I do. Well, I have the window in, but not the remodeled kitchen! It's going to make it very dicey!

I'm 5'3", also. My partner is 6'1". These windows are NOT designed for viewing from the counter. They are designed to optimize light while preserving upper storage - and they give great views from a distance. We'll have seating at our counter-height peninsula, which should be the perfect viewing height. The view will also be visible for those at the front door/in the living area.

Ours is 120 inches long - and the frame starts about 37" off of the floor. The window is only 21" tall, including frame. I have short ceilings and need to preserve some room for the uppers and the moulding. I know we only have about 3 1/2 inches left for that, top and bottom.

I love it, personally. So does everyone who comes into our space. However, the window gets very mixed reviews when I (or others on GW) post them. If you are looking for a great view out when you are standing at the counter, it is not the way to go.

Thanks for all your clarity, that really helps!

In our case the premium view is to the North where we have a lot of windows. The "inferior" but still nice view is to NW & SW. Directly west is our neighbor's side of their house approx 50' away.

We have strongly considered having no windows but being that windows were a very important feature we wanted, we want to somehow make them work if at all possible. Considering we want to avoid the West sun as much as possible and keep the window focal point of the area (all open) to the North this may actually be the best alternative (and I've considered way too many alternatives). With many of the windows in the area going almost to the ceiling of 10' walls (9' in kitchen) we're thinking it should give the entire area an atrium feeling, which I'd love!!!

There will be about 33" of space available between counter and upper cabinet. We don't want to compete with the visual height of the others and want to make a clear distinction that these new windows are meant to be lower and not look like we tried to squeeze what we could in. We've tried using standard sizes of windows and it just never seems right.

A 120" window must look soooo awesome! We considered it but thought it would take away too much from the main focal point of the area. I'd love to see pics even if the area is unfinished.

Do I understand that you intend to put your upper cabinets 33" above the countertop? And you are 5'3"? I'd have to have a stepladder to even access the lower shelf, I think!

I have pics, as a matter of fact! They are NOT great pics, though they give you an idea. You can see the current kitchen, along with the existing backsplash of the current counters blocking the view a bit.

Here's to hoping humbling before shots lead to great afters...

The outside, because it is done!

The inside, taken from the entry to the kitchen (the wall there will be coming down in the remodel and sorry for the glare):

Another shot from almost the same spot, taken during the outside renovation:

And, an inside shot from more straight on so you can see the rest of the yard/view: (the camera picked up red tones for some weird reason)

There's a sliding glass door to the right, where the dining area is. I find that the two play very nicely together, on the inside and on the out.

Thanks Steph for taking the time to post these shots. The window looks awesome! When you took the shots of the last two, were you completely standing up or did you crouch down (trying to get the perspective). Sounds like the glass itself is about 18" is that correct?

I've got one cabinet shelf at 69" and I can reach the front items barefoot. We were considering having no upper cabinets, so this would still work for us. I think I prefer having the cabinets all the same height, but I would consider the end ones coming down even to the countertops. When I was at my FIL's I should have taken better note of his peninsula with upper cabinets to get a perspective.

We are on a sloped down lot south to north, so we would get an elevated view. Though we wouldn't get the sky, we'd get more of the pretty things I will be planting this spring. I would likely use four 3' wide awning windows for my application.

Bottom line, the windows are back on the table for negotiation. I'm hoping I hear how others are liking or not liking theirs.

What negative feedback have you received from gardenweb about yours (or others who have these).

I MIGHT have been slouching a bit to get that last shot, but not much. I was standing near the fridge on the side of the kitchen that is ocming down, trying to get an idea of how it might look at the peninsula/island seating.

And, I gave you the wrong dimensions of the window earlier. The height with frame is 18" - leaving 16" of glass. My aunt has one of these in a traditional kitchen in Florida. Hers left a 5-7 inch gap between the counter and the top of the window. I'll include a pic, just so you can see how that looks (I think it looks great). We just simply do not have the ceiling height to support things like that. (She has potted palms out there on her patio)

The negative feedback tends to come in two categories:
1 - The View - people comment on the fact the window is not at eye level. Many have strong preferences for big, expansive windows - which I love, but I simply do not have room for it. My choices were to go with a small, regular window or to go with a backsplash window. It's an exterior wall, in a small house we are keeping because of the backyard living, so I didn't want to go without any. Especially because the house is dark and we are tearing that wall down, so the back kitchen wall is going to be very visible to the living room and front door and I wanted to bring light/the backyard in.

2 - Splatter - people comment pretty routinely about how hard it will be to keep clean, especially if the stove/range were to go on that wall. It's likely going to be my sink spot, though I haven't ruled out the range 100%. Now, people who actually have windows behind their ranges comment on how surprising it is how clean it stays.

What people DON'T comment on but I see as disadvantages are:
a - modern aesthetic: you see these windows in more traditional applications sometimes, but I do think it fits best with a house that leans a bit modern. I'm in a 50's ranch and am going modern cottage/zen cottage for my vibe so I THINK I can make it work.(It better work! LOL)

b - Food on the counter gets/stays warm in the sun. Our window is in a southern exposure - in Alaska. Now, I don't see this as a bad thing, necessarily. If you want something to stay warm, it's a nice surprise. But, I can see where it can get problematic, too. There are other counters for stuff you don't want warmed, though, and we are going to keep everything off the counters we can to enjoy the window/streamlined look.

c - My partner worried a bit about whether the window would be cold in the Winter. We aren't finding that to be true, but it seems worth sharing. At one point, though, he was threatening to put radiant heat under the countertop. lol (He's in the trades and goes a bit nuts on things like this sometimes)

d - Spaces for plug-ins. Kitchens require plug-ins every so many inches. We are going with plugmold. My aunt lifted the window to leave room for plugs. Some people put them in their counters or uppers. Lots of options there, but it's an important issue in planning. I'd RATHER have the plugs out of sight when possible, so I don't see this as a downside, I see it as a plus.

e - Coordinating with the other walls - Again, this is my issue, but it seems tricky to me to pick a backsplash for an adjoining cabinet run when one side of the L has a window BS. I'm leaning towards not putting uppers on my adjoining wall, and using a tile I take up to the ceiling for this reason. It just seems a lot easier to do something different than to have the same basic backsplash shape and a totally different material on the interior wall. Does that make sense?

Now, all of that being said, every single person that sees my kitchen LOVES it. My aunt says the same is true for her with the Florida house. In fact, they are now building another house down there and putting another BS window in their new place. Everyone seems to think it makes the kitchen. I think it's more that it is just unusual and that makes it fun.

I collect pics of these windows, if you want to see some inspiration pics. Just let me know!

Wow Steph you rock with all this info!

Our layout would be similar to yours in that those sitting at the counter height island would have a nice view. In our last house when I actually sat down at the island, my thought was how boring (though it was a pretty kitchen). Try as I might, I've never been able to compete with mother nature for beauty.

Commenting on your comments.

1. I've spent way to much time trying to get everything to look good with "regular" height windows. I finally gave up the idea of a window. In relooking at my inspiration pics from Houzz, I came across these backsplash windows again and thought just like you "it's at least better then no window". This won't be the focal point of the area like yours but I do like tons of windows.

2. I too read that the people that actually have a window above their range (my setup) there is surprising little splash up.

I really appreciate your candid and honest portrayal of the disadvantages. In my application

a. We originally were going to go with modern and just recently scaled back to a more transitional look. Our home is less then 20 y.o. but has a lot of very contemporary features i.e. almost all the walls are angled (sometimes drives me crazy) loads of windows, very open floor plan. Definitely contemporary.

b. Did you get low-e on your new window. I noticed in our last house when we replaced with low-e, I could no longer stand by the window and feel the sun radiating inside during the winter (I missed that).

c. Good to hear you don't feel the cold.

d. Once I decide whether we're going to do this or not, I'll decide on the electrical. Why may I ask did you ultimately choose the plugmold? Do you know why your aunt decided to put her's in on the bottom and leave so much space?

e. Our application another wall in the kitchen will not need to be considered. The other wall will be an appliance wall.

I'm hoping I would love our too, but I do need to be careful about not making it be the focal point since there are VERY nice view to the North. We'd likely put a few windows in to break it up and thus making it less spectacular.

If it's not too much trouble, I'd love to see your inspiration pics!

It sounds like this will fit well with the feel of the house, which I think is important. For us, it changed the feel of the house, somewhat, but in a good way, I hope. We shall see when the wall comes down - and the new kitchen goes in!

I did get low-e on the windows. The rest of them are triple-paned, but we couldn't get that with a 120 inch window. So, it's double. Alaska sun in the summer is a tad warm, thank goodness. Because the temp isn't!

My aunt bought the first Florida house as a second owner. I have no idea why they did it this way, although it did leave room for plugs and it raises the height up of the window. I'm not sure how she is doing it with her new build, I assume the same way. For us, we simply don't have room for uppers, any trim at all on top and bottom and the added inches. So, we took the window from counter to upper, and will use the plugmold. I LIKE plugmold, though, and we won't have any appliances there all the time where it could get, you know, weird to have a floating cord. The other wall will have wall outlets, placed on the horizontal and low on the wall. (I should say, my partner hasn't ruled out just putting plug-ins on the bottom of the cabinets, but I'd prefer not to do that to preserve cabinet space)

I'll dig up some fun pics for you!

This post was edited by Steph2000 on Fri, Jan 18, 13 at 19:35

The latest example, I just came across it this week. Broken up in the middle, but interesting:

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[Traditional Kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Seattle Architect Goforth Gill Architects

I like how this bumps up in the middle. Sort of an interesting twist to it:

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[Modern Kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/modern-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2105) by San Francisco Architect Rossington Architecture

Up off the counter backsplash, and very modern:

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[Modern Kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/modern-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2105) by Los Angeles General Contractor See Construction

Another one that is raised up with a counter backsplash:

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[Modern Kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/modern-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2105) by San Francisco Architect Feldman Architecture, Inc.

Right to the counters, but tall, full windows:

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[Contemporary Kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2103) by San Francisco Interior Designer Michael Merrill Design Studio, Inc

Full height windows, but not down to the counter:

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[Modern Kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/modern-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2105) by Los Angeles Architect Koning Eizenberg Architecture

Back on subject... lol

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[Contemporary Kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2103)

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[Modern Kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/modern-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2105) by San Francisco Architect yamamar design

Smaller versions tucked into tile BS, which means you get to choose a tile

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[Modern Kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/modern-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2105) by Philadelphia General Contractor Kenny Grono

This is pretty cool...living in a glass cage box ;)

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[Contemporary Exterior design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-exterior-home-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_736~s_2103) by New York Architect Eisner Design LLC

It's rare to find these in traditional kitchens, but here's one:

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[Traditional Kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Huntington Kitchen And Bath Merri Interiors, Inc.

Totally reverse of how you usually see it. This time, there is blank wall above the window.

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[Modern Kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/modern-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2105) by San Francisco Architect Three Legged Pig Design

Here's another one like that. Hmm...

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[Contemporary Kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2103) by New York Interior Designer AMI Designs

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[Contemporary Kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2103) by San Francisco Architect Rossington Architecture

A small one, framed in tile, next to a regular-sized window:

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[Traditional Kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by New York Architect Crisp Architects

This one they boxed out, which is kinda cool. It would give great space behind the sink or whatnot.

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[Contemporary Exterior design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-exterior-home-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_736~s_2103) by Austin Architect Stuart Sampley Architect

Some awning windows (looks off to me, how they did it:

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[Traditional Kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Dc Metro Kitchen And Bath Reico Kitchen & Bath

This one is kinda neat:

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[Traditional Kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Seattle Architect Goforth Gill Architects

Just came across this one, Alora. Thought I would share it, as it seemed it might be close to your desired dimensions.

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[Modern Kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/modern-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2105) by Other Metro Kitchen And Bath Fixtures Leicht K�chen AG

Thanks for showing so many inspirations. Though clearly a lot are modern, it does fit into the traditional setting too. It gives it a feeling of airiness through the entire area IMO.

I like the last one a lot, but I'm wondering if it comes to close to the other windows in the room. It might emphasize I couldn't go taller. What do you think? It might create issues too with the sun. Since I'd like to have a window in the front of the range too, for safety reason I couldn't use a window covering.

Well, it's hard to say without seeing your plans, but I don't think it looks off in that picture, do you? You are talking about the Modern Kitchen design by Other Metro Kitchen and bath, yes? There's sort of a divider there, where the kitchen cabinets end, though, too. In fact, the cabinets appear to be boxed in. You could achieve kind of the same effect if you took the end cabinet down to the counter, or ended with a tall cabinet pantry or fridge or something column-like.

This is a LOT more window than I have. Often you see them much less tall. There are a lot of good things about that but you are right, it might raise some sun issues, also. I would imagine you can see out at eye level standing at the counter with this last one. You really can't with mine, though you get a nice view of the grass and patio. And snow. And hopefully some interesting flowers, someday. lol

I think the last picture look great. In my situation though the other windows in the area aren't nearly as high. With the obvious difference in height in your pic, it fits. I'm not sure if it would work in mine. I'll have to play around with it.

Being that this area of the house is elevated, even having 18" or so would give a lot of view being the ground would be approx 14+ feet off the ground in some places. The pics of your kitchen window shows a lot of the outside. I can see why you love it.