
and view into your kitchen, without compromising your privacy.

Privacy

As mentioned, privacy may be a concern if your kitchen sink window faces the street or a neighbor’s home. Roller shades may be what you’re comfortable with in terms of providing privacy, and perhaps with some light filtering functionality.

Light Control

If your kitchen sink window faces the east or west, you’ll especially want to take account of direct incoming sunlight. Direct UV rays can be harsh on your eyes, your skin, your furniture, and they can definitely crank up the heat in a room. A stylish, but heavy-duty solar shade may be what you want to employ over your sink to protect yourself and your interior while you’re doing dishes after evening summer cookouts. Solars are typically constructed of durable PVC materials, so they’ll look great and maintain that “brand new” look for a long time to come. You can also custom order them with the degree of UV blockage of your choice.

Also, consider aluminum mini blinds for your kitchen sink window. Aluminum shades built to last, with plenty of light and privacy settings.

Select Blinds Solar screens for the kitchen window
Select Blinds Solar screens help block out harsh UV rays,
while keeping your kitchen cool. They look great, too!

Functionality and Longevity

In addition to durable solar shades and aluminum blinds for your kitchen sink window, there is another excellent option for a food-prep, dishwashing area. If you love the look of real wood blinds and shutters, but can’t bear the thought of them getting wet and warped, faux wood blinds and shutters might be just the perfect find.  

Not only do they perform amazingly at maintaining light and privacy, they also look great, they’re also super easy to care for, and they’ll last forever. You can clean them with little more than soap and water as needed. Many faux wood slat constructions also feature insulation against heat and cold. The lush look and feel of real wood in your home, and their resilience ensures they’ll never warp, crack, chip, or discolor when exposed to water, food stains, or steam. And much less expensive than real wood. Low-maintenance, and no worry.

Select Blinds Faux Wood Blinds for the kitchen window
Faux wood blinds give any kitchen window a crisp look and feel,
along with privacy and light adjustments.

SelectBlinds’ Staff Recommends:

Here are some of our favorite suggestions for the window above your kitchen sink.

Remember, kitchen window treatments can serve a design/decorative function to go with your kitchen’s décor, but especially for the window over the sink, it should also be durable, provide privacy, and block out harsh UV rays. Choose whatever kind of blinds work best for you, but remember that the most functional ones for that particular window are moisture- and mold-resistant. Happy decorating!

#BlindsWeLove     #kitchenblinds

See Why Happy Customer Jo Ann Refers Her Friends to Select Blinds

/ Super Admin
Select Blinds customer pairs floor length curtains with grey roller shades

Have you ever created the perfect looking room? How about the perfect looking window?

With windows, the trick is finding coverings that both look good and provide privacy. And when we say “look good” we mean not just in the window, but as part of the room itself. Sometimes it all just comes together, with the perfect coverings combining with everything else to form a setting that just seems…right.

For Jo Ann A., that’s just how things are in her dining room.

Jo Ann entered our contest for a chance to win a $250 Visa gift card (join our Happy Customer Program) with photos of her Select Room Darkening Roller Shades with Cassette. As you can see from the pictures, they certainly look good in her dining room.

We liked Jo Ann’s photos so much, in fact, we decided to learn a little more about what went into choosing them.

First, we wondered why she went with the Select Room Darkening Roller Shades with Cassette.

“I wanted that type of window covering because when the sun sets it was that side of my house and it gets hot. Also, I want to have a privacy because ever since Hurricane Michael hit us last October, we had some damage and until now we had no fences and I don’t want my neighbors or strangers seeing us eating and seeing whats inside my house.”Happy customer pairs Select Blinds grey roller shades and custom drapery

That makes a lot of sense. Room Darkening shades provide an amazing amount of privacy, and they will help keep rooms cooler by keeping them darker. Those are both great qualities, but we wanted to know what Jo Ann likes best about her shades. She said she appreciates how easy they are to roll up or down, but that’s not all.

“I loved them especially with cassette they look awesome and it looks great in my windows. I’m in love with it and even my husband is enjoying it and fell in love with it too! I’ve never before felt so excited to be in that room every day just to look at it.”

How great is that? The shades have become a focal point for Jo Ann.  As an industry leader in making window treatments safe for kids, we are also excited over her choosing a cordless option.  The shades and drapes go together so nicely, which makes sense since Jo Ann said her love for the shades led to getting new curtains.

“I had an old light-colored curtains but when I tried it on it just doesn’t look awesome so I have to go find curtains that would look great with my new roller shades and I got a lot of compliments from my friends/family and they even asked where I got my shades and gave them your website.”

(Note: Check out our selection of curtains here.)

We totally get how getting some sweet new shades could send you down the rabbit hole of needing more new stuff to bring out the best in them. It turns out that the shades have helped to bring the best out of Jo Ann’s home and she couldn’t be happier about her experience.

White flowery wall art near window with Select Blinds roller shades and custom drapery

“All I can say is you all did a great job.  You all make sure that customers are very satisfied and happy. My first experience having a roller shade is way above my expectations and they make my house look great❤❤❤ (editor’s note: the hearts were Jo Ann’s).

“Thank you very much for making my room/house look great again and I’m thinking of replacing all the blinds in the rest of my house soon. You all did a great and awesome job!”

We appreciate that, Jo Ann, but the real credit goes to you. Great choice and we can’t wait to see what you do next!

Happy Customer Karla Sought Privacy on the Golf Course

/ Super Admin
Row of windows covered with white blinds in home

If anyone understands the various purposes window treatments can serve, it’s us at Select Blinds. Really, we totally get that while some of the coverings are there to look good, many times they do plenty more than just that.

Want to keep your home cooler? We’ve got some that can do that. How about wanting to filter the incoming light? Yep, we’ve got that too. If blocking UV rays from entering your home is a priority, that’s certainly no problem, either.

However, one common thread that is found with most uses is that of privacy. While we may like our neighbors, most of us don’t want to give them unfiltered access into our homes via windows.

That was especially true for Happy Customer Karla H., who entered our contest for a chance to win a $250 Visa gift card (learn how to enter our Happy Customer Program) after being quite pleased with her choices, which included some Classic Light Filtering Cordless Top Down Bottom Up Shades and Classic Blackout Cordless Top Down Bottom Up Shades!

Select Blinds white honeycomb shade on wide wood-framed window

Karla was so happy, in fact, that we felt like we needed to know more about why.

The first thing we wanted to know was how the overall shopping experience went.

“The first thing I did was to get samples.  Once I chose my color I went on line to find the blind that I wanted.  The samples came fast and online ordering was a snap.”

Indeed, the ability to order up to 15 free samples makes things so much easier. After all, how can you know what a shade will look like in your home if it has never been in your home?

But with so many samples to choose from, why did you decide to pick the shades you did? 

“I chose the black out top down bottom up in our living room.  We live on a golf course with a night (east) sun coming directly into our home.  It was necessary to have the blackout shades.  The top down bottom up gives us the ability to limit what golfers  see from our backyard.  I can still let light in from the top but limit their ability to see in. I also chose a light filtering top down bottom up shade for my sun room to let as much light in as possible but still limit outsiders views.”

That makes so much sense. Golf course living sounds great, but that also means a lot of strangers walking by as they prepare for their next shot (or search for their wayward ball).

So once you figured out which shades you wanted, the challenge would seem to be the measuring and then installation. However, Karla said measuring was “easy” and that when it comes to installation, it goes quickly so long as you have all the tools you need.

SelectBlinds top down bottom up shades in living room slightly drawn

That sounds right to us, and it’s clear to see why Karla is happy with her purchase. Finishing up, is there anything else she would like for us to know?

“I still have  one window to order yet.  It is a high up window so I am thinking about ordering a remote shade for that one.  Thank you for making the process easy and affordable.”

We’re glad to hear you’ll be letting us help again. In the meantime, here’s a link to our custom coverings for skylight windows.