What area of the country are you in? A south facing window in the South will be HOT without a lot of overhangs. Will there be a prep sink, or will that be the only sink and pull double duty for prep and cleanup? People only spend 20% of their time doing cleanup, but 70% prep, so a prep sink on an island or peninsula will have you facing the interior of the home and family rather than out through a window.

It's never a cut and dried answer. ;)

Sorry, we are in northern California (SF Bay Area). The hottest time of the year the average high is 79, average low 57. Coolest time of year the average high is 57, average low 39. So very comfortable though sometimes hot in the summer.

We plan to put another sink in the island (U-shaped kitchen) but I'm not sure how we'll be using these two sinks yet. Need to research more; this is the first time I've heard the term 'prep sink'. My parents have the same set-up right now but it seems like the sink in front of the window is used far more than the island sink (it's bigger as well).

Not knowing your geographic location (Why do people always neglect to include that?), I would say that north is better, but climate may dictate something different. I prefer to have indirect light coming into my kitchen rather than glaring direct light. Of course it also depends on whether there are trees, other buildings, a neighbor's window, walls, a busy street, etc. outside the window. I used to have the neighbors' courtyard outside my kitchen window, and so I could talk to them through the window. I have also had a window to a street (not a busy one), and so I could watch people try to get into and out of parking places. It also had a view of the MGM lion, as I was across the street from the old MGM studios.

Just posted before you that I am in northern California.

As for what's outside the window; both the north and south sides are the side of the house, so pretty much all there is the fence. :) There will be about 10-15 feet between the side of the house and the fence. I imagine there will be some minor landscaping.

This post was edited by girlguineapig on Thu, Oct 23, 14 at 18:27

Point South, enjoy the fence and the sun, and work by a window. Forget the other sink.

If all other factors are the same, I would choose North because I am not a big fan of direct sun light in the kitchen. I believe kitchens need to be somewhat cooler than the rest of the house to keep the food in good condition and south always gets hotter. I am not saying food will go bad just because you have sunny kitchen but I am simply more comfortable with North.

I think north windows are great. I like the indirect sunlight and feel almost as if it is brighter in a north facing room than in a south facing room where the bight window causes the walls to appear darker.

Hmmm I LOVE my south facing window (Maryland) but realized that I have a huge shade tree that shields the back windows from the high sun in the summer. The brightness in the house esp in the winter is wonderful (the tree loses its leaves so no blocking the light in the winter).

My corner kitchen windows (and sink) face South East, love the exposure (So Cal) I do have a nice size tree which filters direct sun, but the North side of any house is kind of depressing to me.

Hmm, seems like people are pretty split! Maybe other factors are more important.

My kitchen window faces northwest. I like the northern exposure cause as others have said I don't want sunlight to heat up the kitchen while I am cooking. Because my kitchen faces northwest, I had to move my wine storage. I had my wine stored where in late afternoon-early-evening the western sun setting would hit the wine. Sunlight ruins wine, so I had to move the wine, and it doesn't fit as well where I had to move it. If I could choose I'd have the window facing north.

I'm in so cal (hot, interior so cal). My kitchen is in the south east corner with windows facing south (and a couple small ones facing east, but into a covered breezeway), my DR/LR face north (DR in north east corner). The house is situated for the LR/DR windows to take in the view out the backyard and across the city to the mountains. The kitchen view is the (shallow) front yard and street.

I have a big tree out the kitchen windows that is helpful, and there are neighbors trees to the east past the driveway. There is one time of day for part of the year where there's a blinding time of day in there. But it's not long. I think it's winter when the sun is low and setting in the west. There was another small, awkwardly placed tree in the front yard that we cut down. I think it's job was to block the sun that time of year. I'm thinking of planting a tree further west in the front yard, I'm hoping it'll do that as well, but I think the yard is too shallow and it won't catch it. But I still want a tree over there.

Heat isn't an issue here, just the small period of blinding sun because we don't have and don't want window coverings in there. If it was a bigger issue, we could get some.

My kitchen windows face south and east, with no window coverings and a clear view, no trees or other obstructions, because our house is on a hill and raised up from the street. I love all the natural light and whatever heat it brings me.

I'm on the coast of Washington state so our weather is probably more similar to your weather in Nor-Cal than some of the other posters. It never gets hot enough here where the heat from the sun overheats the kitchen. Oh, maybe it does 5-8 days a year so it's no big deal. We do have 3-foot eaves so maybe that makes a difference in how the light hits?

Because the sun is higher in the summer, we don't get as much direct light into the kitchen during that time of year. And, like I said, the eaves probably are part of the reason for that. During the winter, the sun is lower so we do get more direct sun. It came in hot enough one day to make some candles fold over on themselves and I found them laying flat on the table. But I love that heat. There are winter days, when the sun is out, that we don't even have to turn on the heat in our house until evening. But, then again, where we live those types of sunny days in the winter are rare. Lots of overcast, gray skies here.

Hmmm...would you rather have ferns or herbs in your window? :)

Okay, if you do NOT fill your window with plants (like me) then which has the better view? I like south light, which is more cheerful, especially in the winter.

We live in the SF Bay area and have a 4'x8' window facing south about 10 feet across the room from our sink island. As the sun goes lower in the sky (like now) I have to adjust the shutters to keep from getting blinded. Neighbors put in a greenhouse window in theirs and everything cooked.

-Babka