Window Treatments for Kitchens & Bathrooms

Kitchens and bathrooms are the toughest rooms in the house on a window treatment: steam, splashes, humidity, and cooking grease all take a toll. The winning treatments here are the ones you can wipe down and that won't warp, fade, or grow mildew in a damp Florida room.

Choose Moisture-Proof Materials

Faux-wood shutters and blinds are the workhorses of wet rooms — they look like painted wood but shrug off humidity and wipe clean, so they won't warp over a sink or tub the way real wood can. Poly and vinyl shutters, aluminum blinds, and easy-clean roller fabrics are all smart, low-maintenance picks.

Privacy Without Losing the Light

• Café-style shutters cover just the lower half of a window for bath privacy while daylight still pours in above.
• Top-down/bottom-up cellular shades let you drop the top for light while keeping the bottom closed for privacy.
• Light-filtering rollers give a bright kitchen privacy from neighbors without going dark.

Make It Easy to Live With

Above a sink or cooktop, reach and cleanability matter most. Shutters and blinds wipe down in seconds; motorization is a genuine luxury over a deep counter you'd otherwise have to stretch across. In a busy kitchen, pick the treatment you'll actually keep clean, not just the prettiest one.