Decorate a Kitchen Window

The smell of coffee brewing and bacon sizzling on a Sunday morning, doing the dishes with your Mum during some of your best conversations and your Dad baking his famous mystery muffins. Every party ended up with people crowding into the kitchen, tasting food and pouring wine amid laughter and friendship. Maybe you were lucky enough to come from a family that valued music and on a Saturday night, the sound of fiddles and singing, and Granny playing the spoons filled your home emanating from the kitchen.

Kitchen windows decorated with coloured bottles and jars, and hanging glass - including a Witch Ball.

What Makes a Kitchen Special?

The kitchen evokes memories of home, and it's a room that should be bright and airy. It's also a room where much cooking is done, and this is worth considering when choosing your window coverings. This is not the room you want heavy draperies, in fact, any fabric curtains are not the best choice for your kitchen windows. All the cooking and grease in the air, and the smell of garlic mingling with clove cookies will cling to the fabric. If the window is near your sink, all the splashing and food being rinsed your curtains have become a target for unpleasant odors and stains, and unless you want to spend a lot of time washing curtains, it's a good idea to choose something more suited to the things that go on in your kitchen.

There are some creative things you can do to dress your kitchen windows, without hanging curtains. Much depends on the size of the window/s,, the view behind the windows, and how exposed your are.

Perfect View

There is no better window covering than the perfection of nature.

If you have a beautiful view of the garden, or a forest, or the ocean, you already have the perfect window covering - nature. Unless people can easily see into your kitchen, and you aren't comfortable with that, nothing will be more beautiful than the great outdoors.

Terrible View

If you live in New York City, and your view is the unshaven guy three feet from your window in the next building, wearing an undershirt and sniffing his armpits - you might want to take a completely different approach.

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   Stained Glass

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   It can be pricey, especially if you have it custom made. If you're lucky, you might find an old stained glass window at a flea markets, thrift shop or estate sale. Stained glass allows light into the room; light that changes with the movement of the sun.

   

   Stained Glass window by J. Caz Bentley.

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2. 2
   Blinds

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   Horizontal blinds are a good choice. You can angle them so people cannot see into the window, but you have some light coming in. If the kitchen is mostly white, or another neutral color, choose blinds that pop with color. Try a cobalt blue, or garnet red or canary yellow.

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3. 3
   Frosted Window Film

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   This is a peel and stick product that allows diffused light into your kitchen, but stops people from seeing in. Often, people only cover a portion of the window perhaps leaving the top half clear, as it's too high for people to see into anyway.

   

   Diffused light coming through frosted window film.

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Textured Glass. Replace the glass in the kitchen window with textured glass. Again, light is diffused, but beautiful, and people can't see in. If you don't want to make a permanent change, get a piece of textured glass cut to fit a frame you own, and hang it in the window.

Textured glass comes in a variety of textures and colours.

Average View

If there are a few privacy issues, but nothing to worry about, and if there's a half decent view out your kitchen window, here are a few ideas for window coverings.

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   Poor Man's Stained Glass

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   1. If your window has a sill, collect bottles and vases and jars of coloured glass, and create a pleasant arrangement on your window sill. The light coming through the glass is beautiful, and it's a very inexpensive way to get a similar effect as stained glass.
      

      A smaller stained glass piece, with coloured glass jars and bottles makes an interesting window covering.
   2. If your window doesn't not have a sill, you can collect small stained glass pieces, or witch balls, crystals or glass decorations that you can hang. Again, this allows the light to come through the coloured glass, and create a beautiful effect in your kitchen.

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2. 2
   Frosted Window Film

   .

   This is a peel and stick product that allows diffused light into your kitchen, but stops people from seeing in. Often, people only cover a portion of the window perhaps leaving the top half clear, as it's too high for people to see into anyway.

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3. 3
   Blinds

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   An average view allows you to angle the blinds where you can see out, and others cannot see in. Choose a bright color that pops, especially if your kitchen is white or another neutral color.

   

   Blinds allow you to choose how much light you want to let into the room, and the angle of the view.

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4. 4
   California Shutters

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   These come in a variety of colours and styles. They let light in when you want it, and afford privacy when you need it.

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5. 5
   If you have shelves in your window, so much the better

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   Put coloured glass items on each shelf, or make a shelf yourself.

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6. 6
   A small herb garden on the sill will not only look beautiful, but what a joy to cut herbs to add to your delicious cooking, by walking a few steps from your stove

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   Ideas for herbs;

    

   1. Basil
   2. Parsley (both curly and Italian)
   3. Rosemary
   4. Mint
   5. Oregano
   6. Thyme

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• Don't use fabric curtains in a kitchen, as they end up smelling like everything you're cooking, and they absorb grease.
• Don't be afraid to us bright bold colours for your window coverings, especially if the rest of the kitchen is decorated in neutral colours.
• Start collecting coloured glass by going to garage sales and thrift shops they will be cheaper there than antique shops, estate sales, etc.
• Ask friends to keep their eyes peeled for coloured glass.
• Insulators make interesting glass decorations for your windowsill.

If you have problems with any of the steps in this article, please ask a question for more help, or post in the comments section below.

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