If homeowners bought another family's house, then they can't control where the windows were placed. However, those building their own homes do have a measure of control. City or local ordinances regulate how the house is placed on the lot, so most of them face forward or toward the road. This can place the windows in all directions, and homeowners will need to know the direction of the light illuminating the kitchen. Light can help, or it can punish. Our job is to get you the benefits of the light, while curtailing the damage it can do. Window treatments for kitchens can do both in a stylish and superior manner. 

Style of the Windows 

The style of the windows has a lot to do with punishing heat in the kitchen. Bow or bay windows, for example, give cooks plenty of natural light in addition to providing tight for the kids to do homework at the kitchen table. While this is a good thing, the heat is forcing the HVAC unit to work overtime, which over joys the power company. Older homes tend to have double-hung windows in the kitchen, sometimes over the kitchen sink. Light is minimal, but heat is maxed out. Window treatments that allow light but block heat are required here. 

When people think of blinds, a picture of shoddy, cheap aluminum blinds comes to mind. However, strides in energy efficiency have been made beginning with window treatments. Kitchens with an east light would benefit mightily from wood or faux wood mini­ blinds. These would allow light, but block the harmful propensities of the sun. Moreover, wood blinds can be adjusted to block the sun from the window it enters at the hottest point of the morning, while the others are adjusted to allow maximum light for cooking or working. Alta's two­on-one or three-on-one would be perfect for bow or bay windows. One unit could be adjusted to block the sun, while the other units are adjusted for just the right amount of light. Hunter Douglas' Woodmates Affordable Faux and Norman's faux wood blinds are a less expensive answer to bay or bow windows as well as double-hung kitchen windows requiring covering. 

Do homeowners' older kitchens have narrower windows such as those over the sink than other homes? Perhaps a bank of windows featuring arches over the main window accents the kitchen. How about one, two or several double-hung windows in the kitchen? Plantation shutters come in any height and width, with vanes or slats of complementing width. Plantation shutters don't warp. They send the heat and light of the sun back where it came from, leaving cooks with the amount of light they need through modern and stylish window treatments. Alta, Norman and Hunter Douglas make plantation shutters of the most modern composites with no joints showing. Open only the slats necessary for light, while keeping closed slats necessary for blocking light.