Window treatments don't need to be expensive to look nice. There are many different kinds of kitchen window treatment ideas that can involve a fusion of existing treatments, custom designs, or the creation of unique window decorations through your own DIY project. The shape and style of window, along with a budget, will help you determine the scope of the project. Following are vital tips to keep in mind when considering window treatment ideas. Sunlight Exposure: The sun's damaging UVA and UVB rays are notorious. Direct, harsh sunlight can fade most materials; in addition, it can raise interior temperatures, dull finishes, dry wood, and wash out fabrics. To protect your entire kitchen from too much sun, look for window coverings that have a protective quality. Many performance shades, such as cellular and solar, advertise how much of the damaging rays they screen while still allowing some diffused light to come through. For complete control, choose opaque window coverings or treatments lined with a light-prohibiting layer, also known as blackout shades.

When closed, the slats of shutters and blinds (wood, vinyl, or metal) block the sun. For added material protection, consider applying an adhesive or static-cling UV film directly to older windowpanes. Privacy: Have you thought to perform a quick check before starting your project? Turn on the lights in the kitchen one evening and venture outside and see what others can view through your windows. For privacy, look for screening materials that let you see out but allow some daylight to pass while blocking views from the outside; consider Roman shades and roller shades made from translucent or woven materials, or try sheer fabric curtain panels. Decoration: Shared spaces outside the kitchen work triangle—such as breakfast nooks or when framing a large bay window or French doors—are ideal for floor-length curtain panels that offer opportunity of color and pattern. A swag of patterned fabric draped over a single window can also make a statement. Valances and cornices are like accent marks over windows you want to showcase.

For the most personalized effect, choose materials, textures, hues and designs that express your lifestyle. Creative Kitchen Window Treatments Kitchen Window Treatments for Large Windows DIY Kitchen Window Treatments Modern Kitchen Window Treatments Contemporary Kitchen Window Treatments Kitchen Window Treatment Valances Designer Kitchen Window Treatments Curtains for Kitchen Windowssilver star curtains mooloolaba New Family Kitchen, Living Roomdiscontinued dorma curtains uk Custom Kitchen Drum Pendantssilver and mink glamour stripe eyelet curtains A Kitchen Redo on a Grand Styleeclipse curtains meridian grommet blackout window panel in chocolate

Rowhouse Retirement Begins With Modern Kitchen Elements of a Green Kitchen How to Install a Marble Tile Backsplash Kitchen Revitalization Takes It From Drab to Fab« July 2005 | If you ever want to create your own aged-looking barnboard out of new lumber, here's an old farmer's secret for a permanent, non-toxic and dirt-cheap stain.  (See Mag demonstrate making barnboard by visiting CTV's Canada AM - then click on their ToolGirl link)linda elaine curtains ashbourne Pour a few cups of vinegar into a jar.peva shower curtain ice circles Add a handful of rusty nails or steel wool. Put the lid on the jar. Wait a few days. Brush stain onto lumber and give it a few minutes to interact with the tannins in the wood.  The more tannin (cedar has a lot of tannin, for example), the deeper the hue of the stain. 

Cedar goes dark gray, whereas pine turns dark brown.  I haven't tried it on hardwood yet but I'm told that oak turns black.  I'll find out and post photos. i read your march 2005 article on the compostingi tried to find some follow-up material on it, concerning your installation and experience(s) with it, but couldn't find anything further on your toolgirl website (maybe i didn't do a good enough job i'm just curious how it went.   was it worth what youhow was the installation?    according to the propaganda?   are you satisfied withwill you keep it?Every morning I hot-foot it up the hill from the writing studio to the house to use the bathroom.  I have a number of reasons: I drink a lot of green tea. I'm not a drop 'em and wee-in-the-field type of girl, mostly because the guy next door has a telescope. I haven't installed the composting toilet in the studio bathroom yet. I'm afraid that the lovely, pristine, waterless, non-electric Envirolet composting unit is still in its box in the garage. 

I have a number of excuses. There is no floor in the studio bathroom yet. There's stinging nettle growing behind the barn where I have to dig the French drain (the hole that accepts all the liquid waste from the toilet) so I'm waiting for the nettle to die. A psychic told me that I'm not going to be motivated to get the bathroom finished until it's too damn cold to scuttle up the hill in service to my bladder. As it happens, there have been legitimate distractions this summer including carpenter ants, roof repairs and a raccoon that tunnelled under the floor of the cabin and had to be evicted.  (TIP:  Tune the radio to headbanger rock 'n' roll 24 hours a day.  If that doesn't work, give all visiting male friends and relatives lots of beer and persuade them to urinate around the edges of the cabin.  An old mammalian trick I learned from an old mammal  -  Farley Mowat.) As soon as the bathroom floor is in and the French drain is sitting pretty, I will post an arty photographic essay of the composting toilet installation.

It's fall, the season of longing.  We say goodbye to heat and skin.  Bury tender flesh in fleece and down and wool.  Stack firewood in neat piles, finish heavy curtains for the windows to seal out, beat back, vaguely discourage, the cold.  The heart turns in upon itself to spend its winter hours in cozy rumination.  Fire on the hearth, whisky in the cupboard, socks thick and soft in drawers, food stores in the cellar - tomatoes, beans, peaches, chickpeas - in case there's a blackout, an ice storm, a war.  Humans love to be ready.  Like the feeling when you were a kid and an apple war had been decreed and you worked tirelessly to collect a huge pile of rotten wormy groundfallen apples.  You built your dirt fort or tree fort or lumber fort (which was really just propped-up-plywood and the sound of apples smashing against it was glorious).  And then you sat back and knew you were ready for the war to start. Continue reading "Apples or Prunes" » This week at Home Envy - Mag builds an easy birdfeeder using a hollowed out gourd.

Need gourds, kits, supplies, seeds, books or  encouragement right away?  Visit the gourd-natured staff at Northern Dipper Farms. You can actually get your face on a postage stamp now without being Oscar Peterson or a former Prime Minister or a flag.  It'll cost you $40 for 40 stamps and it could bring your reputation up a notch when your relatives find out that Canada Post has made a stamp in your honour (for a small fee). This week at Home Envy;  Mag's 2nd-most asked-for column - creating a fake rug. Faux on the floor: Mag Ruffman discovers a way to dress up an old plywood sub-floor for under $100 - a perfect project for the cottage. And the most-asked-for column?   How to convert a plywood floor into a surface that looks like nice old painted planks. I gave a review of  my favourite stain removers on Canada AM and lots of people have written to ask for names and availability.    Wine Away, a biodegradable stain remover made from fruit and vegetable extracts. 

Wine Away excels at instantly removing tough stains like spaghetti sauce, grape juice and pet urine (who can resist a menu like that?).  It has a mild citrus scent and is safe to use around children and pets.  Works fine on carpet but is also great for fabric. Available for $16 online at The Added Touch. The Bissell people have nailed it with this no-scrub spot remover that activates the cleaning power of oxygen, combined with a tough spot remover.   You shake the dual chamber assembly, spray it on, wait five minutes and blot.  It permanently lifts stains like coffee (even ancient spills), beer and red wine, and greasy spots left by gravy upsets, ice cream accidents, or cat vomit.  It even lifts motor oil.  And stains won't come back again the way they do with some spot removers.  Oxykic has a slightly irritating perfume smell that ostensibly covers the odour of the solvents (Dimethyl ether, propylene glycol n-Propyl ether, Hydrogen peroxide) but holy moly, this stuff rocks. 

Must be used in a well-ventilated area, away from open flame, children and pets.  Available at Zellers and KMart for about 8 bucks. This product really thrilled me because my white carpet had a lot of rust spots left by the antique steel wheels under some of our chairs.  Magica Rust Remover ($11) killed the rust in seconds.  You just squeeze a little of it from the tube and watch it gobble up rust on carpet, clothing, bathroom fixtures, fibreglass, concrete, appliances etc.  It’s got some kind of acid in it (it etches glass and dulls highly-polished surfaces), so you have to wear rubber gloves.  Available online at The Added Touch Mag is back Tuesday mornings at 7:45 on Canada AM in her regular segment, The Morning Fix.  Upcoming items include how to recover a chair seat, how to use a pressure washer, taking the irritation out of shoveling, how to create a rustic stucco finish, and tips on the latest stain removal potions.  Streaming video of The Morning Fix is available online.