SHADE NEEDED

[ClematisPurple]

Please help, I'm dying of heat stress.
The back of my house is WEST FACING.
It is sheer hell in this heat.
The kitchen is in the back of the house.
I'm going to pieces unable to cope with the blinding tortuous sun beaming directly in through my kitchen window and back door (next to window) every single solitary day when I'm trying to make dinner.
It's so hellishly, tortuously, insanely bright and intense that I get sunburn whilst standing at my kitchen worktop preparing a meal, the backs of my calves actually burn, and I have to wear sunglasses in my kitchen, and still I am squinting like mad and getting migraines from the intensity of the sun shining in to my eyes as it shines directly in to my kitchen at 5pm, 6pm, 7pm.
My kitchen sink faces the west facing window.
My kitchen is a shitty little tiny box kitchen 10ft long x 7.5ft wide and the back wall of the kitchen is all glass because the massive window and 100% top to bottom glass door take up the full width of the entire wall of the kitchen that faces west, and I HATE IT.
We are elevated on a hill, with no natural sun screen i.e. no trees. We are completely exposed to the elements.
I feel like I'm going insane.
I can't use my kitchen between 4pm - 8pm every day in this heat.
Outside my kitchen is our tiny patio only 18 feet wide and we are boxed in by tall brick walls since my next door neighbour that we are joined on to got a 4 metre rear extension which has created a breeze less sun trap at the back of our house. I hate it. We used to have air circulating at the back of our house bit their massive rear extension has stopped this.
Today, preparing dinner for DC at 5pm made me feel sick. I still feel ill now. I got sunburnt whilst cooking at my hob/oven becausethe sun hits my oven as it drops down lower in the sky. I got a migraine from standing at the kitchen sink washing up because the sun sank lower in the sky until it was straight opposite my window above the sink.
I bought a gazebo from argos and stood it against the back of the house. It helped. It lasted 4 days then we had a windy day on Saturday and the frame snapped and it collapsed.
What should I do?
Please advise me on what is better for this situation - another gazebo or a patio awning?
What is best?
I feel ill with heat stress even now at nearly 10pm, after getting in such a state in the kitchen earlier.

Interestingly I had a quote this week for external shutters (they’d work with our house). Around £300 per large window. If you think about the cost of a good aircon unit and the electricity to run it is looks worthwhile.

@Nourishinghandcream- I’m looking into external wooden blinds. I wanted ones that can be removed at the end of summer so they don’t have to take the brunt of winter. The blinds can be rolled up using strings and windows can thereafter be opened. I suppose at peak heat the windows will be kept closed so it should be ok? Trying to understand your point around outside-opening-windows - are these really a show stopper or can we work around it.
I liked the greenblinds option which someone upthread posted.

FitnessIsTheOnlyWealth My point is that with externally opening windows, how do you open/close the external shutters other than doing it from outside the property and if you are happy to do that, how do you reach the upper floors?
Maybe they are remote control or have some other operating control?

With inwards opening windows, while it precludes having anything on the windowsills or furniture in the way, at least you can easily access the shutters to open/close them. Also, if you want to you can leave the windows open to take advantage of any breeze through the shutter slats.

From my understanding, there’s a bit of drilling to install a turn/pull cord inside the property, to control the blinds outside. Or electronic of course.

Plus the safety risk of having external shutters over uk outward opening windows means effectively you’re locked in & could not get out in the event of a fire or hazard?

All valid points. I was thinking there might be a way to ‘hook’ the cords to the side such that you could reach them if you opened your window a bit? The window recess should allow for couple of inches (assuming the blinds are hung outside the recess).
I also assumed the blinds would be down in afternoons/evenings and rolled up for nights with windows open for coolness.

we have an acute heat problem in my DD’s south facing bedroom which is only partly solved by a combination of roller blinds + window reflective blinds + curtains. I might just take the plunge and get a wooden blind for her bedroom as a trial. There are 2 windows and 2 smaller vent type windows on top so a combination of things to be tried…

will update here 😅

Foil. Shiny side facing out. You could mount it on cardboard if you want to remove it when the sun isn't blinding.

You can also get thermal film for windows and doors to reduce inside temperature.

We have curtains and blinds that stay closed during daylight, and we open them and the windows at night.

Looks like regardless housebuilding & retrofitting viable options be it solar glazing, interior shutters or alternatives (?) is going to have to become part of the way we live going forwards. Booming industries for those areas! Will this mean all our energy efficient homes will become inefficient (in as much as they don’t allow for heat escape/exchange) & there’ll be a clamour to make them all efficient? Wld only be a good thing if so although potentially costly & down most likely to the homeowner to have to remedy.