To think my kitchen has the worst view ever?

[MarianneVos]

Just bought a house. What I didn't notice when viewing was that the kitchen window above the sink has a lovely view onto a brick wall of another part of the house (an extension), about four foot away. You cannot see anything else apart from the brick as it extends in both directions.

Can anyone suggest anything that I could do to the wall to make it a bit nicer to look at while I'm washing up?

I don't want to do anything to the window itself (eg any kind of cover on the glass) as due to having this wall so close to the only window the kitchen is dark enough as it is. So it needs to be something on the wall.

I guess I could do hanging baskets? Ideally something non living so it's nice all year round and is low/no maintenance though.

Ideas please!

Many years ago in an other house, we had a graffiti artist to spray paint such a wall... we had a large mural with bright colours and lots of detail.

I loved it... and everyone commented on in in a positive way...
Best thing about it: no maintenance required!

Bird feeders - lots to watch once they learn where it is.

Paint the wall as well, even if not a mural, painting the wall white or at least a lighter colour will brighten things up - stick up some outdoor wall art too, theres lots around.

Frosted window film can cut out horrible views without cutting out light if you want to go that route.

We had a similar issue with our dining room and put some screens on the wall from Screen With Envy which we are really pleased with. Might be worth a look on their website.

This.

I wouldn't bother painting it but would put up trellis and grow ivy up it. Really hard to kill and sparrows love it. I'd have a bird feeder with lots of different arms to hang off a variety of bird food to one side and nestled among the ivy at the bottom I'd position a bird bath. At the top, to one side, I'd install a sparrow terrace (a row of 3 or 4 bird boxes joined - think RSPB do them) and you will have a sparrow soap opera to keep you entertained all year.

I second the Ivy suggestion!

When we renovated our last house we had a big window on the stairs looking directly out onto our neighbours house, which looked a bit tatty. So we got this www.purlfrost.com/stained-glass-window-film-stickers/ and fitted it ourselves and the transformation was incredible. It was really easy and no bubbling. Let lots of light in without having to look at a wall covered it hanging cables and pipes!

How about making a living wall on it (google has loads of ideas) you can also make an artificial one

Commission a stained glass window.

😄

Thinking outside the box what about either one of those cafe curtains to jazz up the window (maybe a red gingham or something pretty) or obscure the window slightly so you don’t notice the brick wall?

Twelve of these

www.amazon.co.uk/Paul-Ross-Print-Medium-28x35cm/dp/B003CKRDGO/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

Otherwise, I'd say definitely some kind of mural.

We viewed a house once where the kitchen window faced onto the embalming room of a mortuary. A brick wall could be worse . ..

A brass giraffe might complete the space?

Get a street artist to paint the wall. If you say what sort of thing you like I can recommend a few

Outdoor pic frames, clock, mirrors interspersed with flowers (hanging baskets etc)

We have ugly retaining walls in our garden, but don't even have any soil to play with, so we bought a couple of these ready-to-go hedges and built wooden planters to put them in. Instant fix.

I have panels on my brick wall (ignore my old dad just holding it up to make sure it was in correct place 😀

Ugly walls can also look good clad in this modern horizontal slatting.

Was going to also suggest mirror, angled to reflect a nice part of your garden

Any local (decent) street artists who might do you a design?

Sadly there's no garden near enough to reflect, it's like a little narrow alley way and the floor is paved.

So many great suggestions.

I like those panels, and bonus dad! Did you have to drill into the brick to attach?

Thanks. I don't really know anything about street art beyond liking Banksy, but in general I like quite abstract art eg Rothko or Pollock if that helps at all?

I'd find that quite fascinating! 😂

Those are lovely. Reassuring that they won't make it darker!