How shall I dress my extra wide picture kitchen window?

[WhatHappenedinLondon]

We recently bought a 1960s house with beautiful huge picture windows in all the rooms. The house is lovely and light as a result.

For those which are not too wide, we’ve ordered and self-installed wooden taped blinds from Blinds2go which look fab.

However, I’m struggling to find something suitable for the kitchen. The window is 2.69m wide and I can’t find any of this style of blind online for a window so wide except one which was £450 which is more than I’d like to spend. We asked Hillary’s just to get an “expert” opinion - they said we’d have to have two blinds next to each other which is not what we want.

Does anyone have windows this wide in their kitchen (or otherwise) and if so what window dressing have you gone for? Previous occupants had curtains but not keen on that for the kitchen. Desperate to avoid vertical blinds. Not keen on roller blinds from an aesthetic point of view. Worried romans will be too heavy/dark and take too much natural light away from the room.

Have looked at these on blinds2go and wondering if they might work but not sure they will provide enough shading - kitchen window is south-west facing. https://www.blinds-2go.co.uk/panel-blinds/31555/oculus-bright-white.html

not quite as wide as yours but ours is 2.3m and we've decided to leave it blank, but kitchen diner looks straight out onto the garden which is not overlooked. Appreciate you might still want some privacy but its only birds and squirrels that can look into ours and I love the openness into the garden.

Do you have to cover it? what about something like a window film for half of the area? they have some lovely ones here https://www.brume.co.uk/?gad=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw1OmoBhDXARIsAAAYGSHPivLaM90YGoEXPMMhvh08UYxpK5vEzh0iC5rAitJvhiPj4WrQjuYaAvwyEALw_wcB

I have exactly this issue and have never found an affordable solution, currently I’ve got some IKEA heavy cotton sort of panel blinds that just fit on a normal curtain rail, it’s taken 3 blinds to cover the width though.

Thank you for the replies. @anoldcharter it’s currently “naked” but because it’s south/south west facing it gets a lot of direct sunlight which is genuinely blinding at times and was very hot in the summer, so we would like an option.

Some kind of awning outside?

I've got this issue as well with a south west aspect so blinded (no pun) when cooking at dinner time. After 12 years, I've concluded my best option is light weight fabric on a net curtain type extendable rod and sort of lightly pinned/sewn to look like a Roman blind. But to not be full height and never dropped down. Essentially, some kind fabric border at the top of the window. It's quite frustrating as have another "too wide" window elsewhere. Curtains always end up sagging the curtain pole out with the weight.

I stayed in a house in Utrecht this summer which had these sort of paper pleated blinds with vertical wires at the sides, which looked lovely. Something like that might work well in your kitchen.

We have massive 1960s windows too.

We have those awful vertical blinds in the kitchen window (like a dentists office!) and I'm desperate to tear them down 😂

I'm thinking of scrapping a window covering entirely (kitchen only faces into garden so privacy not an issue) and hanging a large wooden shelf in front of the window with plants on it like so (but one shelf, not 3!)

Oh that’s gorgeous @Stephisaur

I think we need more shading as even today on a blustery rainy day like today, when the sun shines through I can’t see what I’m doing! And as @SwedishEdith mentions it’s always worst when I’m preparing dinner, and the largest worktop faces the window.

@toenails don’t suppose you can find a picture of what you mean? Struggling to picture it.

Think I’m going to have to settle for a roller 😕

It was this sort of thing.

Pleated blinds

Mind you, I think Stephisaur's pic is the winner here.

I love the plant idea but into my practical head comes the words awkward to dust and that it might be difficult to water the plants?

If you opened the windows would the plants fall over if it was breezy?

I guess it depends on how deep your window sill area is, how long your arms are and if you use heavy plants.

I have an electric sun shade roller blind which is the the same colour as the window frame. When it’s up you really don’t notice it at all, and because it’s electric there’s no chain hanging down the side.