Kitchen Window Treatments and Selling Your House

There’s no arguing the fact that selling a house in this economy and housing market is a challenge to say the least. However, there are a number of small things that you can do to make your house more appealing to a potential buyer. According to Mark Nash, author of “1001 Tips for Buying and Selling a Home,” including great-looking window treatments with the purchase price of the house is one of the simple, yet effective, things a person selling a house can do. This is especially true in the kitchen and, in particular, for breakfast nooks off of the kitchen.

Many breakfast nooks are extensions of the kitchen. They are almost a separate room like a dining room, but with a more open and flowing design. Generally, a nook will have walls on three sides. Plenty of natural light is desirable so this means that the walls will have windows. There will probably be a lot of windows, in fact. This is the driving force behind making sure that as a homeowner you pay proper attention to your selection of window treatments.

Keep in mind that you want to maximize the amount of natural light while minimizing the amount of glare and direct sunlight. Early to mid-morning or late afternoon can be especially tough with sunlight hitting you square in the face without some sort of barrier between you and the sun.





My preferred window treatment for breakfast nooks is a light fabric curtain. Sheer curtains or voile curtains are excellent at softening the lighting of a room by eliminating much of the direct sunlight. At the same time, you still get the benefits of large amounts of natural light. You can combine a lighter, diffusing fabric with heavier curtains which tie at each side of the window for functional, yet classic look. Although, according to Nash, younger buyers are looking for streamlined treatments. So if your house is in a neighborhood which is attracting younger buyers, you might want to consider a simple cornice or an arching valence instead of heavy curtains.

Simple shades are also a great approach if you want to lock in on a streamlined theme. Cell or honeycomb shades can give you privacy while maintaining the ambient light. Honeycomb shades have the added benefit of providing some additional insulation to the window. If you go the shades route, definitely consider adding an arched valance or a curved cornice to your window treatment. Kitchens have many lines and square angles with all the cabinets and appliances. Adding some curvature and shape to the windows will open up your entire kitchen and breakfast nook. Careful selection of your breakfast nook window treatment will give you a leg up over the competition when it comes to selling your house.

Malisa Holderbaum enjoys writing about decorating ideas for her breakfast nook set and loves to teach people how to have the best looking breakfast nook on a budget.

Kitchen Window Treatments and Selling Your House
By Malisa Holderbaum