I've been thinking about this because my new kitchen will have some large west-facing windows. I like the idea of wood blinds (or faux wood blinds). When completely pulled up they won't be very noticeable. They would allow you complete privacy if you want, and you can also adjust it to give you light without it glaring right at you. Here's an example:

{{!gwi}}

I'll be following this to see what others have to say!

Unless you get retractable awnings they will always be down and affecting the amount of light you get. Do you want to go out side to retract the awnings on days when you want more light. If you don't want Roman shade perhaps you could get some of the new solar roller shades. They let you still see out but block the sun and glare very effectively.

Based on your comment that you want something that will blend in and that you are not a fan of window treatments, my suggestion would be inside-mounted white honeycomb/cellular shades. When in the UP position, they compress to about 2 inches or less. With Roman shades, although beautiful, you will obstruct more window view.

The back of our house faces almost due West. Parts of it get shade from trees, but the kitchen/family room windows don't. I'd suggest an awning - especially if heat build-up as well as glare is a problem.

That room use to get too hot in the summer when the rest of the house was fine. We had vertical blinds on the big windows, but they didn't cut down the heat much. Then we bought big sun umbrellas to put on the patio during the summer. We still get a nice amount of light, but not the bright glare. The shade keeps the concrete outside from heating up and reflecting heat into the house. The rooms stay comfortable.

I like the way the umbrellas look, but we have thought about putting in a retractable awning instead. That would save the job of putting out the umbrellas each spring and putting them away each fall. Since they don't obstruct the view, we leave them up all season.

If you want to be able to open and close the awning easily, you could get a motorized one.

Here are a couple of photos taken in the late afternoon.

I don't think I like the idea of an outside awning for a number of reasons. I like mpagmom's idea of wooden venetian blinds. I have these all over my house, but not in the kitchen. We don't need it there.
What would be awesome is if you could paint them to match closely to your cabinet color. Then, they certainly would blend in and have a custom look.
I know lots of people do not like ventian blinds, but from a pactical point, they give you so many options.
I have had cellular shades in my living room. Not sure I would put them in a kitchen, where grease, smoke etc. from cooking would get on them. Eventually, mone started to rip in half,as the bottom is heavier than the top when they are pulled down.
Love seeing your kitchen in it's final stages.

I have "inside-mounted honeycomb/cellular shades" that have some translucency on the 4' x 6' window that faces southwest for much the same reason - lowers the actual room temperature as well as the light levels. This is the first time I've had celluar blinds. I thought the "insulating" claim would be false, but its not. I also lower them during the winter nights. So, I am pleased with how they perform.

That said, I think they may not be more than a 3-5 year solution, but I have to say that venetian blinds might have the same cleaning problem. We have pollen issues, air pollution issues as well as normal kitchen type dirt.

Our permanent solution is a tree! We planted it years ago and its now big enough to shade more than 1/2 of the house from the SW sun. Keep on growing, baby.

I don't know where you live, or how these would work out, but I'm curious if anyone has tried an outdoor solar shade.

Here is a link that might be useful: Outside sun screens

I agree about the tree. We got a lot of sun in our bedroom since it faced west. We planted a tree and it shades it wonderfully in the summer. In the winter the leaves drop and we enjoy the warmth of the sun.

Of course this is a long term solution, in the meantime you will need some window treatments.

I, too, love the look of wood blinds (very classy), but for Susie's situation, I would be worried about how much space they use when pulled all the way up. Susie's windows are so gorgeous, it would be a shame to obscure or detract from them.

As for honeycomb shades in the kitchen, I have had them for many years with no problems from cooking or tearing. Mine are the same color as the window trim so they are practically invisible when pulled up.

SQ,

I know you're asking about an awning vs a valance for your kitchen, but have you considered a sun protection film for your windows? The front of our house faces southwest, and we had a terrible problem with extreme fading of our furniture/fabrics/drapes/floor because of sun glare and ultraviolet rays. Since we've protected our windows, we now just have natural light with heat reduction and glare /fade protection too. This way you could get a valance and still be adequately protected from the glare without heavy window treatments. I have information on the type we used, if interested.

We were in the same situation - our family room/eating area faces east so we get sun from first thing in the morning until late afternoon and kitchen faces west so sun in the late afternoon. Love the light but.... I didn't want any window coverings but finally did put up wooden blinds and I was pleasantly surprised at how unobtrusive they actually are.
They pull up into almost nothing and they can be slightly tilted, as much or as little as you need, to obscure the glare but keep the light coming into the space. You can pull them up 2/3 of the way and tilt them slightly to change the glare. They are more versatile then I thought they would be. We also have a sliding glass door that I don;t know what to do with so like cloud swift we are using a patio umbrella when we need to.

I forgot to mention that solar shades come in different colors so you could find ones that blend in with your window. Here is a link to one website for such shades. They are available at many other locations too. http://www.shadesshuttersblinds.com/sunscreen-roller-shades.asp

just another voice...

I don't know about honeycomb/cellular shades in the kitchen... but I put them on all the upstairs front windows of our house (sunny side) and it has made a DRASTIC difference in the heat level. fantastic insulators!

There are lots of different solar shades. They are made of different levels of light blocking material. This way you can find a light blocking level that still allows you to see out without the glare and also reflects the heat back outside to help keep your house cooler. There is a website that has an extensive selection of these solar roller shades and they are very helpful in getting you just what you need. Their website is called rollersolarshades and I will give you the link below. They have an 800 number if you have any questions.
Hope this helps you out.

Here is a link that might be useful: Roller Solar Shades