What style of window treatment works best on kitchen sink windows?
The short answer is almost any style will work! The goal is to add color, texture, and softness to a room that is filled with straight lines and hard surfaces. You may be wondering why we’re focusing on this one window.
The kitchen is often the heart of a home. It’s where family and friends gather for meals and to spend time with one another. Let’s face it – we spend a lot of time in the kitchen, and a good chunk of that time is in front of the kitchen sink! That’s why it is so important to have something beautiful on the window over the kitchen sink. Let’s take a look at some possibilities.
Structured Valances Over Kitchen Sink Windows
You can opt for a structured look and focus on the color, pattern and texture of the fabric to juxtapose the straight lines of the kitchen design. Both the classic box pleat valance and faux roman shade fit the bill.
The first box pleat valance is made with a modern Thibaut floral which adds color and movement in vines, leaves, and flowers. The second box pleat valance has a arched hem and solid contrast inserts (look between the arched sections to see the solid blue). Box pleat valances lend themselves to many embellishment possibilities such as contrast inserts, banding, open headers and trim at the top.
Faux roman shades are all about showcasing the fabric selection. The flat top section acts as the “picture area” to display the pattern & colors of the fabric. The folds at the bottom add softness. Of course, you can opt for an operable roman shade. When raised up, the operable roman shade looks just like the faux roman but has the advantage of being able to be fully lowered if privacy is needed. Like the box pleat valance, roman shades can also be embellished with banding or trim. These embellishments options offer endless combinations of color and pattern.
Relaxed Valances Over Kitchen Sink Windows
A relaxed valance has fabric that is swagged, draped, or curved. Relaxed roman shades are a cousin to the faux roman shade. Relaxed roman shades have a tiny bit of fullness so that the folds at the bottom fall in the shape of a smile (instead of straight across like their faux roman cousins). The first relaxed roman has two swoops with trim at the hem and the buffalo check cut on the bias. There are no right angles or straight lines here! The second relaxed roman showcased the swirls of the paisley fabric.
A second type of a relaxed valance is this scalloped valance hung from knobs. The curved hem softly drapes between the knobs. Horns separate the draped sections. Another version is this swagged valance. Notice the fullness of the swagged sections between the knobs. Here, the knobs are mounted on a solid fascia. This allows another place to introduce mixing two different fabrics in the window treatment.
Cabinet Molding Obstruction
A common problem encountered with window treatments over the kitchen sink is the crown molding protruding from the adjacent cabinets. The molding often interferes with where you want to mount the valance. We’ve come up with three possible solutions.
The first is designing the shape of the valance so it fits between the crown molding. This arched top relaxed roman shade follows the angle of the crown. This allows the top of the shade to be mounted higher above the window so the valance is not covering too much of the glass. This allows maximum light into the room.
A second solution is to cut the valance to the shape of the crown molding for a perfect fit. We used a contour gauge to get the shape of the molding. Then we repeated that on the top corners of this faux roman shade.
A third solution is to remove the last four inches of crown molding and mount the valance behind the crown!
Parkway Window Works is an award-winning workroom. Our fabrication expertise and attention to detail are what truly sets us apart. If you want recommendations for window treatments over your kitchen sink windows, contact us to get started.
