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[Growing]

We put solar screens on the outside of our west facing windows. We have double cell blinds from Smith and Noble online. They have a lot of different options and are easy to install if you are handy or have a handy spouse or contractor. What I love about our double cell blinds is the sun is beautifully filtered when they are down. My kitchen sink has a west facing window and the sun can make it hard to see (hurts my eyes) unless I pull down the cell blind and thank goodness we have the solar screens on the outside. We've lived in other houses where we used darker colors in the cellular blinds but this house we put in a light tan. We don't like slatted blinds, they break easy if you are pulling them up and down alot to open the windows. I don't like shutters because I have a lot of plants and shutters block the light but my husband loves them. He has a nice shutter in his office but the rest of the house is double cellular blinds, my bedroom is triple cellular blinds. They kept our house a lot warmer in the deep freeze we had with no power. 

[mac116]

Thank you for all of the suggestions. I am going to begin the hunt for new blinds or shades.  Funny thing...I was discussing the kitchen window treatments with my DIL and son last night.  They said, "Mom, the problem isn't the kitchen, it's the living room!"  Perhaps I need a whole house refresh. 😲

[Mom2Dogs]

@mac116 ...one project always leads to another!

[Mominohio]

I choose just a lacy valance on the window over my kitchen sink (the only window in my kitchen). Anything else is hard to keep clean, makes the space feel closed in and dark. 

My kitchen window faces the back yard, and a deep woods, so privacy isn't really a big issue at that window.