35 Ways to Decorate the Window Over Your Kitchen Sink

When it comes to decorating the window over your kitchen sink, less is often more. From simple window treatments to trim paint options and styling ideas for your window sill, there are countless ways to make your kitchen sink window a bit more functional and attractive, no matter your home's size or style.

Check out these simple ideas for beautifying and optimizing the window over your kitchen sink. And if you’re renovating or planning your dream kitchen, read on for ideas about how to turn your kitchen sink window into a feature and a focal point, too. 

Hang a Vintage Lantern

Hang a vintage or industrial-style lantern above the kitchen sink that is centered in front of the window to create pleasing symmetry in a farmhouse kitchen while providing light while you're up doing dishes at midnight. Marie Flanigan Interiors hung a white painted lantern above the farmhouse sink in this whitewashed kitchen pantry that complements brick tile floors. A simple window shade with a beige border adds some definition to the window.

Skip the Panes

In a minimalist space, feel free to leave the windows bare and in favor of a single glass pane. Cathie Hong Interiors chose to prioritize natural light by fitting this kitchen sink with an extra-wide picture window framed with black that looks onto the side yard and doesn't need any window dressing.

Use the Sill for Sundries

If you have a small window sill, decorate it with personal items like a favorite photo, or use it as a perch for your reading glasses, like this space from Leanne Ford Interiors that features decorative starburst window panes that don't need much embellishment.

Hang a Window Shelf

Maximize storage and create an opportunity to display decor by fitting the window above the kitchen sink with a hanging shelf. Becca Interiors suspended a rustic wood shelf from the rafters of this Westchester, NY, cottage, positioning it midway between the top and bottom of the windows.

Hang a Vintage Lace Panel

To block an unsightly view or minimize glare from a south-facing window over the sink, add a fixed fabric panel that still allows some light to filter through. In this cozy English cottage-style kitchen from deVOL Kitchens, a tasseled panel of vintage lace adds timeless charm and contrast with the reclaimed wood window frames. And it complements creamy white textured wall panels and tiles, rosy stone countertops, and shiny brass accents.

Hang a Dramatic Shade

If you have a large bank of windows over the kitchen sink, give them the royal treatment with a theatrical window shade that will create a dramatic focal point. Ashley Montgomery Design chose an oversized plaid shade to add a country manor feel in this spacious kitchen outfitted with marble countertops and a crystal chandelier. A copper pot and a potted plant on the sill add a casual, lived-in feel.

Install Wooden Shutters

Give your kitchen a Mediterranean beach house vibe with natural wood shutters fitted to the interior window that can be purely decorative or can be shut to gain privacy or lower temperatures on a scorching day without blasting the AC. Leanne Ford Interiors chose natural wood to complement this black-and-white kitchen, but you can also paint them any color that you like.

Try a Colored Glass Vase

Add color to your kitchen window by placing a colored glass vase in the window that will catch the light, like this serene space from deVOL Kitchens.

Add Reclaimed Wood Beams

Add instant character to a bump-out window nook above the kitchen sink by framing it with antique barnwood beams. Finding Lovely added warmth to this farmhouse-style kitchen by incorporating decorative beams around the sink that complement darker hardwood flooring and look like they've always been there.

Fill the Sill With Plants

A bump-out window with a deep windowsill can feel a little sparse if left empty, or become an inadvertent magnet for clutter. Velinda Hellen for Emily Henderson Design solved this hypothetical dilemma by filling the sill with a selection of potted plants of varying types, sizes, and heights. White planter pots blend in with the vertical white tile backsplash.

Hang Cafe Curtains

To block a view of the neighbors and add warmth to the window above the kitchen sink, consider cafe curtains. Ashley Montgomery Design hung a pair of earth-toned cafe curtains by brass rings on the lower half of the kitchen window that can be left open to bring in extra natural light, or whisked close when you need some privacy.

Add Gold Accents

Add a trio of bright brass sconce lights over the kitchen window that to provide extra light in the evenings and function like jewelry for your kitchen by day, like this beige kitchen from Cohesively Curated Interiors.

Frame It With Open Shelves

In a small kitchen, add extra storage and display space around the kitchen windows by leaving them bare, and installing open shelving above and around the windows. Leanne Ford Interiors installed shelving to hug the angles of this L-shaped kitchen, with shelving both above the top of the window trim and on the empty wall space at the same level as the midpoint of the double sash windows.

Add a Transom Window

A long and narrow transom window installed above the kitchen sink will provide natural light and views to the outside while leaving room to include cabinetry above if you like. This Florida kitchen from interior designer Maite Granda has a black-trimmed window above the sink that is carved out of a bank of upper and lower flat-front cabinetry and mimics the style of larger windows above.

Bring In Potted Flowers

Add cottage style to your kitchen by decorating the window sills and the countertop on either side of the kitchen sink with terracotta pots filled with geraniums, like this charming English kitchen from deVOL Kitchens.

Transparent Roman Shade

Install a semi-transparent solar shade or loose weave Roman blind to filter glare over the kitchen sink without blocking out light completely, like this space from Becca Interiors. The non-opaque shades also allow the panes on the window to remain visible.

Hang Ceiling-Mounted Plants

Fill the dead space above the countertop in the corner of an L-shaped kitchen by hanging a pair of boho-style macrame plant holders from the ceiling, like this bright modern space from House of Chais.

Add a White-Out Shade

In a primarily black and white kitchen, soften a black trimmed industrial-style window with a simple white window shade, like this Florida kitchen from Calimia Home.

Add a Lamp

Pose a simple table lamp on a wide windowsill that can add additional ambient light in the evenings. Cathie Hong Interiors chose an all-white lamp that fairly disappears during the day, and added a vase of tall pampas grass on the other end.

Accent With Color

If your kitchen window is tall and narrow, consider mounting a slim open shelf in front of it and using simple decor in a bright color to energize the space. Leanne Ford Interiors filled Campbell's soup cans with delicate white wildflowers and added a smattering of additional tomato red accents throughout the space.

Hang a Woven Shade

Add natural warmth and texture to your kitchen window with a woven shade. Calimia Home decorated the window sills with wooden cutting boards and a simple vase of flowers that complements the neutral patterned tile for a soft modern look.

Hang Gauzy Curtains

Hang gauzy curtains to add a nostalgic feel to a modern farmhouse kitchen. Ashley Montgomery Design paired white curtains with a black rod in an inset window over the kitchen sink with an extra-wide frame that matches the cream-colored shiplap walls.

Add Patterned Half Curtains

Patterned half curtains with a grain sack stripe will add vintage charm to the kitchen sink window. Leanne Ford Interiors hung a trio of black-and-white-striped curtains in the bank of windows above this kitchen sink that is housed in a repurposed antique farm table.

Try a Bay Window

If you're remodeling, consider building a bump-out bay window to create a focal point window niche over the kitchen sink. Kate Marker Interiors decorated this white-washed window niche with white paned windows, marble countertops, and a reclaimed wood ceiling and exposed beams. The space lets in natural light during the day, and is finished with brass-toned sconces with cream lampshades on the side walls and a delicate vintage-style pendant light over the sink.

Surround It With Tile

Surround naked windows with striking wall tile in a fun pattern or bold color. Kate Marker Interiors surrounded the kitchen sink window with patterned tile, and decorated the sills with a pair of rosemary topiaries on either end that are both decorative and edible.

Layer Lighting

Add ambient lighting around the window that will create a pleasant glow that will make your kitchen more pleasant to spend time in day or night. Marie Flanigan Interiors utilized the sides of narrow cabinets placed on either side of the kitchen sink as mounts for a pair of simple light sconces finished with fabric shades. A subtle leafy patterned off-white window shade softens the black-paned double window.

Accent With Black

Black accents will add definition to a neutral kitchen. Jessica Nelson Design painted the wrap-around windows of this farmhouse kitchen in a darker shade of taupe to add definition. A pair of black gooseneck sconces above the kitchen sink windows add a graphic accent.

Decorate With Potted Herbs

Decorate your kitchen windowsill or the countertop around the window with your favorite potted herbs to create a mini kitchen sink herb garden, like this space from Marie Flanigan Interiors.

Hang an Opaque Sun Shade

In a minimalist kitchen, keep it simple with an opaque sunshade that will block unwanted glare and views, and decorate around the window with open shelving for displaying objects, like this space from Cathie Hong Interiors.

Add Colorful Curtains

Add color to your kitchen with patterned curtains in the kitchen window. Ashley Montgomery Design chose blue patterned cafe curtains that complement the painted blue cane fronts of the cabinetry in this kitchen butler's pantry.

Add a Tray for Supplies

Keep countertops clear and your hand soap, dishwashing liquid, or other supplies neat and tidy by adding a small tray on the windowsill, like this space from deVOL Kitchens.

Light It From Within

If you want to open up your kitchen without knocking down any walls, consider installing an interior window that will open up sightlines and make your space feel lighter and brighter. In this space from deVOL Kitchens, a faux window above the kitchen sink has industrial-style black panes and is lit by natural light from the entryway, augmented with ceiling-hung bare bulb pendants fitted with Edison bulbs for a warm, industrial feel.

Soften With a Roman Shade

Soften a modern kitchen with a fabric shade in a creamy neutral that will work with any color scheme, like this midcentury modern kitchen from Cathie Hong Interiors.

Add a Cookbook Stand

A cookbook stand perched below the kitchen sink window allows you to keep your favorite recipes on display while you run around the kitchen. Amber Pierce Designs layered the space around the window with a vase of greens and a raised stand for dish soap on the other side.

Add Wall Texture

If your kitchen has architectural details like arched deep-set windows, highlight their natural beauty by painting the windowframes white and adding a soft or earthy color with a lightly textured finish on the walls, like this space from deVOL Kitchens and Our Food Stories.

What do you call a window over a kitchen sink?

There is no single term for a window over a kitchen sink. Depending on the architecture of your home and the style of your interior, you may have a number of different window styles over the kitchen sink, such as casement windows, sliding windows, single- or double-hung windows, picture windows, and bay windows.

What is the standard size for a kitchen window over a sink?

Kitchen windows over sinks come in many shapes and sizes. In the U.S., the most common type of windows are double-hung windows, which range from 24 to 48 inches wide and 36 to 72 inches high. Standard window sizes vary according to the type of window.

Read the original article on The Spruce.