I have a window that lets in a lot of sun and heat during the summer. Also, I don't like the way people can look into the kitchen if they are outside. If you sit at the table, the sun gets in your eyes. There is a small wooden table in the kitchen with 2 chairs. This is where Mom and I used to eat instead of in the formal dining room.

I have avoided eating my meals in the kitchen since 2007 because I couldn't cope with the memories of where Mom and I had eaten our meals. Since 2007 I've been eating my meals in the living room in front of the tv.

Should I a)get a blind, b)get a shade, c)get a curtain, or d) do something else ?

This window used to have one of those metal blinds that you adjust with a lever/handle.

The kitchen is white and I have pink accents (pink countertop appliances and cannisters).

I would like to keep the heat in the house in the winter and keep it cool in the summer (there is a tiny draft because of the window).

I am open to suggestions. I just don't want the window treatment to have to be dry cleaned.

Thanks.

You could put window film on it. It's applied using soap suds to make it stick to the window, so it's easily removable. It doesn't need cleaning. You can get window film with a mirrored finish on the side facing out, too.

Jill

Where do I purchase window film?

 Not really a response to the question of a window treatment choice per se, but if the window is in a very sunny spot, but that section of the home brings back some really sad memories for you, maybe you could put some cheery flowers or plants there to try to attempt to brighten the spot. However, I do see under your username a photo of a beautiful kitty. Different tactics need to be taken when cats live in the home. I'm going to try to hang some plants, in the future, to prevent my pets from playing in the soil.

 If you have a HOA or anything like that, the window film could be a problem.  I would go with some inexpensive blinds and maybe a lacy curtain with pink embroderied (or like) flowers.

I don't have an HOA.

One of the things that concerns me about the window is that the meter reader can look into my kitchen because the window is near the electric meter. I've caught the meter readers looking into the window in the past. I'm not too thrilled at seeing someone's face peering in the window while I'm either in the kitchen or in another part of the house.

I keep the blinds drawn on the other windows downstairs for both privacy and to keep the house cooler. I have had door to door salesmen and church missionaries show up unannounced. There is now a sign for the security system by the gate.

Since Mom has been in the nursing home I've had to deal with church missionaries who would not leave my property when I asked them to please leave. They didn't leave until I started to push the security remote I wear around my neck to summon a deputy. There are two different churches in my area that send out people to convert others to their way of thinking. Neither group will pay attention if you politely say that you are a member of ________church and that you are not interested in hearing what they have to say.

Needless to say, I am selective about who I open the door to because of safety factors.

Virginia Needlewoman:

Needless to say, I am selective about who I open the door to because of safety factors.

Sales persons and church teams are supposed to respect the no soliciting signs.  

What about blinds with a Pink eyelet curtain? 

I have similar problems with some of my windows - not my kitchen window, which faces the back yard (my electric meter has a transmitter; the meter reader only has to drive by the house, he doesn't have to enter the yard any more) and there's a 6 foot fence between me and my neighbor - and anyway, he's nice older man whose lot is lower than mine; I rarely see him over the fence unless one of us is one a ladder. 

The dining room and living room windows, however, face the street - the dining room window faces a park right across the street and there are people there are the time.  I didn't want to cover the window - it's a nice view and it faces south, so it gets nice sun in the winter - but I did want to reduce the visibility and the heat in the summer, so I bought white sheer curtains the length of the curtains that were already there, and hung them on a spring tension rod inside the window frame, the kind that uses a spring and needs no hooks or hardware.  From within a few feet of the sheer, I can still see out, but from the sidewalk outside (about 10 feet) or farther away, the inside of the house is an indistinct blur.  If I want more light, I can open the sheers; if I want less, I can close the curtains.

I also considered cheesecloth curtains for the same reason - the loose weave lets in light and blocks visibility.  There are several types of fabric that would do the same thing, depending on the color, the thickness of the fabric and tightness of the weave.