What are the best curtains or blinds for a kitchen?
Updated
A roller blind suits many kitchen windows, because it is one flat sheet with no folds to collect dust. A sunscreen roller blind cuts glare and keeps your view of the outside by day. Choose the fabric by its care instructions, since kitchens bring steam, splashes and damp, and ask your retailer.
What makes a kitchen window different?
A kitchen window sees steam, cooking splashes and, over a sink, water. Damp air and condensation on the glass can lead to mould on the fabric nearest the window, so the care instructions for a fabric matter more here than in most rooms.
- Fabric care. Choose by the care instructions, not only by colour. Ask your retailer how the fabric copes with steam, splashes and wiping.
- Folds. A roller blind is one flat sheet, so there is less for dust to settle into than in a curtain with folds. How it can be cleaned still depends on its care instructions.
- Hands. Hands on the same spot every day mark a fabric, especially a pale one. Move a chain blind by its chain, and a motorised one by its remote or switch, never by the fabric.
- Handles, tiles and sills. A window winder, a tiled splashback or a deep sill can get in the way of a blind. A front roll (also called reverse roll) blind hangs further into the room and clears handles, winders, tiles and deep sills.
- Chains. Australia has mandatory safety rules for blind chains, and the business that installs a chain blind has to fit it to those rules. A motorised blind has no chain loop.
Which roller blind fabric suits a kitchen?
| Fabric | By day | At night with the lights on |
|---|---|---|
| Sunscreen | Cuts glare and keeps your view of the outside | No privacy. People outside can see in |
| Light filtering | Soft, diffused light, and the room is hidden | Mostly private, though shadows can show |
| Blockout (blackout) | No light through the fabric and no view out | Full privacy |
A sunscreen roller blind suits a kitchen window that gets glare and has a view you want to keep. If you want privacy at night with the lights on, choose a light filtering or blockout blind, or pair the sunscreen blind with a curtain or a second blind.
Are roller blinds waterproof?
Don't assume so. Roller blind fabrics are usually coated on one face, but a coating does not tell you how a fabric copes with water, steam or wiping. The care instructions for that fabric do. Ask your retailer for them before you choose a blind for a sink window, and before you clean it.
Should a kitchen have curtains instead?
Curtains work in a kitchen too, with more fabric to look after. Keep any curtain well clear of the stove, as fire services advise. A curtain has folds that hold dust, and one that puddles on the floor needs more arranging and more cleaning than one that clears it. A curtain that clears the floor is easier to live with and to clean.
Ask your retailer which fabric suits the window over your sink or bench, what its care instructions say about steam, splashes and wiping, and whether a front roll blind or a different fit clears the window handle. Speedy Blinds makes curtains, tracks and roller blinds for retailers.
Other ways people ask this
What blinds are best for a kitchen window?
Roller blinds suit many kitchen windows. Sunscreen fabric cuts glare and keeps the view by day, and a light filtering or blockout blind gives more privacy at night.
Are sunscreen blinds good for kitchens?
They cut glare and keep your view of the outside by day, but they give no privacy at night with the lights on.
Are curtains or blinds better for a kitchen window?
Neither wins for every kitchen. A roller blind is one flat sheet, and a curtain has more fabric to clean. Choose by how you use the window and what the fabric's care instructions allow.
Which curtains are best for a kitchen?
Ones whose care instructions suit a kitchen. A curtain that clears the floor is easier to clean than one that puddles.
This answer is general information. For your own windows, your retailer's advice and your order with them come first.