What do you put over a kitchen sink window?

A waterproof blind! That’s the short and sweet version; the rest of this blog post will provide more information on the sort of blinds that are suitable for hanging on kitchen windows over sinks, what type of blind is best overall, and how to hang a blind over a kitchen sink window.

What do you put over a kitchen sink window?

This specific question can also be re-worded as “what kind of window coverings are ok with water/being splashed a lot,” hence my strongly advocating for the use of waterproof blinds for kitchen sink windows.

There are various different options here, which I’ll cover next; and then advise on what type of blind is best for a kitchen sink window overall, and why.

What kind of blinds can be put over a kitchen sink window?

Whilst you might get away with non-waterproof blinds in some kitchens that are well ventilated and don’t generate humidity, this isn’t going to work for the window above the sink specifically.

However careful you are about the washing up (and to be fair, few people think of washing up as a highly loaded or precision-oriented operation) a blind above the sink is inevitably going to get splashed now and then, possibly quite regularly if the blind is closed while you wash up.

You’ll get away with this for most blinds a couple of times or now and then, but non-waterproof blinds will absolutely suffer from frequent contact with water (even small amounts) and also and perhaps more so, the steam from the hot tap and humidity generated by the washing up bowl in general, even if the blind is never directly splashed.

What kind of blinds can you use on a window over a kitchen sink then?

• PVC or vinyl roller blinds.
• PVC or vinyl vertical blinds.
• Faux-wood blinds.
• Potentially, aluminium Venetian blinds too.

The first three options there (PVC or vinyl roller blinds and vertical blinds respectively, and also faux-wood blinds (made of rigid PVC) are all waterproof and so require no further scrutiny.

When it comes to aluminium Venetian blinds, however, their slats are waterproof rightly enough, but their lift cords might get damp and grimy over time. The main issue though is that their slats are very narrow, which can make cleaning them somewhat fiddly if they accumulate a film of cooking fat and/or get splashed with food residue from dishes being launched into the sink with a little too much gusto.

What’s the best blind for a kitchen sink window?

Waterproof roller blinds made of PVC or vinyl are the blinds that I personally consider to be the best blinds for a window above a kitchen sink. Any of the options I mentioned above will be fine, but the best choice for my money is waterproof rollers, for a few reasons.

The first and main one of these is that they’re the only type of waterproof kitchen blinds that are made of one single piece of fabric, making them really easy to wipe dry or clean, whilst all of the other options have slats or louvres, making them a little fiddlier.

Waterproof roller blinds for kitchens are the lowest cost of all of your various options too, and come in the widest range of different colours and patterns.

Roller blinds also have the smallest footprint on the windowsill or at the bottom of them of any type of blind. This means that if you hang them inside of the window recess you will only lose a tiny amount of windowsill space for the blind’s drop, perhaps to be used to grow herbs or just to keep a utensil pot.

How should you hang a blind over a kitchen sink window?

What’s the best way to hang a blind over a kitchen sink? There are two elements to this.

The first is the hanging position, being inside of or outside of the window recess respectively. In the vast majority of cases, I suggest hanging a kitchen sink window blind inside of the recess rather than outside of it. This will allow you to keep the blind as far from the sink as possible and result in fewer splashes and potential clean-ups (not that these will harm the blind, I’m thinking of the convenience factor here) and also, mean that you still have easy access to anything on the windowsill when the blind is closed.

The other aspect of hanging a blind over a kitchen sink window is the practicality and safety part of things, as the sink/worktop are in the way of the window. If your worktop will support your weight, I suggest sitting or standing on this, with care, and ideally with an assistant.

If this is not an option or you’re not keen, use a step ladder with care and with an assistant, and don’t reach beyond your comfortable range and risk an accident!