Can you put in a tall hedge or fence?

Play with the height of the windows so that they let light in but limit the view. Consider clerestory windows, or windows between the counter and upper cabinets for some of the windows. Consider a long narrow window. Have one window be clear for a connection to the outside and use frosted glass in others to camouflage the ugly.

Eighteen feet is actually kind of far away, when I opened the post I thought they were going to be three feet away...since things are on paper, you have the opportunity to play with sight lines.

It wouldn't take much room to put up a trellis and a vine and it would hide the garbage cans quite effectivly. 2 or three posts with lattice and then plant couple of vines on it. The most space you would use is 2 feet and still give you a back yard. You could do the same on the side yard. I'll bet the neighbor would be pleased too

More light!!

That's not even a really bad view because there's 9-10 feet of yard. There's plenty of room to plant a screen. Bamboo is fast growing and makes a nice natural fence. Just make sure to contain the roots well if it's a spreading variety. Or make a raised something (a bench, a planter, or whatever) and put a dwarf lemon tree in it. Or plant some tree roses and watch them grow. Or....

Outside my sink window, a popout garden window, I have an old, weathered fence with a hedge on top, to the right you see the access path and the gate, the rain downspout, etc. To either side are the electrical, and underneath are my own air conditioners. But the light is nice and Southern, and lovely and delightful. I used to have a smaller window. I added a foot! But I did also put in a nine light grid because I have divided lights everywhere and it helps focus the light on the inside. (It also pops out so I can change my mind.)

The other window and sliding door look out to the patio, and across to the studio (which started life as a garage but was changed to a guesthouse by the previous owner). There are, at least, some bougainvilleas out there, and if you crane your neck you can see the garden. This window got several inches bigger, but I also put (permanent) divisions in it.

Which is a long way of saying that divided lights do help cut the view, though they might not go with the style of your house.

What you can do immediately is get some of those freestanding trellises with the planter bases and position them between your windows and the unlovely view. Some even have wheels. Plant some vines or bamboo and you have a green screen.

8-9 feet?! Goodness, around here many people have as little as 3 feet for a side yard and would kill for as much as you have. You could do something creative with windows as palimpsest wrote or follow any of the great gardening suggestions others have offered. Or do both!

Go to your local library or bookstore and check out the design books focused on small gardens. One I recommend is Big Ideas for Small Northwest Gardens by Marty Wingate. Even if the plants don't work for you (although they just might if you're in NC as your screen name implies) the design ideas sure would. But if that book doesn't work, there are many others on the subject, as you can see by the link.

I certainly wouldn't let this stop you from putting in more windows.

Here is a link that might be useful: Small space gardening books at Amazon

And while you are waiting to have your hedges or bamboo or whatever you plant become a privacy screen . . . you could consider sheer pleated shades. My mom has them and they do let a good amount of light in even when closed. Or how about wooden shutters. You can adjust the louvers so that light comes in but view is obstructed. Depending on your window and decor . . . I'm sure you can come up with a window treatment to do the trick.

I've recently been staying in a NYC apartment that has questionable views from the bedroom windows, but the light is very welcome even so. She has sheer panels to obstruct the view somewhat, while keeping the light.

Thanks guys. You have given me inspiration. We had already thought of putting up one or two strategically placed sections of privacy fencing and planting a flowering vine on it. (Although the historical commission will have the final say and who knows how that may play out!) I guess I just think 8 feet of yard is small because our rental has expansive views across an empty landscaped lot that has been a joy to watch throughout the changing seasons.

Grapevines are pretty fast growing and productive. They need little care and smell wonderful in the fall!

Definitely go for more light. A year ago my brother in bought an infill house where his entire backyard is just 10 ft deep by 17 ft wide and had a horrible view of his neighbor's very trashy back yard. He put up a 10 ft privacy fence and then created an absolutely lovely outdoor living space by bricking almost the entire space then putting in a trellis, a few vines, a couple of bushes back by the fence and a whole bunch of potted plants. Now the views out the window are terrific AND he has another living space AND no yard work.

Be careful with bamboo though. It tends to spread so keeping it contained up against your property line can be problematic.

Or, you could put in windows w/seeded glass or something similar that hides the view but lets in light...

You have a lot of great suggestions here!

Another option that is cool is to put up the fence and then make the fence be filled with those half wall pots and make a hanging garden.

Another idea is to put up a relatively solid fence and then paint a mural or a scene on your side of the fence that would only be visible on your side. Make it be something you want to look at... flowers, a vine filled trellis, dolphins jumping out of the ocean or....
http://www.trompe-l-oeil-art.com/trompe.html

ah my brain finally was able to come up with the type of painting that I was thinking of...

You are only limited by your imagination, budget, and whomever else might be looking at this too! Have fun!

Our previous kitchen was in a condo in the city in Boston - our view was of the neighboring brownstone and the neighbor that lived in the unit whose windows we looked into liked to walk around naked at night. :-x. Not a pretty view at all.

We installed sheer bistro curtains on the bottom half of the window, and installed shelves at the midpoint of the window where I put small pots with flowers and herbs. It hid everything we didn't want to see.

Personally I love the trellis idea, since we have three trellis panels in our garden and I love them. I live in a historic neighborhood where the houses are VERY close - our neighbors house is literally in our yard. We installed 3 trellis panels, with an arborvitae in between. There will eventually be clematis covering the trellises. I'm trying to be patient. ;-)

(this is before they were stained - two are primed.)

take it from someone who went from living in the city with 3 feet between homes (some of our windows literally looked at cinderblock!) to the great expanses (hee hee) of the suburbs where we have about 10 feet to our neighbors on the north side (where the kitchen is). Even though we don't live on a corner lot, there is a public sidewalk that splits our block which is also on that side. I get it!!

I did the windows between counter and uppers as palimpsest suggested. I like to call them my 'peek-a-boo' windows. I absolutely love them. They really let in a lot of natural light (even on the northside!).

Eliz... what kind/brand of windows do you have? I've been admiring your kitchen for some time now and we're going to be building (again) soon.

While you're creating a view for yourselves, how about equipping it with a recirculating bird spa, standing or wall-mounted? Imagine a charming stone drinking basin or fountainhead mounted on a wall covered with well-clipped ivy dribbling down into shallow rectangular bath. Plant a small tree to one side to create dappled shade and a place for the birds to hang and dry out while you watch the show.

We have a "lovely" view of a fence out the side of our kitchen. We did 2 windows on either side of our hood, with beveled diamond-shaped leaded glass. Our architect initially put those in as a design element, and we quickly realized they camouflage the bad view and look great from the inside.

Definitely more light!

Ok, get this: my master bath has an all glass door(!) that looks out to the neighborhood. Because it is not a standard door, we couldn't put in a fancy glass (under 2k, that is). Solution: frosted plastic film (a bit like contact paper) that sticks onto the glass. Total cost for one door: about $50. There are some really cheezy patterns, but if you choose the plainer ones, I swear, unless you have your nose right up against it, you can't tell it is plastic, lets in a TON of light, and is completely private.

Oh, and it is removable. Something to consider while the hedge is growing ;).

Here is a link that might be useful: window film

gbsim, they were custom. The company we bought them from also had Anderson, which were very similar. In the end we decided to have them make the windows because we could get the exact size we wanted (plus they did the small windows for the widow's peak). The Andeson windows were beautiful, too though, and would have been a good choice.

HTH,
Eliz

gbsim, they were custom. The company we bought them from also had Anderson, which were very similar. In the end we decided to have them make the windows because we could get the exact size we wanted (plus they did the small windows for the widow's peak). The Andeson windows were beautiful, too though, and would have been a good choice.

HTH,
Eliz

I aboslutely LOVE mairin's "peek a boo" windows. Wish I could find a place to sue one in my remodel!

Just for another idea for additional light... what about a Solartube? From the pics of other posters on here, they bring in an incredible amount of light.

mairin - I love your "peek-a-boo" windows!! That's an idea I might steal! My above-the-sink window looks out across the driveway to our neighbor's house, a total of about eighteen feet. I'd be staring right into their bathroom window if they had not planted some flowering shrubs just on their side of the lot line. On the other side of my house, I have a shrub right outside my bathroom window that serves the exact same purpose.

When I first started planning my remodel, a KD came by for a consult. She looked at my little sink window and said "Let's turn this into a double window." I had to laugh!! Besides eliminating two upper cabs in my small kitchen, this would just expand my view of my neighbor's side wall and bathroom window!

ncamy - If you decide on a trellis, consider jasmine if you are in the right climate, such as North Carolina. Open your window a smidge, and the wonderful scent of the flowers, along with the butterflies and hummingbirds they attract, will make you forget about your neighbor's ac and garbage cans.